CEDAR CITY– The year is 2008; the date, September 6; the place, the Eccles Collesium on the campus of Southern Utah University. Head Coach Ed Lamb’s first home game at the reigns of the SUU Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds were hosting the Grizzlies of Adams State College in their second game of the season, after a week-one loss at Air Force.
The result, a victory–their first victory since the beginning of a 19-game losing streak.
The Thunderbirds were coming off a more than disappointing season in 2007 under former head coach Wes Meire, in which they went 0-11. The most points they scored in a single game that season was 27…they still lost that game by 25.
The victory was a sigh of relief to Thunderbird fans everywhere, but the this win was merely a precursor to the shape that SUU football would take under the direction of Coach Lamb.
The T-Birds finished that season with four wins. in 2009, they finished with five. 2010, six, and a Great West Conference Championship.
Southern Utah University looks to continue in their winning ways this year, despite losing stand out receivers Tysson Pootes, the 2010 GWC Offensive Player of the Year and two-time all-American, and Fesi Sitake. Pootes was picked up by the Dallas Cowboys after going un-drafted in the 2011 NFL Draft.
The Thunderbirds play their first game on the road Saturday at South Dakota State. The T-Birds’ home opener is on September 10, against Sacramento State, which is one of the team’s four home games this season.
