SUU Football Hosts Montana Saturday

SUU Football Hosts Montana Saturday

CEDAR CITY, Utah-Saturday, Southern Utah football ensues in its 3-game homestand by hosting the Montana Grizzlies at Eccles Coliseum.

The Thunderbirds will be hosting their Salute To Service game. For these festivities, those with a valid Military ID will receive free tickets and the various branches of the military will be recognized at halftime.

Additionally, 1,000 U.S. flags will be handed out to early-arriving Thunderbirds fans and all in attendance are encouraged to wear black.

The Thunderbirds are currently 1-7 on the season but come in with a new signal-caller in Tyler Skidmore, who in his debut, a 42-39 loss to Northern Colorado October 27, threw for 330 yards and a touchdown pass.

SUU’s leading tailback remains Jay Green who has run for 698 yards and five scores on the season.

The Thunderbirds’ leading receiver is Landen Measom who has 39 grabs for 525 yards and a score in 2018.

Linebacker Chinedu Ahanonu remains SUU’s defensive leader as he has 65 stops, including 8.5 tackles for a loss.

Senior linebacker Taylor Nelson is the national leader with four fumble recoveries.

The Grizzlies are currently 4-4 and 2-3 in Big Sky Conference play and visit Eccles Coliseum having suffered three straight losses.

Montana is led by signal-caller Dalton Sneed who completes 62.6 percent of his passes on the season for 1,826 yards, 12 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, while also running for 473 yards and five more scores.

Tailback Adam Eastwood also bolsters the Grizzlies’ offense, as he has run for 439 yards and six touchdowns on the season.

The leading receiver for Montana is Samuel Akem, who has amassed 42 receptions for 513 yards and eight touchdowns.

Defensively, linebacker Dante Olson has six sacks and 10.5 tackles for a loss on the season. Olson also leads the nation with 15 tackles per game.

The series between the Thunderbirds and Grizzlies dates back to 1996 while Montana leads the all-time series 6-2.

SUU seeks its first win against Montana since 2012, when the Thunderbirds prevailed 30-20 at Missoula, Mont.