BrandView
This story is sponsored by Southern Utah University. Learn more about Southern Utah University.
FOOTBALL: After watching his team's first full scrimmage of the fall 2010 season, Southern Utah University head football coach Ed Lamb said he thinks his team is on track and basically where the coaching staff would like to be after the first two weeks.
He was a bit more hesitant to assess the scrimmage itself, however.
"It's a little premature to make any assessment without watching film and having the rewind button, but my initial feeling is we're being productive and we are where we want to be at this point," Lamb said. "We have defined who our first-line players are in our daily practices ... and we didn't give those players a lot of work today. We did give the other players an opportunity."
The first-team players took about 30 snaps with the second- and third-teams getting another 40 or so each. Lamb said the staff is working to determine who the primary reserves will be, across the board.
Brad Sorensen, a sophomore transfer from BYU, claimed the starting quarterback job coming out of spring ball and he has solidified his hold on that slot in the fall. He completed 12-of-20 passes for 193 yards, including touchdown passes to Fesi Sitake and Tui Siliva. The TD pass to Sitake covered 86 yards while Siliva's score came from 11 yards out. He did throw one interception, however.
"Brad has done just about everything we've asked of him," Lamb noted. "He did get into trouble once with an interception in the end zone that he probably tried to force in but otherwise he had a rhythm and was reading and reacting well."
"Brad's a phenomenal quarterback and every receiver that's on the field has a chemistry with him," Sitake said. "He's not the kind of quarterback who keeps his radar on one receiver, he goes through his reads and does exactly what he is supposed to, so we've got a great chemistry as an offense as a whole and I'm glad to be a part of it."
"I think we did fairly well, despite a couple of penalties and a couple of botched plays," Sitake said in assessing the scrimmage as a whole. "I think we took what the defense gave us and we didn't get super risky"
Sitake, a pre-season all-Great West Conference receiver and all-American return specialist, caught three passes for a team-high 96 yards, while Jared Ursua and Robert Ah Sue each caught three passes as well, for 26 and 34 yards, respectively.
Camp has "been phenomenal," Sitake noted. "To see everyone come together when it's so easy to get caught up in the fatigue, to get tired, but the enthusiasm has been the thing that's kept us going. Everyone has been positive and it's showing in our practices and in the scrimmage today."
Deckar Alexander got the majority of the carries with the first team, carrying five times for 20 yards, while Daryl Brown had three carries for 13 yards and Major Gray had two for five.
Matt Holley had one of the defense's two interceptions on the day – the only one against the first-offense – on a Sorensen pass into the end zone on the last play by the respective first teams.
CROSS COUNTRY: The teams reported to campus Monday to begin preparations for the 2010 season, marking the final SUU team of the fall sports scene to report.
The cross country teams will begin the season on Sept. 4 at Idaho State and then take part in meets at UC Riverside, Notre Dame and Indiana State throughout the year. The Thunderbirds will host their only home meet of the season on Saturday, Oct. 16, when SUU will welcome teams to the Color Country Invitational at the Cedar Ridge Golf Course.
The women will be in pursuit of defending their Summit League team title on Oct. 30 when IUPUI hosts the conference championships in Carmel, Ind. The men just missed out on a title last year, finishing second.
NCAA Regionals will afford Thunderbird fans another opportunity of seeing the team in action close to home, as the meet will be held in Salt Lake City on Nov. 13. A strong showing at the regional meet will open the door for the T-Birds to compete at the NCAA National Championships, hosted by Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind.
The journey to the national championships will begin today as 40 athletes are anticipated to report and will train at Brian Head Ski Resort. The venue will provide the team a chance to train at a very high altitude (10,000 feet), running eight to 12 miles a day. In addition to running, the team will also take part in clinics on nutrition, goal-setting and the mental aspects of competition.