2021 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Record1–10 (0–8 Big Sky)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMatt Wade (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorRobert Bala (2nd season)
Home stadiumEccles Coliseum
Seasons
← 2020
2022 →
2021 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
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

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.

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 Colroado
13 Cal Poly

Preseason All–Big Sky team

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

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
August 288:00 p.m.at San Jose State*
CBSSNL 14–4516,204
September 28:30 p.m.at No. 25 (FBS) Arizona State*
P12NL 14–4144,456
September 185:00 p.m.vs. Tarleton State*
ESPN+W 40–35  8,346
September 256:00 p.m.No. 6 Eastern Washington
L 21–50  7,096
October 26:00 p.m.Portland State
  • Eccles Coliseum
  • Cedar City, UT
L 13–20  4,013
October 97:00 p.m.at Sacramento State
ESPN+L 20–41  6,244
October 162:00 p.m.at Northern Arizona
L 35–59  7,511
October 236:00 p.m.Northern Colorado
  • Eccles Coliseum
  • Cedar City, UT
ESPN+L 9–17  3,208
October 3012:00 p.m.at No. 11 Montana
RTRML 19–2022,587
November 62:00 p.m.at Idaho
ESPN+L 24–42  6,082
November 132:00 p.m.Weber State
ESPN+L 0–62  4,045

[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

See also: 2021 San Jose State Spartans football team

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

See also: 2021 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

Vs. Tarleton State

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

See also: 2021 Tarleton State Texans football team

No. 6 Eastern Washington

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

See also: 2021 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

Portland State

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

See also: 2021 Portland State Vikings football team

At Sacramento State

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

See also: 2021 Sacramento State Hornets football team

At Northern Arizona

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

See also: 2021 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team and Grand Canyon Rivalry

Northern Colorado

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

See also: 2021 Northern Colorado Bears football team

At No. 11 Montana

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

See also: 2021 Montana Grizzlies football team

At Idaho

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

See also: 2021 Idaho Vandals football team

Weber State

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

See also: 2021 Weber State Wildcats football team and Beehive Bowl

References

  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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