2023 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

The 2023 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team represented Southern Utah University in the United Athletic Conference (UAC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by second-year head coach DeLane Fitzgerald, the Thunderbirds played their games at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City, Utah.

2023 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football
Conference	United Athletic Conference
Record	6–5 (4–2 UAC)
Head coach	DeLane Fitzgerald (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Tye Hiatt (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	John Kelling (2nd season)
Home stadium	Eccles Coliseum

2023 United Athletic Conference standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 18 Austin Peay $^		6	–	0					9	–	3
Central Arkansas		4	–	2					7	–	4
Southern Utah		4	–	2					6	–	5
Eastern Kentucky		4	–	2					5	–	6
Tarleton State*		4	–	2					8	–	3
Abilene Christian		3	–	3					5	–	6
North Alabama		1	–	5					3	–	8
Utah Tech*		1	–	5					2	–	9
Stephen F. Austin		0	–	6					3	–	8
$ – Conference champion Note: Tarleton State and Utah Tech are ineligible for the UAC title and FCS postseason play due to transitions from NCAA Division II. Rankings from STATS Poll

After the 2022 season, the WAC and the ASUN Conference, which had partnered in a football-only alliance in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, fully merged their football leagues, creating what eventually became the United Athletic Conference.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	8:00 p.m.	at Arizona State*	Mountain America Stadium Tempe, AZ	P12N	L 21–24	47,773
September 9	1:00 p.m.	at BYU*	LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT	ESPN+	L 16–41	60,834
September 16	8:00 p.m.	at No. 16 UC Davis*	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	L 21–23	7,942
September 23	6:00 p.m.	Western Illinois*	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	ESPN+	W 37–17	6,504
September 30	6:00 p.m.	No. 25 Central Arkansas	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	ESPN+	L 27–29	4,013
October 7	5:00 p.m.	Tarleton State	Memorial Stadium Stephenville, TX	ESPN+	W 27–26	10,835
October 21	6:00 p.m.	No. 24 Austin Peay	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	ESPN+	L 45–48 2OT	3,547
October 28	1:00 p.m.	Abilene Christian	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	ESPN+	W 52–14	2,969
November 4	1:00 p.m.	Lincoln (CA)*	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	ESPN+	W 35–6	3,023
November 11	3:00 p.m.	at Stephen F. Austin	Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX	ESPN+	W 45–17	6,835
November 18	7:00 p.m.	at Utah Tech	Greater Zion Stadium St. George, UT	ESPN+	W 24–16	6,077
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

Game summaries

at Arizona State

See also: 2023 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

Southern Utah Thunderbirds (0–0) vs Arizona State Sun Devils (0–0) – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	0	7	7	7	21
Sun Devils	7	14	0	3	24

at Mountain America Stadium • Tempe, AZ

• Date: August 31, 2023
• Game time: 7:00 p.m.
• Game weather: Cloudy, 102 °F (39 °C)
• Game attendance: 47,773
• Referee: Cravonne Barrett
• TV announcers (Pac-12 Network): Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Lincoln Kennedy (analyst)

Game information

First quarter (9:00) ASU – Cameron Skattebo 6-yard run, Dario Longhetto kick (Drive: 5 plays, 68 yards, 1:59; Arizona State 7–0) Second quarter (11:05) SUU – Targhee Lambson 1-yard run, Tyler Graham kick (Drive: 11 plays, 62 yards, 6:43; Tied 7–7) (5:32) ASU – Xavier Guillory 47-yard pass from Jaden Rashada, Dario Longhetto kick (Drive: 7 plays, 77 yards, 2:37; Arizona State 14–7) (0:02) ASU – Troy Omeire 3-yard pass from Jaden Rashada, Dario Longhetto kick (Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 2:54; Arizona State 21–7) Third quarter (0:49) SUU – Zack Mitchell 17-yard pass from Justin Miller, Tyler Graham kick (Drive: 5 plays, 70 yards, 3:39; Arizona State 21–14) Fourth quarter (13:41) ASU – Dario Longhetto 38-yard field goal (Drive: 4 plays, -14 yards, 1:49; Arizona State 24–14) (7:50) SUU – George Ramirez 47-yard blocked punt return, Tyler Graham kick (Drive: 9 plays, 27 yards, 4:40; Arizona State 24–21)

Statistics	SUU	ASU
First downs	11	19
Total yards	226	371
Rushes/yards	87	135
Passing yards	139	236
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	9–18–0	18–31–0
Time of possession	30:48	29:12

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southern Utah	Passing	Justin Miller	8/17, 123 yards, TD
	Rushing	Braedon Wissler	15 carries, 45 yards
	Receiving	Zach Mitchell	4 receptions, 52 yards, TD
Arizona State	Passing	Jaden Rashada	18/31, 236 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Cameron Skattebo	17 carries, 75 yards, TD
	Receiving	Xavier Guillory	5 receptions, 73 yards, TD

at BYU

See also: 2023 BYU Cougars football team

Southern Utah at BYU

1 2 3 4 Total Thunderbirds 3 0 7 6 16 • Cougars 6 21 7 7 41 Date: September 9 Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT Game start: 1:02 p.m. MDT Elapsed time: 3:12 Game attendance: 60,834 Game weather: 82 °F (28 °C), Winds NE 3 mph Referee: Tutashinda Salaam TV announcers (ESPN+): Matt Schumacker, Brad Hopkins, and Shane Sparks Sources:

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP SUU BYU 1 7:17 9 52 4:06 SUU 29-yard field goal by Tyler Graham 3 0 1 1:03 9 85 4:23 BYU Isaac Rex 20-yard touchdown reception from Kedon Slovis, Will Ferrin kick no good 3 6 2 12:36 5 36 2:12 BYU Keanu Hill 8-yard touchdown reception from Kedon Slovis, Will Ferrin kick good 3 13 2 5:47 8 78 4:22 BYU Darius Lassiter 8-yard touchdown reception from Kedon Slovis, Will Ferrin kick good 3 20 2 00:30 4 70 0:30 BYU Deion Smith 2-yard touchdown run, Will Ferrin kick good 3 27 3 11:00 7 75 4:00 SUU Isaiah Wooden 33-yard touchdown reception from Justin Miller, Tyler Graham kick good 10 27 3 0:36 7 72 3:25 BYU Kedon Slovis 6-yard touchdown run, Will Ferrin kick good 10 34 4 9:39 1 39 0:09 BYU Chase Roberts 39-yard touchdown reception from Kedon Slovis, Will Ferrin kick good 10 41 4 5:15 8 75 4:24 SUU Targhee Lambson 2-yard touchdown run, Tyler Graham kick no good 16 41 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 16 41

Statistics	SUU	BYU
First downs	16	18
Plays–yards	60–346	55–394
Rushes–yards	27–84, 1 TD	23–46, 2 TD's
Passing yards	262	348
Passing: comp–att–int	17–33–1, 1 TD	22–32–1, 4 TD's
Time of possession	31:19	28:41

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
SUU	Passing	Justin Miller	16–30–1, 235 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Targhee Lambson	7 carries, 32 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Zach Mitchell	7 receptions, 135 yards
BYU	Passing	Kedon Slovis	22–32–1, 348 yards, 4 TD's
	Rushing	LJ Martin	6 carries, 27 yards
	Receiving	Isaac Rex	4 receptions, 112 yards, 1 TD