It’s the first matchup between the two schools in five years. It’s also the fifth time in the last six meetings to take place in Cedar City.

Weber State is 1-0 after a 30-29 victory at Northern Colorado to open the season. Southern Utah is 0-1 after a 28-21 loss to then-No. 2 Montana.

Though Southern Utah has returned to the Big Sky, this game counts in the nonconference ledger. The pair originally lined up a six-game nonconference series that started this season, and late changes to both the FCS and Big Sky schedule formats meant keeping it as a nonleague game was a good solution (only in 2026) for both sides.

NORTHERN UTAHNS FACE OFF

Northridge High alum Joshua Acord (tight end) and Davis High product David Spjut (slot receiver) are chief among Southern Utah contributors to hail from Northern Utah.

Jackson Stevens, who began his high school career at Davis, is a backup QB. Syracuse High alum Wyatt Humphrey (safety) is also a Thunderbird.

WSU has 13 Northern Utahns on the team. Davis High’s Spencer Ferguson and Roy High’s Robert Young are starters on offense and return teams. Northridge alum Zach Smith got on the field at linebacker last week, tallying the game-winning blocked PAT, and Layton/Weber product Ian Elmore saw time at safety in Game 1.

MEET THE THUNDERBIRDS

SUU scoring only 21 points at Montana is deceiving. Senior quarterback Will Burns (No. 7) threw 24 of 34 for 251 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and rushed 15 times for 119 yards.

Acord (No. 8) caught six passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Fifth-year running back Floyd Chalk (No. 3) had 100 yards on 25 carries.

Defensively, sophomore safety Parker Vance (No. 22) led SUU with eight tackles and one interception. Senior defensive end Aiden Hall (No. 96) had 1.5 tackles for loss.

On special teams, Southern Utah attempted two field goals from 50 yards; Jayden Rogers made the first but Montana blocked the second. Daniel Valencia punted two times for an average of 43.5 yards.

TEAM VS. TEAM METRICS

In scoring 30 points at Northern Colorado, WSU totaled 370 yards, including a 6.5 yards-per-play average. Defensively, WSU gave up 29 points on 485 yards and a 6.1 yards-per-play average.

Weber State is minus-one in the turnover margin after Devin Brown threw a first-half interception at NoCo and WSU’s defense did not produce any turnovers.

WSU committed two penalties for 10 yards last week.

In the loss to Montana, Southern Utah scored 21 points on 510 yards of offense, with a clip of 6.1 yards per play. Defensively, the T-Birds gave up 28 points on only 338 yards but a yards-per-play average of 7.3 (SUU ran 83 plays, Montana 46.)

SUU is plus-one in the turnover margin, giving away one turnover (an interception) while gaining two (one interception, one fumble recovery).

The T-Birds racked up nine penalties for 94 yards in the opener.

ODDS & PREDICTIONS

Jeff Sagarin ranks Weber State at No. 168 in all of Division I (FBS and FCS, 266 total teams). Southern Utah is No. 136. Including home-field advantage, his formula favors SUU by seven points.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranks Weber State at No. 52 in FCS (128 teams) and Southern Utah at No. 36. His formula predicts SUU winning 34-26.

D Ratings predicts a Southern Utah victory of 34-23 at 79% probability.

WEATHER

Wind could be a factor in this one.

Saturday’s high in Cedar City is 82 degrees with forecasted winds of 20 mph from the south-southwest. The temperature is set for 79 degrees at 6 p.m. kickoff with winds at 17 mph. The sun sets at 7:55 p.m., after the second half is underway.

Winds calm to 8 mph by game’s end with temperatures near 70 degrees. Eccles Coliseum has a true north-south orientation, so a wind of 17 mph could impact the first half, especially, with teams going either fully against or with the wind.

TV & RADIO

The game will stream on the ESPN+ subscription service, available on the ESPN app or WatchESPN.com. Southern Utah’s call will feature Spencer McLaughlin and Lyle Santos on the mic.

Weber State’s radio call, with Carl Arky and former WSU player Dave Stireman, airs in Utah on 103.1 FM and online at coast103.com.

ALL-TIME SERIES

Weber State leads the all-time series 21-8 and has won five straight overall, and five straight in Cedar City. The last matchup, also in Cedar City in the fall of 2021, was a 62-0 win for Weber State.