Thunderbirds Release 2007 Schedule

'Birds To Face 10 Ranked Teams In ‘07

CEDAR CITY, Utah, March 19 – Southern Utah University’s 2007 football schedule will be a challenging one, to say the least. The Thunderbirds will square off against nine teams which finished the 2006 season ranked in the NCAA Championship Subdivision top-25, while the team’s lone Division II opponent was ranked seventh in the final D-II rankings.

Fans in Cedar City will be able to see the Thunderbirds host three of last year’s top-25, including Southern Illinois, which finished last season ranked No. 7, No. 16 Cal Poly and No. 21 McNeese State. In addition to those three, UC Davis, which spent most of 2006 in the to-25 before finishing 28th, as well as North Dakota, which finished the season ranked seventh in Division II.

Also included on the schedule are road games at No. 3 Montana, No. 4 Youngstown State, No. 5 North Dakota State, No. 10 Montana State, No. 17 Northern Iowa and No. 22 South Dakota State.

SUU Coach Wes Meier is upbeat about the opportunity to play such a demanding schedule. “This will be a hard schedule but to be one of the best I-AA teams you have to play the best,” he points out. “I would rather play the toughest teams rather than the easiest. Our expectations are high, even though we lost some key players from last year and we’re still working toward becoming fully-funded at this level.”

The Thunderbirds open Sept. 1, at Montana in a game scheduled for 1:05 p.m. (Mountain) at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The next week SUU begins a three-game home-stand, with games scheduled for Sept. 8, against North Dakota; Sept. 15, vs. Southern Illinois; and Sept. 22 against McNeese State. All three home games in September are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (Mountain) kickoffs.

Following the McNeese State game the Thunderbirds will enjoy a bye week before playing back-to-back road games, at Montana State, Oct. 6 (1:35 p.m., Mountain), and at Youngstown State, Oct. 13 (4:00 p.m., Eastern).

The Thunderbirds open Great West Football Conference play at home on Oct. 20 when they host UC Davis at 1:00 p.m., then they go back on the road to play North Dakota State (1:00 p.m., Central) in another GWFC game.

The Thunderbirds’ final home game will be Nov. 3, when they host Cal Poly (1:00 p.m.); then they close out the GWFC schedule with a 1:00 p.m. (Central) game at South Dakota State before wrapping up the regular season at Northern Iowa, Nov. 17 (5:05 p.m., Central).

2007 SUU Football Schedule (All times tentative)

Date – Opponent – Time
Sept. 1 – At Montana – 1:05 pm
Sept. 8 – North Dakota – 6:00 pm
Sept. 15 – Southern Illinois – 6:00 pm
Sept. 22 – McNeese State – 6:00 pm
Sept. 29 – Open
Oct. 6 – At Montana State – 1:35 pm
Oct. 13 – At Youngstown State – 4:00 pm
Oct. 20 – UC Davis* – 1:00 pm
Oct. 27 – At North Dakota State* – 1:00 pm
Nov. 3 – Cal Poly* – 1:00 pm
Nov. 10 – At South Dakota State* – 1:00 pm
Nov. 17 – At Northern Iowa – 5:05 p.m.

*Great West Conference game
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