Southern Utah 2014 Preview

There were some changes on the SUU staff this off-season.  There was a lot of hubub about former BYU head coach Gary Crowton landing in Cedar City and former BYU backup Ammon Olsen transferring for his senior season.  This was after Justin Ena and Steve Clark left Cedar City for Weber State and Ogden.

For those of you looking to make a big deal of Crowton's coming remember there must be a reason why the former top assistant at LSU is now at SUU.  This is not the career path most good coaches make.  The reason is that he has found little success in his jobs since leaving Baton Rouge.  As for Olsen, well, he was just looking for the playing time he wasn't going to get backing up Taysom Hill. 

Changes needed to be made in Cedar City, in spite of recent successes, especially on offense.  There were many reason why SUU made the FCS playoffs for the first time ever in 2013, but the play of Quarterback Aaron Kantu and the rest of the Thunderbird offense were not among them.  The only thing the offense did well was not turn the ball over.  Usually, the defense and the special teams gave the offense good field position.  The offense usually didn't have to be spectacular.  When the offense had to be spectacular, they failed.  Hence, the first post-season romp ended ignominiously last year.

But who needs offense when you can win games on special teams and defense?  Can Demario Warren replace Justin Ena as the defense coordinator?  That is the real question in Cedar City this season. 

To return to the post-season in 2014, the Thunderbirds will need to pull off an upset in one of the four games where they will not be favored; either one of the FBS road games against Nevada or Fresno State or conference games against Cal Poly or Eastern Washington.  They will also need to win the games that they should win.  If they can do that, they will repeat last year's success. 

Schedule:

August 30 @ Nevada
September 6 @ Southeastern Louisiana
September 13 South Dakota State (HC)
September 20 @ Fresno State
September 27 Weber State
October 4 @ Cal Poly
October 11 Eastern Washington
October 18 @ Idaho State
October 25 North Dakota
November 8 @ Sacramento State
November 15 Montana
November 22 @ Northern Arizona

Worst-Case Scenario 4-8
Best-Case Scenario 9-3
Most Likely Scenario 8-4
(Likely Wins: S.E. Louisiana, South Dakota State, Weber State, Idaho State, North Dakota, Sacramento State, Montana and Northern Arizona.  Likely Losses: Nevada, Fresno State, Cal Poly and Eastern Washington.)

Most intriguing game of 2014.  September 27 vs. former assistants Ena and Clark and Weber State.