# 2018 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

The 2018 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team represented Southern Utah University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Demario Warren and played their home games at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City, Utah as seventh-year as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 1–10, 1–7 in Big Sky play to finish in 12th place.

## Preseason
### Polls

On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Thunderbirds were predicted to finish in sixth place in both the coaches and media poll.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Eastern Washington | 134 (6) |
| 2 | Weber State | 124 (3) |
| 3 | Northern Arizona | 121 (3) |
| 4 | Idaho | 101 (1) |
| 5 | Sacramento State | 94 |
| 6 | Southern Utah | 91 |
| 7 | Montana | 82 |
| 8 | Montana State | 76 |
| 9 | UC Davis | 64 |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 40 |
| 11 | Northern Colorado | 30 |
| 12 | Idaho State | 29 |
| 13 | Portland State | 21 |
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Eastern Washington | 651 (27) |
| 2 | Weber State | 636 (19) |
| 3 | Northern Arizona | 535 (1) |
| 4 | Montana | 496 (2) |
| 5 | Idaho | 483 (3) |
| 6 | Southern Utah | 449 (1) |
| 7 | Sacramento State | 415 |
| 8 | Montana State | 391 (1) |
| 9 | UC Davis | 331 (1) |
| 10 | Idaho State | 170 |
| 11 | Cal Poly | 169 |
| 12 | Northern Colorado | 166 |
| 13 | Portland State | 103 |

### Preseason All-Conference Team

The Thunderbirds had five players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.
Marquez Tucker – Sr. OT
PJ Nu’usa – Jr. OG
Zach Larsen – Jr. C
Chinedu Ahanonu – Sr. LB
Jalen Russell – So. CB

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 6:00 p.m. | North Alabama* | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | Pluto TV 236 | L 30–34 | 8,912 |
| September 8 | 6:00 p.m. | at Oregon State* | Reser StadiumCorvallis, OR | P12N | L 25–48 | 36,448 |
| September 15 | 9:00 p.m. | at Arizona* | Arizona StadiumTucson, AZ | P12N | L 31–62 | 41,493 |
| September 22 | 4:00 p.m. | at Northern Arizona | Walkup SkydomeFlagstaff, AZ (Grand Canyon Rivalry) | Pluto TV 239 | L 23–31 | 5,832 |
| October 6 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 5 Eastern Washington | Roos FieldCheney, WA | ATTRM | L 17–55 | 8,887 |
| October 13 | 6:00 p.m. | Sacramento State | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | Pluto TV 236 | W 48–27 | 10,424 |
| October 20 | 3:00 p.m. | at Idaho | Kibbie DomeMoscow, ID | Pluto TV 242 | L 12–31 | 12,798 |
| October 27 | 6:00 p.m. | Northern Colorado | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | Pluto TV 236 | L 39–42 | 7,106 |
| November 3 | 1:00 p.m. | Montana | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | ATTRM | L 14–57 | 7,162 |
| November 10 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 3 Weber State | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT (Beehive Bowl) | ELVN | L 18–31 | 7,415 |
| November 17 | 5:00 p.m. | at Cal Poly | Alex G. Spanos StadiumSan Luis Obispo, CA | Pluto TV 244 | L 24–38 | 4,520 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time |||||||
* Source: Schedule

## Game summaries
### North Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 3 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 34 |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 30 |

### At Oregon State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 25 |
| Beavers | 17 | 24 | 0 | 7 | 48 |

### At Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 17 | 0 | 14 | 31 |
| Wildcats | 7 | 17 | 24 | 14 | 62 |

### At Northern Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 23 |
| Lumberjacks | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 31 |

### At Eastern Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| No. 5 Eagles | 14 | 20 | 21 | 0 | 55 |

### Sacramento State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hornets | 21 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 27 |
| Thunderbirds | 7 | 20 | 14 | 7 | 48 |

### At Idaho

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| Vandals | 10 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 31 |

### Northern Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 14 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 42 |
| Thunderbirds | 8 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 39 |

### Montana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Grizzlies | 20 | 10 | 21 | 6 | 57 |
| Thunderbirds | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

### Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Wildcats | 7 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 31 |
| Thunderbirds | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 |

### At Cal Poly

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 14 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
| Mustangs | 0 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 38 |