OGDEN, Utah – Southern Utah University head football coach Demario Warren has been named Coach of the Year in the Big Sky Conference following the team’s run to the Big Sky Conference Championship. Warren is sharing this year’s honor with Jody Sears from Sacramento State, as both coaches were honored by the league on Wednesday.
In just his second year in charge of the Thunderbird program, Warren led his team to a 9-2 overall record and a 7-1 record in Big Sky Conference play. Warren has also been very solid at home, sitting with a 9-1 record over two years at Eccles Coliseum.
After dropping the season opener to Oregon, the Thunderbirds were able to right the ship with back-to-back wins over Stephen F. Austin and Northern Iowa. The Thunderbirds hit a bump in the road in Sacramento, falling to Sacramento State in their first Big Sky Conference game of the year. However, the Thunderbirds haven’t lost since and are riding a seven game winning streak into the FCS Playoffs.
Going into the season the Thunderbirds were picked to finish seventh in the league.
Sacramento State head coach Jody Sears/ by Brooks Nuanez
Sac State was picked to finish 12th in the 13-team Big Sky by both the league’s coaches and affiliated media. Instead, the Hornets finished in a tie for second with a 6-2 record in league play and posted a 7-4 overall record. The honor is the first for a Hornet head football coach since joining the Big Sky in 1996.
recorded a couple of firsts at Sacramento State — winning seven games against Div. I opponents and earning six Big Sky victories.
“This is humbling and flattering but I would trade it immediately if it gave us a chance to get in to the playoffs,” Sears said. “The credit goes to our entire staff and the players. The kids are the ones who bought in and made the sacrifices to the program and to the coaches. They met the standards and expectations and were fully committed raising the bar for this program.”
The team’s resurgence featured a high-scoring offense along with a ball-hawking defense which provided relentless pressure. Sacramento State averaged 37.6 points per game and 6.5 yards per play throughout the season. The team was explosive at Hornet Stadium, scoring 50-plus points in five games and at least 40 points in five of the six contests while posting a 5-1 record.
The Hornets relied on a punishing ground attack which rushed for 225.8 yards per game (the most since 1999) despite having just one player gain over 500 yards. Instead, Sacramento State rotated four running backs alongside quarterback Kevin Thomson and the five each had at least 75 attempts and combined to score 24 touchdowns.
Sacramento State junior defensive end George Obinna/ by Jason Bacaj
Defensively, the Hornets had one of the greatest turnarounds in the FCS. After ranking towards the bottom in numerous defensive metrics a year ago, Sacramento State led the Big Sky and ranked among the top three in the FCS in both third-down defense and sacks. The team limited opponents to just a 26.1 percent success rate on third down. Part of that success was a pass rush which combined for a school Div. I-era record of 43 sacks. Sacramento State had at least two sacks in all 11 games and were led by defensive ends Ben Sorensen (11.0 sacks) and George Obinna (8.5) who both earned first team all-Big Sky honors.
While the front four provided pressure, the secondary also left its mark. The Hornets recorded 14 interceptions and recorded nine fumbles. Dre Terrell led the Big Sky with five interceptions and also forced a pair of fumbles. Mister Harriel had three picks and Marcus Bruce recovered four fumbles, returning two for scores. In all, the team scored five touchdowns on either defense or special teams during the season and posted a plus-14 turnover margin.
Warren led the Thunderbirds to their second Big Sky Conference title in three seasons, sealed when the Thunderbirds knocked off Northern Arizona 48-20 in their final game of the season.
He also led the team back to the FCS Playoffs for the third time in five years, where the T-Birds are awaiting the winner of a contest between Weber State and Western Illinois. The victor in that contest will take on the T-Birds on December 2 at 6 p.m. MT.
Southern Utah also won nine Division I games in a single season for the first time in the history of the program.
Overall, Warren now sits with a 15-7 overall record. The seven-win season is Sears’ second in four seasons, bookending a pair of 2-9 campaigns.
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