Game Preview: Southern Utah University

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The Jacks (2-1) face off against Southern Utah University Thunderbirds (1-2) on Saturday night in the 53rd annual Beef Bowl.  The two programs are familiar with one another due to spending a handful of seasons together in the Great West Conference as they transitioned into Division 1.  SUU was really good a couple of seasons ago making the FCS playoffs and earning a 9-3 record.  However, last season they finished with just one win.  This season they struggled against UNLV, got thumped by UNI, and struggled to defeat Stephen F. Austin, a rebuilding program, in overtime.  However, SUU has talent on both sides of the ball and SDSU will need to be ready to finish the out of conference portion of the schedule on a high note.

Offense
The SUU offense does have explosive capabilities.  Because of the offensive shootout last week it is hard to really get a good read on just how good their offense is.  They were held to just 227 yards of total offense against UNI and were really contained against UNLV until mop-up time. 

#8 Chris Helbig is a juco transfer QB who played in 4 games in 2018 for SUU and passed for over 1,000 yards in that short stretch.  So far through three games, he has thrown for 639 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs.  He is also a dual threat playmaker and has rushed for 65 yards before sacks and 3 TDs. Helbig also caught a TD pass last week.

When Helbig isn't making plays with his arm he is handing off to a nice 1-2 punch.  #23 James Felila (6-0, 220) is a power back and #2 Thomas Duckett (5-10, 185) brings the speed.  So far on the season Felila has 38 attempts for 132 yards and 2 TD.  Duckett has 22 attemps for 82 yards and 1 TD.  Duckett is also a capable pass catcher out of the backfield where he had 3 receptions for 57 yards against SFA.

#14 Lance Lawson (5-7, 191) is listed as a RB but is more of a WR and they run tons of gadget plays through him.  Against SFA he had 13 catches alone which brought his season total to 28, which has been good for 251 yards and 2 TD.  Running the ball he has 7 attempts for 55 yards.  Lawson was the player who tossed the TD to Helbig last week.   The defense will need to be aware of where he is at at all times. Outside of Lawson, SUU has an abundance of pass catchers at their disposal. #83 Zach Nelson (6-1, 190) has 8 receptions for 120 yards and 2 TD and is a true freshman.  #15 Isaiah Diego-Williams (5-10, 160) has 8 receptions for 95 yards this season.  #1 Carlos Baker (6-5, 215) is a big bodied receiver who has hauled in 4 for 97.  This group could stress the young Jackrabbit secondary in a way that we haven't seen yet.  The tight end position is also utilized by SUU.  #85 Nick Colson is a transfer from Nevada and has 6 receptions for 36 yards. I image that after Drake's TE had a big game, SUU may look to get their TE the ball a little more too.

The offensive line is squattier but has a nice mix of youth and experience.  From left to right they go   #77 Braxton Jones (6-7, 310) sophomore, #71 Artese Gregory (6-3, 300) redshirt freshman, #58 Zach Larsen (6-1, 305) senior, #56 PJ Nu'usa (5-11, 304) senior, and #70 Josh Madsen (6-2, 275) sophomore.  Against SFA they scored the game winning touchdown when they added a 6th offensive lineman in #67 Mitchell Halverson (6-6, 278).  This group has allowed 9 sacks on the season so they may be susceptible to a good pass rush.  Last week drake used quick hitters and a moving pocket to help out their offenseive line, we'll see if SUU makes the same adjustments.



 Defense
The SUU defense is struggling so far this season. That may be an understatement considering they have surrendered 56, 34, and 38 points.  I'm hopeful this may be a game where we finally see the Jackrabbit offense hit on all cylinders.They have allowed 542 yards passing and 755 yards passing so far this year.  They did find a pass rush last week against SFA and registered 5 sacks after having just 1 sack through the first two contests. SUU plays a weird 3-3-5 hybrid defense that is similar to what UNI trots out onto the field.

This is one of the bigger defensive lines the Jackrabbits will face in 2019.  The front three are #15 Gaset Schuster (6-0, 290), #52 Aaron Romero (6-2, 272), and #11 Bishop Jones (6-3, 245).  Romero is a beast on the line and has 6 tackles and had 3 sacks and a forced fumble last week against SFA.  Schuster has 4 tackles and a TFL while Jones has 9 tackles and a TFL.  #95 Mark Kruger (6-2, 309), a Utah transfer, looks strong as a bull and has been a key piece of the rotation. #55 Lehi Afatasi (6-0, 310) is huge man in the middle and has racked up 9 tackles and 2 TFL.  #44 Asi Watson (6-5, 255) is a senior and played well agaisnt SFA with 5 tackles and .5 sack.


The backers are led by Fresno State transfer #10 Nela Otukolo (20 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1 sack) and #7 Alex Sims (18 tackles, 2 TFL).  They are joined by #45 Jayden Clark who has 10 tackles.  That big defensive line really has a positive impact on these guys as it allows them to fly around and make tons of tackles. #43 Quaid Murray is the top backup and he has 11 tackles and 1.5 TFL.

The safties are #18 AJ Stanley, #22 Nate Vaughn, and #32 Alan Holsten who all have exactly 13 tackles on the season. Outside of a blocked kick by Holsten they don't have any other statistics in the books so I don't think this group has really made the big plays that a team hopes for out of the safety position. A player who appears to have seen his role decrease this season is #21 Kyle Hannemann.  He was a 3rd Team All-Big Sky performer in 2018 and has 8 tackles, 2 TFL, and a forced fumble this season.     

 #8 Carlton Johnson (5-11, 155), #25 Antwaun Rainey (6-1, 191), and #28 Kahlid Taylor (5-8,185) are the top three cornerbacks on the roster.  Johnson has 8 tackkles, Rainey 5 and 2 PBU, and Taylor has 7 total tackles and the defense's only interception this season. I would hope the Jackrabbit receivers can test this young and smaller group.  We'll see if the quarterback and wide receivers are able to make plays off this mismatch.

Special Teams
The SUU special teams is pretty decent and may provide a good test for the Jackrabbit units after a week where they struggled against Drake.  The Thunderbirds have blocked one kick and one punt so far this season. Their kicker, #41 Kekoa Sasaoka has missed both his attempts which were both from 50 yards but is 5 for 5 on extra points.  Sasaoka also handles the kickoff duties where he has forced 4 touchbacks on 7 attempts and on the 3 kicks that were returned, opponents have only advanced the ball an average of 10.7 on their returns.  The punting duties are handled by #3 Manny Berz who has a 40.2 ypc average on 16 attempts with 5 fair caught and landing 2 inside the 20.  #80 Judd Cockett handles both the punt and kick return duties.  On punt returns he boasts a nice 7.2 ypr average on 6 attempts while he has 12 kick return attemps for a 17.7 average.

Prediction
Jacks 38
SUU 7

Go Jacks!
Matt

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