ST. GEORGE — The new football-only United Athletic Conference held its media day last week and both teams from Southern Utah sent coaches and players to represent.
The event was held at the Shift 4 Arena in Arlington, Texas, on Friday and brought together representatives from all nine Football Championship Series (FCS) teams that comprise the new conference.
As previously reported in St. George News the UAC was formed out of a merger between football teams from the Western Athletic and Atlantic Sun conferences.
WAC universities now in the UAC include Utah Tech, Southern Utah, Abilene Christian, Stephen F. Austin and Tarleton State. Former A-Sun teams joining the news league are Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky and North Alabama.
Conference reporter Kendra Sheehan moderated the media day interviews as the head coach and two players from each of the nine UAC squads discussed the upcoming season on the gridiron.
No media poll was taken so teams did not have a preseason ranking.
The full interviews from all nine teams are available on ESPN+.
Trailblazers hope momentum keeps rolling
In its fourth and final year of official transition to Division I status, Utah Tech returns five starters on offense and seven on defense.
Utah Tech finished 4-7 last year but won three of its final four contests and finished with the No. 1 passing offense in the WAC.
“I just hope we can come in hot, with a whole bunch of momentum and team chemistry we’ve been building this summer,” senior wide receiver Rickie Johnson told Sheehan. “We hope to keep rolling and keep that energy and that momentum from last year going.”
Johnson caught 40 passes last year, finishing with 697 yards and six touchdowns.
“I’ve been taking this off-season really serious, training with a whole different bunch of people,” Johnson said. “I want to add more to my toolbox so I can be the best wideout for our team.”
Head coach Paul Peterson, entering his fifth year on the sideline at Utah Tech, has a 15-23 overall record.
Always a proponent of a tough schedule, Peterson talked about this year’s slate that includes three FCS playoff teams from last year (Montana, Montana State and Eastern Kentucky). The Trailblazers will host four games at Greater Zion Stadium and will travel for the seven others.
“I’m excited to play these teams that we haven’t played before,” Peterson said. “Little bit of a challenge having four home games and seven away games, but it doesn’t matter. We’ll play anybody, anywhere. That’s kind of been our mindset and to be able to play some of these really good teams in the FCS, we’re excited.”
Like last year, the Trailblazers enter the preseason not knowing for sure who will start at quarterback. Leading passer Victor Gabalis (1,948 yards, 17 touchdowns) entered the transfer portal and will play for Tarleton State.
Returning signal callers Kobe Tracy and Boone Abbott will vie for the QB1 position.
“We haven’t made that decision yet,” Peterson said. “Both Kobe Tracy and Boone Abbott are fantastic quarterbacks with a lot of playing experience from last year. But if we have to play both of them to give us the best chance to win the game, we’re going to play both.”
Junior defensive lineman Syrus Webster finished first in the WAC last year with 5.5 sacks among his 42 tackles. He was a First Team All-WAC player.
“I love St. George. I love the team, I love the coach right here,” Webster said. “It’s always fun to be around the team, just be around everybody. The community is great. I love working hard every single day, coming in and being a good example for the guys.”
“There’s a lot of love on our team,” Peterson said.
Utah Tech’s season kicks off on the road against Montana State Sept. 2.
Thunderbirds to rely on veteran quarterback
Southern Utah finished 5-6 overall last year and returns for its second season under the leadership of head coach DeLane Fitzgerald.
“We had a great off-season. Our recruiting class was exactly what we wanted it to be and the players we have brought in have been an addition to our program,” Fitzgerald told Sheehan.
“But in the weight room, our kids have gotten better. They’ve taken the motto of ‘getting 1 percent better each day’ to heart. We’ve been able to stack good days after good days continually to improve,” Fitzgerald added. “We think we’re a lot better than we were last fall. We’re excited.”
SUU’s success will largely hinge on the right arm of senior quarterback Justin Miller, who last year threw for 2,821 yards and 20 touchdowns.
“He’s just really smart. We’re blessed to have Justin coming back,” Fitzgerald said. “A really, really good football player. Every week this year he’ll be the smartest guy on the football field, on both sides. He’s a coach for us, on and off the field. We’re fortunate to have him.”
Miller said that it’s been a learning curve over the summer under new quarterbacks coach Tye Hiatt.
“I think first of all we just got to learn the offense, right? So learning the offense has been a big part of it,” Miller said. “But diving in a little bit deeper, figuring out why we’re calling what we’re calling.
“Situational football has been huge for us and has got to be a point of emphasis for us this year as well,” he added. “We’ve got to be good in tight situations, in all situations really.”
Defensively, SUU looks forward to the play of the Thunderbirds linemen and linebackers.
“We think we’re really good in the front seven,” Fitzgerald said. “We think we’re a little undervalued in the front seven and people don’t think we’re very good. We think our defensive line and linebackers are as good as any in the FCS in the country.”
SUU opens its season on the road at Arizona State Aug. 31.
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