| GAME 4: Northern Arizona (1-2, 0-0) vs. Southern Utah (0-3, 0-0) |
GAME NOTES (PDF)
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 19, 2018) - The Lumberjacks host Southern Utah in the annual Hall of Fame Weekend Game on Saturday at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome in a 4 p.m. MST kickoff that will be televised on Your Phoenix CW6, NAU TV and Pluto TV (Channel 239).
NAU will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak following a pair of losses to Eastern Washington and Missouri State in non-conference action the last two weeks.
A presentation will take place to honor the 2018 NAU Athletic Hall of Fame Class at the beginning of halftime. Honorees include Reyna Stewart (football), Ray Perryman (football), Sabine Kieger (track & field) and the 2005-06 Women's Basketball, which is the only team in program history to capture the Big Sky Championship and qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
NAU OPENING DRIVE
- NAU hosts Southern Utah in the Big Sky Conference opener at home on Saturday in a 4 p.m. MST kickoff from the Walkup Skydome.
- The Lumberjacks will be looking to snap a four-game skid in the series with the Thunderbirds. NAU has also lost each of the last four home games in the series with Southern Utah.
- NAU's last victory against Southern Utah came on 11/23/13 by a 20-10 margin in Cedar City. The 'Jacks most recent win at home against the Thunderbirds came on 9/9/09 by a 42-39 score.
- NAU's last three losses in the series with Southern Utah have come by nearly identical margins (48-20 - 2017, 48-21 - 2016, 49-21 - 2015). The average margin of victory for SUU in those last three games is 27.7 ppg.
- The Lumberjacks are 29-19 since 1970 in Big Sky Conference openers and have won six of their last eight overall.
GAMEDAY NOTES
NAU IN BIG SKY OPENERS
- The Lumberjacks enter Saturday's game 29-19 all-time in Big Sky openers since 1970.
- NAU has won six of its last eight Big Sky openers, including a 28-10 road win at Cal Poly last season.
- The 'Jacks dropped their last Big Sky opener at home by a 50-35 margin vs. Eastern Washington in 2016.
FORCING TURNOVERS
- NAU has forced a total of nine turnovers this season (six interception, three fumbles.
- The 'Jacks have unfortunately also committed eight turnovers of their own, six of which came in a week three loss at Missouri State.
BUTLER ONE TOUCHDOWN CATCH AWAY FROM PROGRAM RECORD
- Senior wide receiver Emmanuel Butler enters the week just one receiving touchdown shy of breaking the NAU program career record in that category.
- Butler currently boasts 28 career touchdown receptions and is tied with Clarence Moore (2000-03) for the most by a Lumberjack in a career.
- He also stands just nine yards shy of tying Shawn Collins (1985-88) for the second most receiving yards in NAU career annals. Butler enters the week with 2,755 career yards with Collins total at 2,764. Moore also holds NAU's career receiving yards mark at 3,042.
- Butler boasts a total of 162 receptions in his career and is currently four catches of cracking the top five and 39 away from Shawn Collins NAU record total of 201.
COOKUS ENTERS THE WEEK 32 YARDS FROM 8,000 FOR CAREER
- Junior quarterback Case Cookus boasts 7,914 yards and is 32 shy of hitting 8,000 for his career.
- Cookus will become the fifth signal caller in NAU history to reach the 8,000 yard mark joining Jeff Lewis (9,639), Greg Wyatt (10,697), Jason Murrietta (10,717) and Travis Brown (11,400).
POSTGAME NOTES AT MISSOURI STATE
- NAU's week three game marked the first-ever meeting between with Missouri State in the sport of football.
- NAU played without its regular starters at quarterback Case Cookus, wide receiver Emmanuel Butler, strong safety Wes Sutton, defensive end Chauntez Thomas and linebacker Taylor Powell.
- NAU is 2-8 vs. Missouri Valley Conference opponents in the Jerome Souers era and 0-4 in road games against the MVC.
- Sophomore quarterback Daniel Bridge-Gadd made his the first start of his collegiate career in Saturday's game at Missouri State.
- Bridge-Gadd is the 21st quarterback to start for NAU dating back to the 1986 season.
- Junior Brandon Worthy picked off the first pass of his career with 11 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
- Senior Kam'ron Johnson nabbed his second interception in the first three games with his pick at the 2:41 mark of the first quarter.
- Junior Stacy Chukwumezie made the first reception of his NAU career with a 38-yard reception in the second quarter.
- NAU defense forced five turnovers in the first half (four interceptions and one fumble).
- Both teams combined for eight turnovers in the first half of play (five interceptions, three fumbles) and a total of 10 for the game (six interceptions, four fumbles).
- Sophomore Elijah Orr intercepted the first pass of his NAU career at the 9:57 mark of the second quarter.
- Missouri State's Jason Randall tallied 139 (13 carries) of his 181 (20 carries) rushing yards in the first half. He averaged 10.7 per carry in the opening half and 9.1 per touch for the game overall.
THE 'JACKS STAKE CLAIM TO ARIZONA AND CALIFORNIA TALENT
- Of the 106 players on NAU's current roster, a total of 48 players call the state of Arizona home.
- In addition, the 'Jacks have 43 players from the state of California.
- The players from Arizona and California represent 86 percent of the players on the Lumberjacks' roster.
SOUERS ALL-TIME AT HOME
- NAU head coach Jerome Souers has tallied an all-time home record of 71-36 during his initial 20 seasons at the helm in Flagstaff.
- Souers has posted winning home records in 18 of his first 20 seasons in charge of the Lumberjack football program, including a 5-2 mark in 2017.
- The only losing records came during the 1999 (2-3) and 2000 (2-4) seasons. The 1999 record included one loss that was due to forfeit for having an ineligible player in the lineup.
THE SKYDOME IS OUR HOME
- NAU's overall success could very well depend on how it conquers the rigorous travel in the Big Sky Conference because over the last five years, the Lumberjacks have taken care of business at home.
- Since 2013, the 'Jacks have won 22 of 29 games in the Walkup Skydome and will have a total of five games on their home turf this season.
- Overall, the Lumberjacks boast a record of 155-78 in games played at the Skydome since it opened in 1977.
- The Skydome hosted five games in its first season, with an average attendance of 13,029. NAU football was previously played outdoors on natural grass at Lumberjack Stadium. The dome hosted the Big Sky men's basketball tournament in 1987, 1997, 1998, and 2006.
- For its first six years, the Walkup Skydome was the world's largest clear-span timber dome, until the completion of the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington, in 1983.
- The architect was Wendell Rossman of Phoenix, also responsible for many other buildings on the surrounding NAU campus. The wood used in construction of Walkup Skydome was southern yellow pine.
- At its launching in 1977, it was the third indoor football stadium in the Big Sky Conference: Holt Arena at Idaho State in Pocatello opened in 1970 (as the "Minidome") and the Kibbie Dome at Idaho in Moscow was enclosed in 1975.
- The Skydome is named after J. Lawrence Walkup (1914–2002), the president of NAU from 1957 to 1979, a period of tremendous growth for the university.
