Born on November 2, 1998 in Glendale Utah, Karris Davis has always had a dream of playing college football. Being in his shoes as a child, he was never used to taking the easy road. At an early age his mother passed away making family life very hard at some points, making it very easy for him to fall down the wrong path. Yet, although in the circumstances he was in, Karris focused on one thing in high school which was becoming the best running back he could be. He had hopes and aspirations of going to the next level out of high school for it is what he had dreamed of doing since he was a kid. Although Karris had D1 potential coming out of high school, he had no offers from any school leaving his only option to serve on a mission in Washington D.C. Yet, as he served for a couple months in the fall of 2017 he realized that he was meant for something different. From that moment Davis decided he would walk on to Southern Utah University in the spring of 2018. Coming to the campus on the first day I asked Karris what his expectation were and he replied that they were, “Pretty much as expected” and that “he just wanted to come in and show his work ethic.” Although most walk-ons come with the intention to prove their worth and earn a scholarship right away, Karris knew that it might take a while to be able to prove his skill set on the field. Also not an easy task when the starting running back at the time is returning starter Jay Green Jr. who had a monster year the previous year.

Exiting fall camp going into the 2018 season, Karris was roughly 4^th string on the depth chart due to a tough competition at running back with every player being able to thrive at this level. This did not discourage Karris though; he was simply waiting for his opportunity. When asked about his mindset at the time, he replied, “I am going to support my teammates regardless of who is in.” this just goes to show the type of selfless teammate and player he is. After coming off five losses and not seeing much playing time, Karris was starting to feel discouraged and was wondering what he needed to do to get on the field. That Next week he got his opportunity. At home against Sacramento State, Karris had a breakout game getting multiple touches and scoring two touchdowns to help get the T-Birds their first win of the season. Karris stated the game as “relieving” and that he was “Just happy to get a win.” He also goes on to explain how a game like this can built up much momentum not only for himself but for the team as well.

Although the Birds had a rough season altogether going one and ten, Karris gained much confidence throughout the season and was in the starting rotation for the remainder of the season with jay Green.  He played a big factor coming in and scoring in most of the games for the remainder of the season. When asked about the season he states that he is very thankful for the opportunities that led him to get to this point. One thing Karris had to deal with when first arriving at SUU was the fact that all the competition was good. Like most D1 athletes, Karris was the best player on his football team in High school and like all players had to adjust and realize the fact that when you get to college, everyone is good. It’s the preparation and things you do off the field that set you apart from the others. As a 5 foot 7 inch 190 pound running back, karris had put in a great amount of work to be able to be successful at this level. With hopes of receiving some scholarship money in the spring, Karris is determined to push himself and his teammates even harder so they can steer away from the tragedy of this season. I sat down with Karris earlier this week and asked him to fast forward four years down the road and asked where he would like to see himself. He replied,” I want to be remembered as a person who made his teammates better and someone who isn’t selfish, I also want to be the best running back I can be at some point and want to help my team win a National Championship.” I also asked him what his goals were for this year as a player and he replied that, “I just want to be a leader for the younger guys whether it be vocal or just simply leading by example. I want to be a guy they know they can look to when times get hard in the program. Karris has many high hopes when looking into his bright future here as a T-Bird.

Beating BYU was awesome last night fort the women’s team. The first thing that it helps with is confidence for the team and also bragging right. It is also good for the program because it will help with recruits.

CEDAR CITY, Utah- The Southern Utah Women’s basketball team pulled off a big win over the BYU Cougars Tuesday night with a final score of 67-64.

 

Head coach Tracy Sanders reflected on the game saying she was, “Super proud of the girls.”

 

The first score of the game was led by Breanu Reid where she made a layup to go ahead 2-0.

Although the T-birds were able to have multiple turnovers, the Cougars took the lead 17-12 with 3:39 left.

 

The Birds took an 8-2 run in the second quarter where they went up 20-19. After that the Cougars then gained momentum taking a big lead going up 31-22. Yet in the third quarter after going back and forth, the T-Birds took back the lead making it 38-37.

 

Once the third quarter concluded, the Thunderbirds had outscored the Cougars 23-9 and had a lead of 47-44 heading into the fourth quarter. Their momentum didn’t stop there.

 

Harley Hansen had four three pointers in the game to help the team keep its lead throughout.

A big steal by Cardenas and a free throw by Hansen put the Birds in a good position and a three pointer by Cardenas put the Birds up by one leaving the score 65-64 with 21 seconds on the clock.

 

After a foul drawn by Reid and two made free throws, the Thunderbirds we able to secure the win making the final score 67-64.

 

Hansen led the team in point giving her a career high of 18 points. She also lead in rebounds. Reid finished with 15, Cardenas had 12 points and seven assists, and Larsen finished the game with 11 points.

 

Catch the Thunderbirds on the road this weekend as they take on Oral Roberts University as the hope to accomplish another victory.

 

SAN LUIS OBISBO,CALIF—The Thunderbird’s on Saturday concluded their 2018 season with a tough loss to Cal Poly falling to the Mustangs 38-24.

After this loss this will make the T-Birds 1-10 this season finishing 1-7 in conference play. Cal Poly finished the year 5-6 going 4-4 in conference.

On the first drive of the game, the Thunderbird’s drove all the way down the field setting up a 28 yard touchdown run by Karris Davis. This was the first time they have scored on the opening drive this season.

SUU finished the first half up 14-0 with another touchdown from Tyler Skidmore throwing to McCoy Hill. Also making this the largest lead all season for the T-Birds .

In the second Quarter, the Mustangs got momentum as they had multiple long pass plays for touchdowns which tied the game at 14-14. Yet, after a touchdown run by Jay Green Jr. to go up 21-14, the mustangs scored again on another long pass making it 21-21.

After halftime and at the start of the third quarter, the mustangs scored on their first drive taking the lead making the score 28-21. That would end up to be the only score in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Thunderbirds had a field goal by Many Berz making the score 24-28.  After that the T-Birds got flat and the Mustangs pulled away with it with a final score of 38-24.

Linebacker Chinedu Ahanonu moved to fourth all the all-time tackle list in SUU history finishing his career with 344. Taylor Nelson also finished the game with 19 tackles. True freshman quarterback Tyler Skidmore finished 26 of 38 through the air.

The Thunderbirds look to rebuild in the offseason and learn and build off of this loss.

One sports tradition that my family does is every year for the college football championship game we all get together and watch at my house. That includes my grandparents,cousins etc. It is a yearly tradition.

For the Thunderbird’s this next season we can expect multiple things. One of them is that the team will have more players with experience and a lot of returning players. The next is that the team had increased its training in the off season to make sure a season like the last doesn’t happen again. I feel as if the team will be much more motivated to put in the work needed to win games.

In this podcast I really liked couple of things. At first they cover the drama between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green. I like how they went in depth with the situation and played interviews. After this they covered the 76rs trade with jimmy butler and how it could affect their team. Also one thing I didnt like was the fact that they played too many videos.

To this day the best person I ever competed against was when I was playing travel baseball around the age from 11-13. The team I played for had always traveled to Simi Valley in California where we had a rivalry with the same team. On there team was a kid named “Guy.”(I don’t know his last name) Every time Guy was up to bat he would would hit a double or a home run and I mean every single time. I was the best pitcher on our team and every time I pitched he would get a hit off me and to this day I haven’t seen a player more productive.

Big Bird would be a good name for the student. Also  way to get more SUU students at the games would be to promote them more around school. I feel that most students dont even know when the games are.

If I were working for the WNBA, I would have a few ideas to help make the league more profitable. The first thing I would do is try to step up the competition level. I would tell the owners and coaches they have a certain amount of time to get the players to a certain level of standards skill wise. In my opinion, the reason the WNBA is so unpopular is because they lack a lot of skill sets that are shown in the NBA which is why it is looked at as a step down from the NBA. Another thing I would do is try to promote it more on television and other platforms to get ticket sales up.