The 2015 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team represented Southern Utah University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by eighth-year head coach Ed Lamb and played their home games at Eccles Coliseum. This was their fourth year as a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 8–4, 7–1 in Big Sky play to be crowned Big Sky champion for the first time. They received the Big Sky's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs where they lost in the first round to Sam Houston State.
On December 26, Lamb resigned to become the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at BYU.[1] He finished at Southern Utah with an eight year record of 45–47.
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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| 7:00 pm | at Utah State* | | | | L 9–12 | 21,209 |
September 12 | 5:00 pm | at No. 9 South Dakota State* | | | ESPN3 | L 10–55 | 13,423 |
September 19 | 6:00 pm | Northern Colorado | | | WBS | W 30–3 | 5,103 |
September 26 | 6:00 pm | Brevard* | | - Eccles Coliseum
- Cedar City, UT
| WBS | W 55–7 | 5,789 |
| 6:00 pm | at Weber State | | | WBS | W 44–0 | 5,778 |
October 17 | 6:00 pm | Sacramento State | | - Eccles Coliseum
- Cedar City, UT
| WBS | W 44–0 | 3,607 |
October 24 | 5:00 pm | at UC Davis | | | | W 34–6 | 4,640 |
October 31 | 3:00 pm | Cal Poly | | - Eccles Coliseum
- Cedar City, UT
| WBS | W 54–37 | 4,506 |
November 7 | 1:00 pm | at Montana State | No. 20 | | RTUT | W 34–23 | 17,427 |
November 14 | 3:05 pm | at No. 15 Portland State | No. 18 | | WBS | L 23–24 | 6,122 |
November 21 | 3:00 pm | No. 24 Northern Arizona | No. 20 | | WBS | W 49–41 | 9,022 |
November 28 | 3:00 pm | at No. 6 Sam Houston State* | No. 17 | | ESPN3 | L 39–42 | 3,098 |
|
Game summaries
At Utah State
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
Thunderbirds
|
6
|
3
|
0
|
0 |
9 |
Aggies
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
7 |
12 |
At South Dakota State
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
Thunderbirds
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
3 |
10 |
#9 Jackrabbits
|
3
|
24
|
7
|
21 |
55 |
Northern Colorado
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
Bears
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0 |
3 |
Thunderbirds
|
17
|
6
|
7
|
0 |
30 |
Brevard
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
Tornados
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
7 |
7 |
Thunderbirds
|
7
|
20
|
14
|
14 |
55 |
At Weber State
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
Thunderbirds
|
7
|
10
|
14
|
13 |
44 |
Wildcats
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0 |
0 |
Sacramento State
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
Hornets
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0 |
0 |
Thunderbirds
|
21
|
0
|
16
|
7 |
44 |
At UC Davis
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
Thunderbirds
|
0
|
7
|
13
|
14 |
34 |
Aggies
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0 |
6 |
Cal Poly
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
Mustangs
|
3
|
21
|
7
|
6 |
37 |
Thunderbirds
|
10
|
23
|
7
|
14 |
54 |
At Montana State
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
#20 Thunderbirds
|
0
|
7
|
19
|
8 |
34 |
Bobcats
|
7
|
3
|
7
|
6 |
23 |
At Portland State
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
#18 Thunderbirds
|
10
|
0
|
7
|
6 |
23 |
#15 Vikings
|
7
|
10
|
0
|
7 |
24 |
Northern Arizona
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
#24 Lumberjacks
|
3
|
21
|
7
|
10 |
41 |
#20 Thunderbirds
|
7
|
7
|
21
|
14 |
49 |
FCS Playoffs
First Round–at Sam Houston State
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
#17 Thunderbirds
|
6
|
26
|
7
|
0 |
39 |
#6 Bearkats
|
16
|
10
|
7
|
9 |
42 |
Ranking movements
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes | Week |
---|
Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
---|
STATS FCS | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 20 | 18 | 20 | 17 | 18 |
---|
Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | 24 | 18 | 15 | 18 | 16 | 18 |
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References
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Venues | |
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Bowls & rivalries | |
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People | |
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Seasons | |
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|
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College Division / Division II | |
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I-AA/FCS |
- Northern Arizona (1978)
- Montana State (1979)
- Boise State (1980)
- Idaho State (1981)
- Montana, Idaho, & Montana State (1982)
- Nevada (1983)
- Montana State (1984)
- Idaho (1985)
- Nevada (1986)
- Idaho (1987)
- Idaho (1988)
- Idaho (1989)
- Nevada (1990)
- Nevada (1991)
- Idaho & Eastern Washington (1992)
- Montana (1993)
- Boise State (1994)
- Montana (1995)
- Montana (1996)
- Eastern Washington (1997)
- Montana (1998)
- Montana (1999)
- Montana (2000)
- Montana (2001)
- Montana, Montana State, & Idaho State (2002)
- Montana State, Montana, & Northern Arizona (2003)
- Montana & Eastern Washington (2004)
- Eastern Washington, Montana State, & Montana (2005)
- Montana (2006)
- Montana (2007)
- Weber State & Montana (2008)
- Montana (2009)
- Montana State & Eastern Washington (2010)
- Montana State & Montana (2011)
- Eastern Washington, Montana State, & Cal Poly (2012)
- Eastern Washington (2013)
- Eastern Washington (2014)
- (2015)
- Eastern Washington & North Dakota (2016)
- Southern Utah & Weber State (2017)
- Eastern Washington, UC Davis, & Weber State (2018)
- Sacramento State & Weber State (2019)
- Weber State (2020)
- Sacramento State (2021)
- Montana State & Sacramento State (2022)
- Montana (2023)
- Montana State (2024)
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National championships in bold |