2021 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

2021 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football
2021 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	1–10 (0–8 Big Sky)
Head coach	Demario Warren (6th season);
Offensive coordinator	Matt Wade (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Robert Bala (2nd season)
Home stadium	Eccles Coliseum
	Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team represented Southern Utah University in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Demario Warren and played their home games at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City, Utah. They played their final season as a member of the Big Sky Conference, as they would depart for the Western Athletic Conference for the 2022 season.

2021 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 10 Sacramento State $^	8	–	0	9	–	3
No. 2 Montana State ^	7	–	1	11	–	3
No. 7 Eastern Washington ^	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 6 Montana ^	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 17 UC Davis ^	5	–	3	8	–	4
Weber State	5	–	3	6	–	5
Northern Arizona	4	–	4	5	–	6
Portland State	4	–	4	5	–	6
Idaho	3	–	5	4	–	7
Northern Colorado	2	–	6	3	–	8
Cal Poly	1	–	7	2	–	9
Idaho State	1	–	7	1	–	10
Southern Utah	0	–	8	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

Polls

On July 26, 2021, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Thundebirds were predicted to finish eleventh in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.^[1]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Weber State	(7)
2	Montana	(3)
3	Eastern Washington	(2)
4	Montana State	(1)
5	Sacramento State	(1)
6	UC Davis
7	Northern Arizona
8	Idaho
9	Idaho State
10	Portland State
11	Southern Utah
12	Cal Poly
13	Northern Colorado

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Weber State	(14)
2	Montana	(4)
3	Eastern Washington	(3)
4	Montana State	(3)
5	Sacramento State
6	UC Davis
7	Northern Arizona
8	Idaho
9	Idaho State
10	Portland State
11	Southern Utah
12	Northern Colorado
13	Cal Poly

Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Thunderbirds had one player selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.^[2]

Defense

La'akea Kaho'ohanohano-Davis – OL

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 28	8:00 p.m.	at San Jose State*	CEFCU Stadium San Jose, CA	CBSSN	L 14–45	16,204
September 2	8:30 p.m.	at No. 25 (FBS) Arizona State*	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	P12N	L 14–41	44,456
September 18	5:00 p.m.	vs. Tarleton State*	Globe Life Park Arlington, TX	ESPN+	W 40–35	8,346
September 25	6:00 p.m.	No. 6 Eastern Washington	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT		L 21–50	7,096
October 2	6:00 p.m.	Portland State	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT		L 13–20	4,013
October 9	7:00 p.m.	at Sacramento State	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	ESPN+	L 20–41	6,244
October 16	2:00 p.m.	at Northern Arizona	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ (Grand Canyon Rivalry)		L 35–59	7,511
October 23	6:00 p.m.	Northern Colorado	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	ESPN+	L 9–17	3,208
October 30	12:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Montana	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	RTRM	L 19–20	22,587
November 6	2:00 p.m.	at Idaho	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	ESPN+	L 24–42	6,082
November 13	2:00 p.m.	Weber State	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT (Beehive Bowl)	ESPN+	L 0–62	4,045
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[3]

Conference opponents not played this season: Cal Poly, Idaho State, Montana State, UC Davis

Game summaries

At San Jose State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	0	14	0	0	14
Spartans	21	17	7	0	45

At No. 25 (FBS) Arizona State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	7	0	7	0	14
No. 25 (FBS) Sun Devils	13	15	6	7	41

Vs. Tarleton State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	14	14	6	6	40
Texans	7	21	0	7	35

No. 6 Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Eagles	9	21	13	7	50
Thunderbirds	7	7	7	0	21

Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	0	10	3	7	20
Thunderbirds	3	7	3	0	13

At Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	0	7	6	7	20
Hornets	17	7	7	10	41

At Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	0	14	14	7	35
Lumberjacks	17	14	14	14	59

Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	3	0	7	17
Thunderbirds	3	0	3	3	9

At No. 11 Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	3	13	3	0	19
Grizzlies	0	10	7	3	20

At Idaho

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	7	3	7	7	24
Vandals	14	14	7	7	42

Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	14	31	7	10	62
Thunderbirds	0	0	0	0	0

References

^ "Thunderbirds Picked 11th in Big Sky Preseason Polls". July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
^ "Kaho'ohanohano-Davis Named to Big Sky Preseason Team". suutbirds.com. July 26, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
^ "2021 Southern Utah Football Schedule". suutbirds.com. Retrieved August 3, 2021.

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[1] "Thunderbirds Picked 11th in Big Sky Preseason Polls". July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.

[2] "Kaho'ohanohano-Davis Named to Big Sky Preseason Team". suutbirds.com. July 26, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.

[3] "2021 Southern Utah Football Schedule". suutbirds.com. Retrieved August 3, 2021.

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