Previewing Air Force’s Opponents: Southern Utah

Hmm…another I-AA team to open up for a Mountain West school.

This is not that bad of a game for the Falcons to have, seeing as they lost 95 percent of their offensive production, mainly from QB Shaun Carney and Z-Back Chad Hall.  This game should enable the Falcons to find out who is capable of performing in a live game situation.

The Southern Utah Thunderbirds are out of the Great West Conference, where they lost every conference game and went 0-11 for the year.  It's safe to say this will be a struggle for the T-Birds.

 

Offense

Going 0-11 indicates that your offense is no good—the Thunderbirds averaged only 16 per game without playing a I-A team.  Their high point total came in a blowout loss to South Dakota State, where they scored 27 points.

The quarterback situation should be more clear with Cody Stone being the sole player after sharing time last year.  Stone put up 1,200 yards while completing 56 percent of his passes, but his Achilles' heel was his touchdown to interception ratio—seven touchdowns and 15 picks.  That must improve for the Thunderbirds to have a chance, especially against the Cadets, who always play a disciplined type of defense.

As for the other positions, the top returning running back is Jamar Lee, who had less then 100 yards last season, leaving that position wide open this year.

At wide receivers, the top returning players are Nick Miller, who had 35 receptions and 14 yards per catch, and Tysson Poots, who had similar stats to Miller.  The wideouts for the Thunderbirds should be their strength with the single starter at quarterback and the return of this receiving duo. 

 

Defense

Not much to brag about here—on the defensive side, Southern Utah gave up 41 points per game.  That has to improve.  Seven returning starters is a start, with added experience and hopefully improved skills from offseason work.  The secondary should be the best portion of their defense, with all four starters returning, and will need to be the anchor of the defense.

There is no reason to expect this defense to have a massive turnaround and become a shutdown, defense but improvement should be expected.  It may not show in this game, but the Thunderbirds will be better.

 

Early Prediction

Even with the Falcons losing nearly all their offense, Air Force should win by at least three touchdowns—and that might be nice.

 

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