OCR Text |
Show I ·-· -'BIRD SPORTS THE UNIVERSITY JOURNAL• SOUTHERN UTAH UNIV'nSITY • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1994 11~ - 'BIRD OFFENSE 'BIRD DEFENSE SE16-Kevin Cuthbertson~ B2-Rob Cisco ~ CB 27-Tyler Johnson 22-Danny Aragon LT 54-JeH Martin ~ 6B-feff Rudy ~ TB 24-Shawn Jon~ 2 6 ~ w~ • SOUTHERN UTAH'S ~ E 97-Jeff Galyean ~ 95-Chris Delahunty LG 73-Chris Hinton ~ 66-Buck Brown , QB 12-Rick Robins ia;g::.::~::~m, J-,. ~ ~ • " 73-Chris Hinto~ FB 29-Curtis Lindsay ~ 5-Benji Hoskins RG 67-Marcus Taylor • 62-Adam Black RT 75-Grant Corser ~ 79-Jason Tabor ~ THUNDERBIRDS vs. ST. MARY' s WI; . . nAM 7-Matt Labrum Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Coliseum of Southern Utah SB-Austin Cartwright SO-Shawn Blackham 76-Ryan Ross e.: 20-David Benedict 3B-Jeff Tones . ~ T 91-Justm Bauerle ~ 92-Garrett Moon FS 2-Donnie Yantis 4-Mike Brown d TE 32-Micah Deckart ~ Bl-Robbie Gunter ~ K 9-Benji Nel ~ 14-Ron Lindb;cgl ) " -et SS 6-Duston Connaughton 37-Brandon Griffiths WIL 19-Clint Baird .~ 8-Marlan Bacon 56-Joel Wilson 45-Garcet Atkin ' ~ ~ P 14-Ron Lindberg 10-VanWoeckom • PL I-Melvin Lowe 25-Tony Evans • B IS-Anthony Brown 3-Colby Knight • 'Birds host St. Mary's Saturday :;! ~ 8 e:: l "' I;! z g Thunderbird Micah Deckart goes up for a pass in the back of the end zone Saturday against Weber State. I SU's football team goes from playing a team it had never posted a victory against last week to playing a team which has never topped the 'Birds Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Coliseum of Southern Utah. In five previous contests, the Gaels have never come out on top, although last year the Thunderbirds needed to score twice in the final two minutes, including a 35-yard field goal with 1. 7 seconds remaining, to pull out a 35-35 tie, leaving the series at 4-0-1 in favor of the Thunderbirds. SU goes into the game looking to stop a two-game skid. The Thunderbirds have a record of 2-4 on the season after losing the first two games, winning the next two and dropping the last two. Saint Mary's comes into the contest with a 6-1 mark following last Saturday's 20-10 victory over Cal State Northridge. The Gaels' only loss came at UC Davis, 13-0, the week before Davis stopped SUU 41 -16. SMC has won three in a row since that loss after opening the season with three straight wins. The Series: The teams have met each year since the series began with a 24-23 SUU victory in Moraga, CA, in 1989, with Saturday's game marking the sixth meeting on the football field. This will be the third meeting between the two teams in Cedar City. SUU won the previous two meetings in the Coliseum of Southern Utah by final counts of 26-0 (1992) and 38-17 (1990). About the Gaels: Saint Mary's has guaranteed itself its eighth straight winning season and ninth consecutive with a .500 or better record. The last time the Gaels had a losing season was 1985. This year's Gael team has won six of seven contests by averaging 414 yards per outing with solid rushing and passing attacks while limiting opponents to under 300 yards a game. The Gaels have completed 108 of 193 passes for 1,763 yards, an average of 252 yards per game, and have carried 308 times for 1136 yards, an average of 162 yards per game. Meanwhile, their rush defense is one of the tops in Division I-AA, allowing just 69 yards per game, while the pass defense isn't too shabby either, giving up just 222 yards a contest and averaging 1.6 interceptions per game. Saint Mary's has also taken good care of the ball, giving it up just 11 times on six fumbles and five interceptions. 'Bird Notes: Shawn Jones leads the Thunderbirds in total rushing yards with 344, but Gary Perkins took the team's average per-rush lead after his 108yards on 15 carries day against Weber State. Perkins is now averaging 6.8 yards per carry, up from 6.4 going into the game. Perkins' 108 yards were 19 more than he had all season going into the Weber game. Jones also leads the team in scoring, with five TDs. Phil Atkerson is second on the team in TDs with four, on just 19 carries. Place kicker Benji Nelson is tied with Atkerson as the team's secondleading scorer with 24 points on 15 PATs and three field goals. Wide receiver Melvin Lowe leads the team in receiving yards with 235 and in catches per game with 2.2, but tight end Robbie Gunter leads the team in yards per catch with an average of 32.0. Ron Lindberg is among the nation's top punters with an average of 40.4 ypp, currently ranking 14th, while Shawn Jones' 32.6 yards per kickoff return average is also 14th nationa.lly. Jack Bishop On Saint Mary's: "They seem to have another excellent football team. They had a good win over Northridge (20-10) last Saturday and they played UC Davis well in a loss, although Davis hadn't found their quarterback yet. · We go from one team who we've never beat in one breath to a team that's never beat us in the next, which is an interesting turn of events. Saint Mary's is a scrappy team with an excellent record, but we need to get ourselves together, regroup, get our confidence back and play hard." |