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| GAME 9: Northern Arizona (4-4, 2-2 Big Sky) at Eastern Washington (3-5, 2-2 Big Sky) |
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NAU FOOTBALL GAME NOTES - AT EASTERN WASHINGTON
NAU OPENING DRIVE
- The 'Jacks hit the road to face Eastern Washington on Saturday in a 1 p.m. MST kickoff in Cheney.
- The Lumberjacks will be making their first trip to Eastern Washington just five days shy of exactly four years - with the last visit coming on Nov. 7 , 2015 - a 52-30 NAU win.
- NAU will be looking to snap an eight-game losing skid on the road on Saturday. Â NAU's last road victory came in the 2018 season opener at UTEP by a 30-10 margin.
- NAU owns a record of 5-10 all-time vs. Eastern Washington on the road entering Saturday's game.
- Senior quarterback Case Cookus enters Saturday's game just two touchdown passes (98) shy of becoming only the second signal caller in Big Sky history to reach 100 career TDs.
- Cookus leads the top ranked passing offense in the FCS (373.3) and ranks second nationally among all FCS signal callers with 2,797 passing yards and third nationally with 24 TD passes. Â Cookus is also tops in the FCS with 349.6 passing yards per game.
- Junior punter DJ Arnson ranks fourth nationally among FCS leaders at 45.6 yards per kick.
- Junior kicker Luis Aguilar ranks 10th among FCS leaders in field goals per game (1.50).Â
NAU HITS THE ROAD TO BATTLE EASTERN WASHINGTON ON SATURDAY
The Lumberjacks return to the road this week for a showdown with Eastern Washington on Saturday in a 1 p.m. MST kickoff from Roos Field and the Red Inferno in Cheney.
NAU's clash with the Eagles will be aired on Pluto TV (channel 534) with Greg Heister (play-by-play) and Bill Ames (analyst) on the call.
Saturday's game at Eastern Washington can also be heard on the Lumberjack Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 12 p.m. MST.
The Lumberjacks will be making their first trip to Eastern Washington just five days shy of exactly four years - with the last visit coming on Nov. 7 , 2015 - a 52-30 NAU win.
THE 'JACKS ON THE ROAD
NAU is 31-42 in road games since the 2008 season.
The Lumberjacks finished 1-4 in road contests during the 2018 campaign and are 0-4 in 2019 with a current stretch of eight straight defeats away from home.
NAU's last road victory came in the 2018 season opener at UTEP by a 30-10 margin.
AGUILAR AND COOKUS TEAM UP FOR DRAMATIC WIN OVER PORTLAND STATE
 Junior place kicker
Luis Aguilar drilled a 38-yard field goal with four seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Lumberjacks to a dramatic 31-29 victory over Portland State on Oct. 26 at the Skydome.
NAU did not trail in the contest until the 1:26 mark of the fourth quarter when a 21-yard field goal by Cody Williams gave Portland State its first lead at 29-28.
NAU senior quarterback
Case Cookus answered the call for the 'Jacks by marching the offense 54 yards in 1:22 to set up Aguliar's heroics. Â Cookus completed each of his first four passes that totaled 47 yards on the decisive drive.
COOKUS WATCH
NAU senior quarterback
Case Cookus is already the program's all-time leader in touchdown passes with 98 entering Saturday's game at Eastern Washington - but he is also on the verge of rising the ranks in a number of other NAU and Big Sky statistical career categories.
Cookus by the Numbers - Entering Saturday's game vs. Eastern Washington
2 - # of passing touchdowns shy of becoming the second player in Big Sky Conference history with 100 TD tosses
12 - # of touchdowns tying Vernon Adams (Eastern Washington) Big Sky Conference record of 110 career passing touchdowns
636 - # of passing yards shy of surpassing Travis Brown (11,400) (1996-99) for the highest career total in NAU history.
60 - # of passing yards shy of surpassing Doug Nussmeier (Idaho/10,824) for seventh-most passing yards in Big Sky history.
316 - # of passing yards shy of surpassing Dave Dickinson (Montana/11,080) for sixth-most passing yards in Big Sky history.
439 - # of passing yards shy of surpassing DeNarius McGee (Montana State/11,203) for fifth-most passing yards in Big Sky career annals.
27 - # of completions shy of passing Jeff Lewis (784) for fourth place on the NAU career leaderboard
290.9 - current average of career passing yards per game for Cookus entering Saturday's game at Eastern Washington - which would sit as the seventh-best season clip in Big Sky history.
LEADING THE NATION
Entering the ninth game of the season, the Lumberjacks are leading the nation in passing offense with an average of 373.2 yards per game.
The 'Jacks also rank 17th among FCS leaders in scoring offense at 36.4 ppg and 10th in total offense with 470.8 yards per contest.
Senior quarterback
Case Cookus also ranks high among FCS leaders in a number of passing categories including:
1st  - Passing yards per game (349.6)
3rd - Passing yards per completion (15.5)
3rd - Passing TDs (24)
14th - Passing efficiency (154.7)
10th - Points responsible for (144)
16th - Completions per game (22.6)
SERIES VS. EASTERN WASHINGTON
NAU trails the all-time series vs. Eastern Washington 21-12 but were victorious in its last trip to Cheney with a 52-30 victory in 2015.Â
Saturday's game will mark the second straight season the programs have met with the Eagles capturing a 31-26 win in a trip to the Skydome in 2018.
Four of the last five meetings in the series have been played in Flagstaff with only a total of two visits to Cheney (2010, 2015) in the previous nine season for the Lumberjacks.
NAU owns a record of 5-10 all-time vs. Eastern Washington on the road entering Saturday's game.
The first meeting between the programs came back during the 1982 season.
LAST TIME VS. EASTERN WASHINGTON
The then-No. 18/20 Lumberjacks allowed 14 points in a span of just 1:40 in the first quarter and lost starting quarterback
Case Cookus to injury as it came up short in a 31-26 loss to then-No. 6/5 Eastern Washington in the 2018 home opener at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome on Sept. 8.
Cookus was injured following a hit just 12:31 into the contest and was replaced by sophomore
Daniel Bridge-Gadd for the remainder of the game, which saw both teams combine for 981 yards of total offense.
Bridge-Gadd had a solid game in relief as he rallied the Lumberjacks to within five points at 31-26 with 1:51 left in regulation following a 13-play, 79-yard drive that culminated in a three-yard scoring toss to junior running back
Joe Logan. Â
NAU missed the attempt at the two-point conversion and failed to regain possession as Eastern Washington was able to run out the clock to seal the victory.
MORE ON CAPTAIN COOKUS
Entering Saturday's game vs. Eastern Washington, NAU senior quarterback
Case Cookus has played in 37 career games, thrown for 98 touchdowns and totaled 10,765 passing yards - below are some interesting facts about his run in Flagstaff to date:
3 - # of games in career without passing TD
2 - # of those games he was either ejected (at Montana/2017) or injured (Eastern Washington/2018) before the end of the first quarter
1 - # of game played in full w/o a passing TD - at Arizona (2017)
24 - # of players he has thrown a TD pass to in career
15 - # of different stadiums in which has thrown a TD pass
21 - # of different opponents he has thrown at least one TD pass against
60 - # of touchdown passes thrown in the Skydome
15 - # of TD passes of 50 yards or more
4 - # of Big Sky stadiums Cookus has not thrown a TD passÂ
(Sacramento State, Northern Colorado, Idaho State, Idaho)
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