Photo by Jamie Hines

TEMPE, Ariz. – In a game not decided until the fourth quarter, the Northern Arizona football team was defeated by Arizona State 41-20 Saturday night at Sun Devil Stadium in front of 49,043 fans.

"Well, I'm proud of the way our guys came out and played," said Head Coach Jerome Souers. "We had a good plan, and we knew our offense matching up their defense was going to be really tough to be productive today, be tough to run the football, tough to get our receivers loose. So we had to work hard to manufacture first downs. While we were getting touchdowns, and we really needed our special teams and our defense to play big, and I thought when we did, we had the right mix that kept us in the game."

The Lumberjacks played tough, pulling within a touchdown at 27-20 when quarterback Michael Herrick hit Khalil Paden for a 35-yard score with 21 seconds left in the third quarter. But the Sun Devils added two scores in the decisive final quarter to seal the victory over their in-state rivals from the north.

ASU quarterback Steven Threet completed 33-for-49 for 391 yards and three touchdowns to lead the ASU offense. Devil wide receiver Mike Willie had eight receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown. The Sun Devils were held to just 56 yards on the ground on 29 carries on the night.

"Defensively I thought we were very physical against the run, which is what we had hoped to be," said Souers. "I was proud of the way we played our run defense. The pass defense at times was pretty good, then at times it really bent, and it showed. They came up with some big plays that let their receivers run loose. And you see their big play ability by getting deep and behind their secondary, and they hurt us."

Junior Austin Shanks tied for game-high honors with eight receptions for 66 yards for the Lumberjacks and added a 34-yard pass to Chasen Stangel in the second quarter.  Herrick finished 13-for-26 for 131 yards with a touchdown and interception in the contest.

NAU scored first in the game on a Matt Myers 21-yard field goal, getting on the board first for the third time in the last four meetings with the Sun Devils. ASU looked to run away with the game early with back-to-back long scoring drives to take a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter.

Senior Reid Worthington then sparked the Lumberjack sideline with a 34-yard interception return of a Threet pass, setting the Lumberjacks at the ASU 10-yard line. Freshman Zach Bauman rushed three consecutive times, finally scoring from one yard out with 6:12 left to put the Lumberjacks down 14-10.

ASU would manage just a Thomas Weber field goal the rest of the half, taking a 17-10 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.

The Lumberjacks failed to go away in the third quarter, starting the quarter with a second interception of Threet by sophomore Taylor Malenfant to setup a 36-field goal by Myers and trail just 17-13.

"They did a great job," said Threet of the NAU defense. "They played really hard. They came in and gave us everything they had."

The Sun Devils got a second field from Weber and broke a big play from Threet to T.J. Simpson to post 10 unanswered points and take a 27-13 lead. But NAU responded one last time with one of its best drives of the day, going 80 yards on six plays capped by the throw and catch to Paden.

"Again, I think this has the makings of a good team at our level. I'm proud of our effort, and the way we worked today," said Souers.

Worthington said the overall effort was solid and the Lumberjacks made strides in the game.

"We were in it the whole game," said Worthington. "The score doesn't always reflect that. Sometimes you can't do that. People are going to see the score and make their own judgments on that, but we are a solid team, a fast team, we scored and we held their team on fourth downs and we showed that tonight."

The Lumberjacks have a bye this week before starting conference play at Idaho State on Sept. 25.