FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 5, 2019) – Northern Arizona senior quarterback
Case Cookus tossed five touchdown passes and became the fourth signal caller in program history to record 10,000 career passing yards as the Lumberjacks used a strong second-half performance en route to a 41-23 victory over Northern Colorado before a sellout crowd at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome on Saturday afternoon.
The Lumberjacks used a spurt of 24 unanswered points in the third quarter to erase a 20-10 deficit. NAU outscored the Bears 31-10 overall in the second half.
The Lumberjack defense forced Northern Colorado to employ a one-dimensional attack for the majority of the game as they completely shut down the Bears' running game – allowing just 32 yards on 31 carries. The 'Jacks also pressured Northern Colorado quarterback Jacob Knipp throughout, finishing with a season-best five sacks and four QB hurries.
Cookus finished 19-of-32 overall for 406 yards, to go along with his five touchdown tosses and one interception. Junior
Stacy Chukwumezie (156) and
Brandon Porter (152) each finished with seven receptions for over 100 yards –marking the second time this season that the 'Jacks have had multiple receivers hit the century mark.
Senior running back
Joe Logan also became the 11
th player in program history to total 2,000 career rushing yards in the victory. For the game, Logan amassed 81 yards on the ground. The Lumberjacks finished with 537 yards of total offense in the win over Northern Colorado. NAU has recorded at least 400 yards total offense in each of its six games this season.
The game's first points were setup following a miscue by the Lumberjacks' special teams as Northern Colorado kicker Ben Raybon booted a 39-yard field goal at the 6:28 mark of the opening quarter following a muffed point by NAU's
Riley Langton, which set up the Bears at the NAU 37.
The Bears extended their lead to 6-0 just eight seconds into the second quarter when Raybon connected on a field goal from 33 yards out to cap a 13-play, 69-yard drive.
The Lumberjacks (3-3, 1-1 Big Sky) broke through with 2:10 left in the opening half when Cookus hit Johnson in stride for a 47-yard touchdown to give NAU a 7-6 edge.
Northern Colorado (1-5, 1-1 Big Sky) regained the lead on a 16-yard touchdown reception by Willie Fairman, who also snagged a 26-yard grab earlier in the drive to set up the score, giving the Bears a 13-7 edge with just 29 ticks left before the break.
NAU answered immediately when Cookus found
Stacy Chukwumezie for a 27-yard gain which put kicker
Luis Aguilar in position to drill a career-long 57-yard field on the final play of the opening half. The kick marked the longest field goal by an NAU kicker since 2000 and cut the Northern Colorado lead to 13-10 at intermission.
Knipp opened the second half by hitting Noah Sarria down the sideline for a 75-yard touchdown pass, making the score 20-10, just 14 seconds into the third quarter.
Brandon Porter got the score back for the 'Jacks on the following possession to begin the comeback push by taking a Cookus' shovel pass and racing 61 yards for a score just 32 seconds later, trimming the deficit to 20-17.
Cookus stayed hot on the next series by hitting Chukwumezie for a 51-yard score to put the 'Jacks back in front at 24-20 with 10:05 left in the third quarter.
The Lumberjacks added their third unanswered touchdown and Cookus tossed his fourth of the game when he found Porter for the second time from 16-yards out at the 6:26 mark of the third quarter, increasing the NAU lead to 31-20.
Following a stop by the Lumberjack defense, the offense scored for their fourth consecutive drive when a 38-yard catch by Chukwumezie set up a 31-yard by Aguilar.
Northern Colorado was finally able to stop the bleeding when Raybon hit a 23-yard field goal with 11:57 in the fourth to trim the deficit to 34-23.
Cookus added his fifth touchdown pass of the game with 6:26 left in regulation when he found senior
Ceejhay French-Love in the corner of the end zone for a 14-yard score.
The Lumberjacks have a bye next weekend before returning to action with their third road game against a ranked opponent this season at No. 4/5 Weber State on Saturday, Oct. 19 in a 1 p.m. MST kickoff in Ogden, Utah.
NAU's clash with the Wildcats will be aired live on Pluto TV (535) and the Lumberjack Radio Network.
Postgame Quotes – vs. Northern Colorado - October 5, 2019
Head Coach Chris Ball
"It's learning how to battle through adversity. I am so proud of these guys. We have got a bunch of guys banged up. We came out after a tough game last week, so I told them at halftime its 0-0, forget what happened in the first half. You talk about a team win, that's a team win. We are battling. Thankfully we got this one and it's a tribute to the players. The players did a great job of coming out and competing. Case [Cookus] didn't start out great, but he fixed it, and sometimes that's hard to adjust like he did. He got Brandon [Porter] involved and sparked us. We got that big one to number 10 [
Hendrix Johnson] and I think from then on we battled through adversity we faced in the first part of the game. To be able to do that, and to do the things we are trying to do, it's a tribute to our players."
Quarterback Case Cookus
"It is an awesome milestone (reaching 10,000 yards), but you can't get too caught up in it. When the season is over, I'll be able to look back on my career and appreciate the people who helped me through this process. I've been around a lot of great receivers, running backs and offensive linemen that have gotten me to this point. I want to say thank you to them, but we have to keep working. We have a bye this week and need to rest up and get some guys back."
Postgame Notes – vs. Northern Colorado – October 5, 2019
- Senior quarterback Case Cookus moved past Jeff Lewis (9,639) into fourth place on the NAU career list for most passing yards with his current total of 10,043.
- Saturday's crowd of 10,026 marked the first sellout at the Skydome since Oct. 6, 2018 vs. Weber State.
- NAU sophomore defensive back Nate Perkins was ejected for targeting in the first quarter.
- Senior running back Joe Logan became the 11th player in NAU program history to total 2,000 career rushing yards on an eight-yard run in the second quarter. He now boasts 2,056 yards on the ground.
- Junior kicker Luis Aguilar drilled a career-long 57-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, which marked the longest make by an NAU kicker since 2000.
- Aguilar remained perfect on field goal attempts from under 50 yards this season and is now 10-for-10 from inside that distance.
- Junior wide receiver Stacy Chukwumezie has scored a touchdown in five of six games this season following his 51-yard TD catch on Saturday.
- Senior quarterback Case Cookus tossed at least three touchdown passes for the 16th time in his career and 11th with four TD tosses. He has thrown five or more touchdown passes four times.
- Cookus (92 career TD passes) sits just two touchdown passes of tying Jason Murrietta (94) for the most in NAU annals.
- Sophomore wide receiver Brandon Porter finished with seven catches for a career-best 152 yards. It marked his third game this season with at least 100 receiving yards and the fourth of his career.
- Chukwumezie finished with seven catches for a career-high 156 receiving yards – his first 100-yard receiving effort.
- NAU scored 24 unanswered points in the third quarter after trailing 20-10 in the opening moments of the second half.
- Cookus became the fourth quarterback in NAU history to reach 10,000 career passing yards in the fourth quarter of Saturday's win over Northern Colorado.
- NAU scored on seven consecutive drives from the second through fourth quarter in Saturday's victory.
- Cookus finished with 406 passing yards – marking his 15th game with over 300 yards and fourth with over 400 in his career. The 406 yards were just shy of his career-best passing effort of 407 –which he set twice previously.
- Freshman Daego Albert snagged the first interception of his career in the fourth quarter.
- NAU extends its winning streak in Family Weekend games to 13 straight.
