After picking up a pair of wins at home, Southern Utah University's football team will shoot for its first road victory this season at UC Davis today.
The Thunderbirds met the Aggies last year for the first time ever and robbed them of a perfect season in the final 37 seconds of the game in Cedar City. SUU quarterback Rick Robins dived for a one-yard TD to leave his team trailing by a point, then ran in the two-point conversion for the win. The T-Birds had trailed the entire game.SUU's victory over the Aggies left both teams sharing the first American West Conference championship. This year, UC Davis opted to return to Division II as a cost-containment measure. The move still leaves the Aggies with a tough schedule, with five games against I-AA opponents and one game against I-A Pacific. UC Davis is 1-2 this season, and is still waiting for its first Division II opponent.
UCD's 13-0 win over St. Mary's last week makes the Aggies unbeaten in their last 18 home games. They hope to extend that record by one and pick up some revenge against SUU.
"Davis will be looking for us, since we spoiled an otherwise undefeated season for them last year," SUU head coach Jack Bishop said. "This will be a typical Davis team - a well coached team that doesn't make a lot of mistakes. I think their strength is in their defense."
Aggies head coach Bob Biggs is also confident in his defenders, but unsure how they'll handle SUU's ground game. "Nobody has been able to consistently get a run game going so far this year. But the option is a lot different kind of football. There's nobody on the West Coast who runs it, so we don't get a chance to prepare for it much. Southern Utah runs it awfully well."
The Aggies' biggest challenge will be on the offensive side of the ball, where they have had difficulty replacing two of their best athletes in running back Preston Jackson and quarterback Khari Jones. Their best offensive asset is wide receiver Mike Ichiyama, who has also made his mark as a runner. He had 194 all-purpose yards last week against St. Mary's, leading the team's rushing effort with 70 yards on 17 carries.
Southern Utah's Robins needs just 82 yards to become SUU's all-time leading passer. He has thrown for 4,046 yards in his career and trails only Chad Richard, who finished with 4,128 in 1987.
T-Bird punter Ron Lindberg is also earning recognition, ranked second in the nation with an average of 42.8 yards per punt.