CEDAR CITY, Utah (October 21, 2016) - The narratives in the Southern Utah-Weber State rivalry have been fairly consistent over the past half-decade- the Thunderbirds as a scrappy, often over-achieving team; the Wildcats as an underachieving program trying to find consistency.
However, as Weber State travels to Cedar City, the Wildcats are 3-0 in Big Sky play, trying to break a three-game losing streak to the defending Big Sky champs.
In-state rivalry games are always physical, and Weber State coach Jay Hill is expecting the same in this weekend’s FCS battle for Beehive State bragging rights.
“Most of the time you don’t have to say much, it’s pretty well understood that you better be up for this game, or your opponent is going to get you,” he said. “We know it’s an important game, and this is one where it’s going to be an absolute war. This is going to be a physical games, where you better be ready or you’re going to get pushed aside.”
Last season, the Wildcats were on a two-game winning streak, and were receiving votes in national polls, when they hosted the Thunderbirds. Southern Utah exited Ogden with a 44-0 victory, on the way to 2015 #BigSkyFB title.
Southern Utah coach Demario Warren said an in-state rivalry game is something that’s talked about extensively, especially on the recruiting trail.
“For the next three months, we’ll be talking about this game, one way or another,” he said. “We’ll be talking about either building for the future, or what we did in this game. It’s a huge pitch on the recruiting side.”
Both sides of the rivalry feature players who competed against each other in high school, or were even high school teammates. Wildcats linebacker Tre’von Johnson, who played prep football at Hunter High School in West Valley City, Utah, said preparing for this game is different than others, because the stakes are higher.
“We want to show that we can beat SUU,” he said. “I’ve been here for three years, we haven’t beat them once, so this game is personal for me and a lot of guys on this team. You want to win in-state games to get recruits, and things like that. It’s a big week, especially with us being undefeated in conference, and in order to take that next step and win the Big Sky, we’ve got to win this week.”
As for what both teams are preparing for in Saturday’s game, physicality came up repeatedly in conversations with coaches and players on both sides of the draw.
Weber State quarterback Jadrian Clark said Southern Utah’s defense is a dynamic group that requires constant attention.
“(SUU) has got some good players, Mike Needham is a very strong linebacker,” said the two-year starter for Weber State. “He’s definitely a guy to watch for, and they run a few different coverages. We’re starting to put together a game plan now to come up with some ways to attack them.”
Thunderbirds linebacker Mike Needham said he is focused on looking at successful plays Weber State had last week, in a big win over Montana State.
“When an offense scores, there’s always some kind of mistake on defense,” he said. “We try to look at what other teams have done wrong, and the team that makes the least mistakes is going to win.”
The Southern Utah-Weber State matchup is scheduled to kick off at 6:00 p.m. MST, and is available for free on
www.watchbigsky.com, or on the Big Sky Conference app.