Lumberjacks and Southern Utah to Battle For Grand Canyon Trophy on Saturday

 

GAME 11: Northern Arizona (4-6, 2-4 Big Sky) at Southern Utah (2-8, 1-5 Big Sky)

DATE	Saturday, November 16, 2019
TIME	2 p.m. MST
LOCATION	Eccles Coliseum (8,500) | Cedar City, Utah
TV	Pluto TV (536)
RADIO	Flagstaff: 93.5 FM & AM 930 KAFF Country Legends
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NAU FOOTBALL GAME NOTES - AT SOUTHERN UTAH

NAU OPENING DRIVE

• The 'Jacks travel to Cedar City looking to keep possession of the Grand Canyon Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the annual showdown between the programs.
• NAU is searching for its initial road win of the season this Saturday at Southern Utah and will be out to snap a nine-game skid away from the Skydome dating back to last season.
• NAU owns a record of 13-9 all-time vs. Southern Utah entering Saturday's game and are 5-2 vs. the Thunderbirds in games played in Cedar City, but have dropped its last two visits.
• Senior quarterback Case Cookus enters Saturday's game just 94 yards shy of passing Travis Brown (11,400) for the most in program history.
• Cookus leads the top ranked passing offense in the FCS (355.7) and ranks first nationally among all FCS signal callers with 3,339 passing yards and sixth nationally with 27 TD passes.  Cookus is also tops in the FCS with 333.9 passing yards per game.
• Cookus enters Saturday's game with the second-most passing TDs (101) and fifth-most passing yards (11,307) in Big Sky Conference history.
• Senior running back Joe Logan ranks fifth among FCS leaders in total touchdowns (16).
• Junior punter DJ Arnson ranks second nationally among FCS leaders at 46.0 yards per kick.
• Junior kicker Luis Aguilar ranks 10th among FCS leaders in field goals per game (1.44) and fourth in field goal percentage (88.2).

NAU SEEKING ROAD WIN AT SOUTHERN UTAH ON SATURDAY
The Lumberjacks will play their final road game of the 2019 season on Saturday, Nov. 16 in a 2 p.m. MST kickoff vs. Southern Utah at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City.

NAU will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak and a nine-game skid on the road - which dates back to the 2018 season opening victory at UTEP.


COOKUS WATCH
NAU senior quarterback Case Cookus is already the program's all-time leader in touchdown passes with 101 and total offense with 11,465 yards - entering Saturday's game at Southern Utah - 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 at Southern Utah
9 - # of passing touchdowns shy of tying the Big Sky Conference record for TD passes

94 - # of passing yards shy of surpassing Travis Brown (11,400) (1996-99) for the highest career total in NAU history and fourth-most in Big Sky annals.

901 - # of passing yards shy of surpassing Jamie Martin (Weber State/12,207) for third-most passing yards in Big Sky history.

49 - # of yards shy of surpassing Dave Dickinson (Montana/11,513) for ninth-most total offense yards in Big Sky history.

11,307 - current # of passing yards currently by Case Cookus which ranks as the fifth-highest total in Big Sky annals.

11,465 - current # of total offense yards currently by Case Cookus which ranks as the 10th-highest total in Big Sky annals.

48 - # of completions shy of passing Jason Murrietta (878) for third place on the NAUcareer leaderboard

289.9 - current average of career passing yards per game for Cookus entering Saturday's game vs. Sacramento State - which would sit as the seventh-best season clip in Big Sky history.


LEADING THE NATION
Entering the 11th game of the season, the Lumberjacks are leading the nation in passing offense with an average of 355.7 yards per game.

The 'Jacks also rank 12th among FCS leaders in scoring offense at 36.3 ppg and 10th in total offense with 466.1 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 (333.9)
8th - Passing yards per completion (14.8)
6th - Passing TDs (27)
17th - Passing efficiency (151.4)
16th - Points responsible for (162)
16th - Completions per game (22.9)

In addition, a number of other NAU players have made their mark in the national statistical rankings:

4th - Field goal percentage  - Luis Aguilar (88.2)
2nd - Fumble Recoveries - Chris Jules (3)
2nd - Punting - DJ Arnson - (46.0)
8th - Scoring  - Joe Logan (9.6 ppg)
5th - Total Touchdowns - Joe Logan (16)
10th - Yards per reception - Stacy Chukwumezie (21.65)


SERIES VS. SOUTHERN UTAH
NAU leads the all-time series vs. Southern Utah 13-9 but have lost each of the previous two meetings between the programs in Cedar City.

Saturday's game will offer the Lumberjacks to defeat the Thunderbirds in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2009 and 2010.

The Lumberjacks are 5-2 all-time in road games vs. Southern Utah dating back to the initial road contest in 1993.

The first meeting between the programs came back during the 1982 season.


LAST MEETING WITH SOUTHERN UTAH (SEPT. 22, 2018)
Sophomore quarterback Daniel Bridge-Gadd hit wide receiver Brandon Porter with a 68-yard scoring strike with 34 seconds left in the third quarter to put NAU ahead for good in a back-and-forth 31-23 victory over Southern Utah on Saturday in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams.
 
The win allowed the Lumberjacks to claim the Grand Canyon Trophy, which is awarded to the victor of the annual border war rivalry, for the first time since 2013. 

Bridge-Gadd, who was making his second career start, finished 21-of-31 through the air for 295 yards and three touchdowns.  Porter also enjoyed the best game of his collegiate career, as posted the first 100-plus yard receiving effort with five catches for 104 yards and a touchdown.  Porter also added 37 rushing yards and 47 on kickoff returns for a total of 188 all-purpose yards.
 
Senior wide receiver Emmanuel Butler placed his name at the top of the NAU career record book in the victory as well as he hauled in his 29th career touchdown reception with 6:26 of the second quarter to surpass Clarence Moore for the most in program history.  


HENDRIX SHATTERS NAU FRESHMAN RECEIVING MARK
Freshman Hendrix Johnson enters this weekend with 726 receiving yards - one of only four freshman receiver in the FCS to hit that total so far in 2019.

The 726 receiving yards are also by far the most by a Lumberjack freshman dating back to 1985 - the previous high by an NAU rookie was 396 yards by Chancellor Brewington in 2017.


HENDRIX JOHNSON NAMED TO JERRY RICE WATCH LIST
NAU freshman wide receiver Hendrix Johnson is one of the 24 players named to the STATS Jerry Rice Award watch list.

The Jerry Rice Award, named after the legendary Hall of Fame wide receiver, has been presented in the postseason to the FCS freshman player of the year since 2011.
 
Johnson is one of only four freshman with more than 700 receiving yards.  He has amassed a pair of games with more than 100 yards and has notched at least 94 yards in four of 10 contests. 
 
The Anthem, Ariz., native has shown big play ability having recorded 13 catches of 20 yards or more this season, including four touchdowns.  Johnson has snagged at least one reception of 44 yards or longer in six of 10 games.
 
Johnson is trying to become the second Lumberjack to earn the Jerry Rice Award, as the top freshman in all of the FCS and the first since current NAU quarterback Case Cookus was honored following a 2015 season which saw him total 3,117 yards and 37 passing touchdowns.
 
Still a young award, the Rice is distinguished, with three of the first four recipients to complete their college careers playing in the NFL: former Towson running back Terrance West, Eastern Washington wide receiver Cooper Kupp and Fordham running back Chase Edmonds.
 
A national panel of over 150 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries will vote on the award following the regular season.


SPREADING IT AROUND THROUGH THE AIR
The Lumberjacks lead the FCS in passing offense with an average of 355.7 yards per game and have been getting multiple players involved as NAU is the only team in the FCS to have three different players with 700 or more receiving yards and a pair with over 800.

Brandon Porter leads the way with a team-high 897 yards, Stacy Chukwumezie has notched 801 and Hendrix Johnson has 726 through 10 games.


MORE ON CAPTAIN COOKUS
Entering Saturday's game at Southern Utah, NAU senior quarterback Case Cookus has played in 39 career games, thrown for 101 touchdowns and totaled 11,307 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)

2:41 - amount of time it took for Cookus to throw his first TD pass in the first game of collegiate career

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
61 - # of touchdown passes thrown in the Skydome
16 - # of TD passes of 50 yards or more
4 - # of Big Sky stadiums Cookus has not thrown a TD pass 
(Sacramento State, Northern Colorado, Idaho State, Idaho)


ANTHONY SWEENEY LEADING D
Sophomore defensive back Anthony Sweeney currently leads the 'Jacks in tackles with 60 stops, including 46 solo tackles and 4.0 TFLs.  

This all despite playing in just eight of 10 games this season. 

Sweeney had a career day vs. Sacramento State on Nov. 9 with 14 tackles (the most by an NAU player this season) and an interception.

He has notched at least eight tackles in each of the last five games in which he has seen action and has a total of 50 stops over that span.


CHRIS JULES PULLS OFF TRIFECTA VS. HORNETS
Senior Chris Jules pulled off the defensive version of the hat trick with a sack, forced fumble and recovery all on the same play vs. Sacramento State on Nov. 9.

Over the last three games, Jules has recorded 20 of his 41 tackles on this season along with 4.0 TFLs and 2.5 sacks over the three-game stretch. 


LOGAN HAS HISTORIC DAY VS HORNETS
Senior running back Joe Logan erupted for a career-high 210 rushing yards and three touchdowns vs. Sacramento State on Nov. 9.

Logan has posted 100-yard rushing efforts in each of the last two games while compiling a total of 330 yards and six TDs.

Logan's 210 rushing yards marked the most by a Lumberjack since Zach Bauman posted 266 yards vs. Idaho State on Oct. 19, 2013 – a span of 71 games.  

He currently ranks fifth among FCS leaders in touchdowns with 16 over the first 10 games this season.


LOGAN SURGES UP NAU CAREER RUSHING LIST
Senior running back Joe Logan moved up to sixth on the Lumberjacks' career rushing leaderboard with his current total of 2,470 yards entering Saturday's game at Southern Utah.

Logan currently sits 253 yards shy of Allan Clark's (1975-78) fifth-place total of 2,723.


LOGAN THE TOUCHDOWN MAKER
Senior running back Joe Logan boasts a career-best 16 touchdowns through the first 10 games this season and has launched his way up NAU career scoring leader list with his current overall total of 204 points - which ranks as the eighth-highest total in Lumberjack history.

Logan enters Saturday's game vs. Southern Utah 10 points shy of Emmanuel Butler's (2014-18) seventh-place total of 214 and 17 points short of Paul Ernster's (2001-04) sixth-place total of 221.


COOKUS BECOMES NAU CAREER TD LEADER IN STYLE
Senior quarterback Case Cookus hit junior Stacy Chukwumezie for a 94-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left in the second quarter on Oct. 19 at Weber State to pass Jason Murrietta as the Lumberjacks' all-time leader in touchdown passes - with his 96th overall.

The 94-yard pass marked the longest completion and touchdown pass in his career surpassing an 87-yard strike to Elijah Marks on Sept. 3, 2016 at Arizona State.


BIG PLAY CHUKWUMEZIE
Junior wide receiver Stacy Chukwumezie has scored a touchdown in seven of NAU's 10 games this season - seven receiving and one rushing.

Chukwumezie has recorded a six catches over 40 yards this season - each went for scores and leads the 'Jacks for most plays over 20 yards with 15.


WEAPON X AND TOUCHDOWN CHUCK
Freshman wide receiver Hendrix Johnson and junior Stacy Chukwumezie each nabbed a pair of touchdown grabs at Weber State on Oct. 19.

Hendrix snared a 44-yard and 12-yard TD, while Chukwumezie went long twice from 63 and 94 yards out.  It marked the first multiple touchdown game for either player.

The pair have combined for 1,527 yards and 12 receiving TDs over the first 10 games this season.