SUU football: After confidence-building win, T-birds visit North Dakota

Grand Forks, N.D. • Southern Utah plays the first of two season-ending road games Saturday at North Dakota.

Coming off a 30-27 victory over top-ranked Eastern Washington, the Thunderbirds are 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the Big Sky Conference.

By winning its final games at UND and Northern Arizona, SUU could finish with its third straight winning season.

At the same time, the Thunderbirds could be fighting for a conference championship and a postseason playoff berth if they had not lost to Montana State, Sacramento State and Weber State by 14 points.

Frustrating? Certainly.

But coach Ed Lamb believes in looking ahead, not in the rear-view mirror.

"From my perspective, once a loss occurs, your attention and focus immediately falls on the next opponent," Lamb said. "... As a coach, I don't enjoy losing. But I enjoy trying to help these guys win after a tough loss."

North Dakota comes off a 55-10 loss at Montana State, which rolled up 695 yards of total offense. Last year, UND defeated SUU in Cedar City, 26-20.

"They beat us up physically," Lamb said. "Hopefully our players remember that and are motivated by it." —

Southern Utah at North Dakota

P At the Alerus Center

Kickoff • Saturday, 12:05 p.m.

TV • Big Sky TV. Radio • 91.1 FM

Records • Southern Utah 4-5, 3-3; North Dakota 4-5, 2-4

Series • Southern Utah, 3-2

Last meeting • North Dakota, 26-20 (2011)

About the Thunderbirds • They are 2-2 on the road. ... They are second nationally in turnover margin (plus-1.56). ... K Colton Cook has already established a school record for field goals in a season (16). ... QB Brad Sorensen is the school's all-time leader for passing yards (8,705).

About North Dakota • It is 3-2 at home with wins over Portland State (45-37) and Montana (40-34). ... Its offense averages 34.3 points and 440.3 yards per game. ... UND has alternated senior QBs Marcus Hendrickson and Braden Hanson, who started last week at Montana State.