OGDEN, Utah (October 19, 2019) – Northern Arizona senior quarterback
Case Cookus became the program's all-time leader in touchdown passes, but the Lumberjacks were outscored 37-7 in the second half before falling by a 51-28 margin at No. 4/5 Weber State on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Stewart Stadium.
The Lumberjacks (3-4, 1-2 Big Sky), who were facing their third ranked opponent on the road in the last four games, led as late as the 11-minute mark of the third quarter, but were unable to contain the Weber State rushing attack which finished with 443 yards on 59 carries.
Weber State running back Josh Davis finished with 328 yards on 34 carries – which marked the highest rushing total by an FCS player this season – and also represents the highest-single game rushing total in Weber State annals. Davis also scored four touchdowns and averaged 9.6 yards a carry.
Cookus finished 20-of-34 through the air for 359 yards and four touchdowns. His current career total of 96 touchdown tosses moved him past Jason Murrietta (2003-06) for the top spot in the NAU record book.
The record-breaking pass came on a 94-yard toss to
Stacy Chukwumezie, which also is the longest completion of Cookus' career. Chukwumezie finished with a career-best 167 receiving yards and two touchdown grabs.
Weber State broke through early with a 54-yard touchdown run by Davis on the third play of the game to give the Wildcats a 7-0 edge just 44 seconds into the contest.
NAU senior linebacker
Harrison Beemiller helped set up the first score for the 'Jacks with his first career interception at the 7:29 mark of the first quarter.
The offense capitalized on the gift two plays later when Cookus connected with
Stacy Chukwumezie for a 63-yard scoring strike to deadlock the score at 7-7.
Davis got the lead back for the Wildcats at 14-7 with his second long scoring run of the game, this time from 44 yards on the first play of the Wildcats' initial play of the second quarter.
The defense aided the offense once again as senior
Khalil Dorsey forced a Weber State fumble by Davis that was recovered by
Eloi Kwete deep inside Wildcats' territory at their 21-yard line.
Cookus connected with freshman
Hendrix Johnson from 12 yards out just two plays later to even things up at 14-14 with 10:08 left in the second.
The touchdown pass marked the 94
th of Cookus' career and tied him with Jason Murrietta (2003-06) for the highest-total in program history.
Cookus claimed the record as his own and gave the Lumberjacks their first lead of the game at 21-14 on a 94-yard touchdown pass to Chukwumezie with just 34 ticks until the break.
The touchdown toss marked the 95
th of Cookus' career and pushed him past Jason Murrietta (2003-06) into the top spot on the program's career leaderboard. The 94-yard score also represented to longest completion of Cookus' career, surpassing his previous best of 87 yards.
Weber State's defense set the tone to start the third quarter with a stop on NAU's initial drive, which led to a 31-yard field goal by Trey Tuttle.
The Wildcat defense followed by forcing a fumble by NAU's
Joe Logan on the ensuing possession which led to a three-yard scoring burst by Davis, his third of the contest, making the score 24-21 in favor of Weber State.
Kris Jackson extended the lead for Weber State to 30-21 with an eight-yard touchdown jaunt with 2:29 left in the third, which capped a six-play, 73-yard drive. The Wildcats missed the extra point attempt following a high snap.
Cookus responded with his fourth touchdown pass of the game and 96
th of his career on the next NAU possession hitting Johnson on the sideline for a 44-yard score to trim the margin to 30-28 with 14:50 left in regulation.
Weber State (5-2, 3-0 Big Sky) kept pace however as it put together a 10-play, 62-yard march that resulted in a second touchdown run for Jackson to up the Wildcats' lead to 37-28 with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Two plays into NAU's next possession, Cookus was pressured and sacked, which resulted in a fumble that was recovered by Weber State's Noah Vaea at the NAU 15. Davis scored from one-yard out four plays later for his fourth rushing touchdown of the contest.
Jackson added his third score of the game on a 27-yard run to seal the win with just under six minutes left.
The Lumberjacks return to the Skydome next weekend to host Portland State on Saturday, Oct. 26 in a 4 p.m. MST kickoff.
NAU's clash with the Vikings will be aired live on Your Phoenix CW, Pluto TV (539) and the Lumberjack Radio Network.
Postgame Coach – Head Coach Chris Ball
Opening Statement
"We turned the ball over. They lead the country in takeaways and we need to take care of the ball, we didn't take care of the ball. We didn't do a good job at stopping the run. We'll take a look at it and see what happened."
On Case Cookus' passing touchdown record
"Case (Cookus) is a great player. We probably shouldn't have had him in there at the end, but he wanted to go. He is a phenomenal player and we know every time he's in there, we have a chance to win."
Postgame Notes – at No. 4/5 Weber State – October 19, 2019
- Senior quarterback Case Cookus became NAU's all-time leader in career touchdown passes with his current total of 96. He surpassed Jason Murrietta's (2003-06) previous high total of 94.
- Junior Harrison Beemiller snagged his first career interception in the first quarter.
- Case Cookus finished with four touchdown passes for the 12th time in his career.
- Sophomore Brooklyn Hardiman made a career-best 11 stops in the loss at Weber State.
- Case Cookus' 94-yard touchdown pass to Stacy Chukwumezie in the second quarter broke the program record for most touchdown passes in a career and marked the longest completion of his career.
