# 2019 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

The 2019 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team represented Southern Utah University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Demario Warren and played their home games at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City, Utah as eighth-year members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 3–9, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a five-way tie for ninth place.

## Preseason
### Big Sky preseason poll

The Big Sky released their preseason media and coaches' polls on July 15, 2019. The Thunderbirds were picked to finish in eleventh place by the media and in twelfth by the coaches.
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Eastern Washington | 536 (25) |
| 2 | UC Davis | 510 (13) |
| 3 | Weber State | 472 (4) |
| 4 | Montana State | 417 |
| 5 | Montana | 396 (1) |
| 6 | Northern Arizona | 302 |
| 7 | Idaho State | 285 |
| 8 | Idaho | 248 |
| 9 | Cal Poly | 196 |
| 10 | Portland State | 178 |
| 11 | Southern Utah | 160 |
| 12 | Sacramento State | 125 |
| 13 | Northern Colorado | 90 |
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Eastern Washington | 140 (10) |
| 2 | UC Davis | 127 (2) |
| 3 | Weber State | 124 |
| 4 | Montana | 104 (1) |
| 5 | Montana State | 100 |
| 6 | Northern Arizona | 88 |
| 7 | Idaho State | 72 |
| 8 | Idaho | 65 |
| 9 | Cal Poly | 56 |
| 10 | Portland State | 42 |
| 11 | Sacramento State | 40 |
| 12 | Southern Utah | 38 |
| 13 | Northern Colorado | 19 |

### Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Thunderbirds had one player selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 8:00 p.m. | at UNLV* | Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV | Stadium | L 23–56 | 17,421 |
| September 7 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 11 Northern Iowa* | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | ESPN3 | L 14–34 | 9,241 |
| September 14 | 6:05 p.m. | Stephen F. Austin* | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | Pluto TV | W 45–38 $^{OT}$ | 5,568 |
| September 21 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 3 South Dakota State* | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | Midco | L 7–43 | 14,269 |
| September 28 | 6:05 p.m. | Cal Poly | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | Pluto TV | L 21–24 | 7,741 |
| October 5 | 3:00 p.m. | at Portland State | Hillsboro StadiumHillsboro, OR | Pluto TV | L 31–52 | 3,222 |
| October 12 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 4 Weber State | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT (Beehive Bowl) | Pluto TV | L 14–29 | 10,622 |
| October 19 | 6:05 p.m. | No. 23 UC Davis | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | Pluto TV | L 25–33 | 3,156 |
| October 26 | 2:05 p.m. | Idaho State | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | Pluto TV | W 59–34 | 3,809 |
| November 2 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 14 Montana State | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | RTNW | L 7–42 | 15,617 |
| November 16 | 2:05 p.m. | Northern Arizona | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT (Grand Canyon Rivalry) | Pluto TV | W 31–30 | 3,711 |
| November 23 | 12:00 p.m. | at North Dakota | Alerus CenterGrand Forks, ND | Pluto TV | L 18–36 | 7,485 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||
* Source:

## Game summaries
### At UNLV

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 7 | 0 | 16 | 23 |
| Rebels | 7 | 28 | 21 | 0 | 56 |

### At Northern Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 11 Panthers | 7 | 17 | 10 | 0 | 34 |

### Stephen F. Austin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Lumberjacks | 0 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 38 |
| Thunderbirds | 10 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 45 |

### At South Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 7 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 43 |

### Cal Poly

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mustangs | 3 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 21 |

### At Portland State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
| Vikings | 10 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 52 |

### At Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 4 Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 29 |

### UC Davis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 23 Aggies | 12 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 33 |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 7 | 0 | 18 | 25 |

### Idaho State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 14 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 34 |
| Thunderbirds | 28 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 59 |

### At Montana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| No. 14 Bobcats | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 42 |

### Northern Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lumberjacks | 3 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 30 |
| Thunderbirds | 3 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 31 |

### At North Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 18 |
| Fighting Hawks | 7 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 36 |