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Show l,.l,;;;;;l..~-1 'BIRD sp ORT s THE UNIVERSITY JOURNAL. SOUTHERN UTAH UNlVBRSITY. PIUDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1994 SU DEFENSE SU OFFENSE .,. SE 16 Kevin Cuthbttuon I Melvin Lowe ~ 'Ill!' ~ ~ 7-Tylu Johnson l;H ~-Danny Aragon ~ - w~,o.eu,,,.,., ~ ·~"'"'"°'" ~ ~ E 97-/elf Galyun ~ 56-/oel Wilson ~ FS 2-Donni• Yantis 4-Mike Brown SAM 7-M•tt Labrum ~ SB-Aus tin Cartwright QB 12 Rick Robins lO Craig VanW.,.,rkom Southern Utah takes on the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Coliseum of Southern: Utah J: ~ C 55 N•t Ad•m• 73 Chris Hinton ~ ~- ~ N G SO-Shawn Blackham ~ 76-Ryan Ross ~ ,..,,,,,_ . I I ( 20-David Bentdict LG 73Chris H i n t o n ~ 66 Buck Brown ~ FB 29 C urtis L i n d s a y ~ 5 Benji Hoskins ~ ~ = RT 54 Jrff Martin 75 Gran: Corsu ~ TE 84 Austin Day ~ 81 Robbie Gun t e r ~ ,,G_u M 91-/ustin Bauerle FL 32 Micah Drckart ~. 25 Tony Evans ~ SS 6-Du!ton Connaughton 37-Brandon Griffiths ~ ~ I( 9 Benji Nelson 14 Ron Lindberg ,al,, ~ RE~:-J•m•• Birak 5-Garret Atkin :~:~:n ~ o n Lindberg ~P w.,.,,kom . . CB IS-Anthony Brown ~ 3-Co/byKnight Thunderbird gridders host 3-0 Eastern New Mexico By JOHN McCLOSKEY JOURNAL SPORTS EDITOR After winning their first game of the year against NCAA Division II No. 20ranked Western State College Saturday, SUU's football squad will go for back-toback wins against tough D-II schools Saturday when they host No. 19 Eastern N ew Mexico at 7 p.m. in the Coliseum of Southern Utah. In its first three games, Eastern New Mexico has averaged 34 points and 425 yards per contest, with most of its yardage (261 per game) coming on the gro und. Senior tailback Darrell Whi taker leads the team with an average of 104.3 yards rushing per game, while fullback Steve Williams averages 70 ya rds. SU allowed 201, and 296 yards in rushing in its first two gam es, but in Saturday's win over WSC, the 'Birds held the Mountaineers to 113 yards on the ground. Head Coach Jack Bishop said however, "Eastern N ew Mexico is a step up from Western State." Th e SU running attack was unstoppable against WSC, gathering 322 yards and using four different running backs to score five touchdowns. Shawn Jones led the way with 163 yards and two scores, including an 81 yard TD burst. For his efforts Jones was awarded the AWC Offensive Player of the Week. This is the second time in three weeks Jones has received the honor. His 98 yards on kickoff returns against Idaho was good enough for the AWC Specia!Teams Player of the Week. T he Thunderbirds are allowing their opponents an average of 234 yards passing per game in their opening three games. Although the Greyhounds don' t pass much, redshirt freshman Andy Cavalier has completed 26 of 47 passes including three touchdowns. Cavalier only averages 159 yards per game but his 19 yards per completion has the 'Bird secondary wide awake. SU is allowing 438 yards in total offense per game, which is last among the team s in the American West Conference. "People underestimate the competition we've played, said Bishop, " But we really take pride in our defense. Last week when the offense turned it over we came out flat, but this week we came out fired up. We're taking it one step at a time and this is the first step." Quarterback Rick Robins has struggled early on this season. T he junior signal caller has completed only 42 percent of his passes and just one touchdown, while tossing four interceptions. One reason for those numbers is the heavy pressure he faced in th e first two games, including suffering seven hard sacks against Idaho on opening day. The Greyhounds are at a perfect 3-0 and the Thunderbirds will be looking to increase their mark to 2-2. 11 I Robbie Gunter makes a brilliant one-handed catch against Western State Saturday. The 57-yard reception gave SU a first-and-goal at the two-yard line. |