Looking to regain a .500 record, the Southern Utah University football team will take on the No. 9 ranked University of California, Davis at the UC Davis Health Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m.
This game will also be streamed on ESPN+.
Most recent games
The T-Birds are coming off a high-scoring close contest versus Northern Arizona University. The game was promising despite the loss, with SUU coming back from a 42-28 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to take the lead with four minutes left.
UC Davis, on the other hand, recently got trounced in a 70-10 loss at the hands of the University of Washington. It wasn’t all bad for the Aggies, though. Defensive back Rex Connors became their all-time tackle leader that game. UC Davis also didn’t play last week, giving them more rest than SUU.
Southern Utah
The Thunderbirds start the season 1-2 on the year and are currently on a two-game slide. The SUU offense has been very impressive through three games. Among the Football Championship Subdivision, quarterback Bronson Barron is 6th in passing yards.
Running back Joshua Dye is third in rushing yards and SUU as a whole is sixth in points per game with just over 40. However, their defense is tied for 78 in terms of opponent points allowed per game with just under 35.
Wide receivers Gabe Nunez and Shane Carr are both top-35 in receiving yards and continue to be Barron’s go-to pass catchers. However, Dye leads the team in yardage and dwarfs the carry numbers of Nunez, Carr and running back Braedon Wissler combined.
SUU’s best defender continues to be linebacker Sebastian Adamski. In his first football season since 2022 at Drake, the senior leads the team in tackles and is one of two SUU players alongside defensive end Lando Brown to record a sack this season.
UC Davis
The Aggies are anchored by quarterback Caden Pinnick. The freshman from Loomis, California has thrown for 303 yards in two games. UC Davis wide receiver Samuel Gbatu Jr. leads receivers with more than two catches on both teams in yards per reception with 17. Only four players have scored a touchdown for the Aggies, while eight have taken it to the house for SUU.
Overall, UC Davis’ defensive numbers were dragged down by their 60-point loss to Washington. The Aggies barely force any turnovers like SUU and have zero sacks in their first two games. Both teams also have five players with over 10 tackles and one player with over 20.
SUU has lost its last three games against UC Davis, and is 9-14 against them all-time. Those three losses were all one-possession games, and their six most recent wins against the Aggies were all by 20 points or more.
Author: Payson Davis
Photographer: SUU Athletics
Editor: Jack Paul
