FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (August 29, 2019) – Big play offense and a solid defensive effort led the Northern Arizona University football team to a convincing 37-23 victory over Missouri State on Thursday night before an enthusiastic crowd at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome.
The game marked the first game for NAU head coach
Chris Ball, who became the 30
th coach in program history to lead the Lumberjacks.
Sophomore wide receiver
Brandon Porter was responsible for three touchdowns in the win as he hauled in a pair of touchdown catches and threw for another – a 55-yard connection on the backend of a double pass to junior Stacey Chukwumezie.
Porter finished with career bests in receptions (6), receiving yards (140) and touchdown receptions (2).
Senior quarterback
Case Cookus finished 18-of-29 through the air for 290 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also became the fifth signal caller in NAU history to eclipse the 8,000 career passing yard mark following a completion to freshman
Hendrix Johnson in the first quarter.
Defensively, the Lumberjacks limited the Bears to just 40 rushing yards on 32 attempts and enjoyed a stretch where it held Missouri State without a first down on five of six drives in the first half. A total of four Lumberjacks posted seven stops in the victory, including junior
Carson Taylor who registered a team-best 2.5 tackles for loss (-8 yards).
Missouri State (0-1) took an early 3-0 edge on a 45-yard field goal by Parker Lacina, which followed a muffed punt by NAU's
Khalil Dorsey that set up the Bears at the NAU 24-yard line. The Lumberjack defense didn't bend however as they pushed the Bears back four yards before they eventually settled for the three points.
NAU (1-0) answered back to tie the game at 3-3 on a career-long 47-yard field goal by Luis Aguiliar at the 2:14 mark of the first quarter which in part was set up by a one-handed grab by Johnson.
From that point on, the Lumberjacks would never trail again.
Cookus hit senior tight end
Joey Gatewood down the middle of the field for a 43-yard gain to position Aguilar for another field goal attempt, which he drilled from 21 yards out to put the 'Jacks up 6-3 with 9:44 left in the second.
NAU then started to pull away as Porter hit a wide open Chukwumezie on a double pass which resulted in a 55-yard score and put the Lumberjacks ahead 13-3 with 7:17 before half.
Following a 28-yard field goal by Missouri State's Lacina, which trimmed the NAU lead to 13-6, the Lumberjacks closed out the half with a six-play, 75-yard march in 1:07 that resulted Cookus hitting Porter on an eight-yard slant pattern to put the 'Jacks up 20-6 at the break.
The Lumberjacks broke the game wide open on their second drive of the third quarter when Cookus once again connected with Porter, this time for a 62-yard touchdown down the left sideline to make the margin 27-9 with 7:29 left.
Cookus and Porter kept humming two drives later with a connection of 38 yards that set up a four-yard touchdown jaunt by
Joe Logan to increase the lead to 34-9 with 1:50 left in the third.
Aguilar added his third field goal of the game with 9:01 left in regulation, this time from 46 yards to close out the scoring for the 'Jacks.
Missouri State added a 28-yard field goal by Lacina and a pair of late touchdowns to account for the final margin.
The Lumberjacks return to action with a trip to Tucson to battle the University of Arizona on Saturday, Sept. 7 in a 7:45 p.m. MST start that will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks.
Chris Ball, Head Coach
"We got a lot of great effort out there. We finished the game. The most glaring mistake was the penalties, way too many penalties, too many stupid penalties that are things we need to get corrected this week. We started out a little shaky but were able to settle down a little bit and I was very pleased with the outcome. The penalty thing is not us, especially the personal fouls, that's not us. We know better than that and need to do a better job at that."
How important was it to get this win for Malik Noshi?
"They are all important. Every game that we play is important. There's a lot that goes into it, but this game had a little more frosting on it. I think Mal (Malik) would have really enjoyed this game, it was a physical game, which was right up his alley. I am proud that we were able to honor him and continue to honor him throughout the year. This was the game where we really wanted to show people how much we miss him."
Case Cookus, Quarterback
How were you feeling with how the offensive line was going?
"First game, everyone's got jitters and everyone is going to make mistakes, including myself. Overall, I feel like we were all meshing a little better, on all fronts. I got hit a couple times and that's going to happen throughout the year, and you can't blame the offensive line. Sometimes I have to get the balls out quicker, so that is partially on me as well. We had a slow start but we started meshing which led to the win."
Postgame Notes – vs. Missouri State – August 29, 2019
- Thursday night's game vs. Missouri State marked the first game for Chris Ball as head coach of the NAU Lumberjacks – he is the 30th head coach in NAU history.
- Tonight's game marked the first time that the Lumberjacks have opened the season at home on a Thursday night since 2010 when it hosted Western New Mexico.
- NAU sophomore Anthony Sweeney was ejected for targeting in the first quarter.
- Junior kicker Luis Aguilar drilled a career-best 48-yard field goal with 50 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
- Aguilar had a career day going a perfect 3-for-3 on field goal attempts (48, 21, 46) and drilled 7-of-8 kickoffs for touchbacks.
- Senior quarterback Case Cookus became the fifth signal caller in Lumberjack history to eclipse 8,000 passing yard mark when he hit freshman Hendrix Johnson for a 30-yard gain in the first quarter.
- Cookus now boasts 8,258 passing yards and 76 scoring tosses.
- NAU senior linebacker Chris Jules was ejected from the game with 4:47 left in the second quarter for targeting.
- Sophomore Brandon Porter finished with 140 receiving yards and two touchdown catches – both mark career-best efforts and the second 100-yard performance of his career overall.
- Porter also tossed the 4th TD pass of his career on a double pass that hit Stacey Chukwumezie for a 55-yard score.
- Thursday's game marked the opening game of this season's Big Sky-Missouri Valley Challenge. The 'Jacks will also play at MVC member Illinois State on Sept. 21.
- The Lumberjacks improve to 78-25-2 all time in season openers following the win over Missouri State.
- NAU moves to 59-44-2 in home openers all time following the victory.
- The 'Jacks have won 26 of their last 33 games in the Skydome and are 159-79 all-time on their home turf.
