FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 25, 2021) – While it isn't remotely as long as its last layoff, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks return from a brief hiatus this Saturday as they take on the No. 2/3 Weber State Wildcats in Ogden, Utah.
Saturday's game, set for a 1 p.m. kickoff in Utah and 12 p.m. locally in Flagstaff, will be available on the Lumberjack Radio Network with a pregame show beginning at 11 a.m. in Arizona. The game will also be available on Pluto TV Channel 1054.
Off for the past two weeks after the Idaho Vandals were forced to delay their game until April 17, NAU (1-1) embraced its time off as it returned to full health ahead of its meeting with Weber State (2-0).
"We played our first game, played our second game and all the sudden it'll be three weeks by the time we play again," said NAU head coach
Chris Ball. "The kids are biting at the bit, they are ready to play. We have had some great practices. We gave them some time off which I think has helped us get healthy."
Voted as the Big Sky Conference preseason favorite in both the coaches and media poll, Weber State rolled through Idaho State in Pocatello, Idaho to open the season before outlasting the No. 23 UC Davis Aggies two weeks ago in Ogden.
Down 10-0 at halftime, the Wildcats outscored the Aggies 15-0 in the third quarter and picked off a pair of passes in the fourth to put the game out of reach. Weber State's plus-4 turnover margin, matched by NAU through two games, is a continuation of the success it had in 2019.
Holding a plus-16 margin across 15 games as they reached the FCS semifinals, the Wildcats forced 31 turnovers throughout the run. Two of those forced turnovers came against the Lumberjacks, as the Wildcats snapped a four-game losing streak to the Lumberjacks with a 51-28 victory in Ogden.
The win was Weber State head coach Jay Hill's first against NAU, with the Wildcats falling to the Lumberjacks at home in 2014 and 2016, as well as in Flagstaff in 2015 and 2018. During the last meeting in Flagstaff, the Wildcats entered as a top 10 program in both national polls before losing to the unranked Lumberjacks 28-24.
That game was NAU's last victory against a top-10 program, as Weber State entered last season's victory ranked No. 4/5. The Wildcats have not lost in Ogden since Dec. 7, 2018 when they fell to the No. 12-ranked Maine Black Bears in the FCS playoffs.
Since the loss, Weber State has won nine straight games at Stewart Stadium and 18 of their past 19 dating back to 2017. Qualifying for the FCS playoffs in each of the past four seasons, the Wildcats reached the quarterfinals in 2017 and 2018 before moving on to the semifinals in 2019.
"They are really good, they are well coached in all three phases," Ball said. "They are a veteran team and very physical. They are a really good football team, Jay Hill does a tremendous job of building that program. They are number two in the country right now and he's just got it rolling."
Josh Davis, one of Weber State's eight Preseason All-Big Sky selections, leads the Wildcats run game with 177 yards through two games. With 410 rushing yards so far this season, Weber State ranks among the top 20 rushing teams in the nation.
True freshman Bronson Barron has taken over at quarterback for the Wildcats, throwing for 448 yards and four touchdowns while completing 53.6 percent of his passes so far this year. A pair of scores have gone to all-conference return man Rashid Shaheed while junior Ty MacPherson leads the team with six catches for 153 yards. MacPherson's yards per catch of 25.5 is sixth in the nation thanks to gains of 48, 45 and 42 yards this season.
One the defensive side, six different Wildcats have recorded at least half a sack this season with Sherwin Lavaka leading at 2.0. Conner Mortensen leads Weber State with 18 tackles this season, including a team-best 3.5 for loss, while also picking off a pass and breaking up two others.
The senior linebacker is one of four to record an interception this season as defensive end Logan Lutui, safety Preston Smith and cornerback Eddie Heckard have also picked off a pass at each level of the Wildcats' defense.
Smith and Heckard each forced fumbles in last year's meeting with NAU, with the latter also ending up with a sack and two tackles for loss.
On NAU's side of the ball, both
Hendrix Johnson and
Stacy Chukwumezie caught a pair of touchdowns against Weber State last season. Chukwumezie's 94-yard touchdown against Weber was NAU's longest offensive play from scrimmage since Hendricks Johnson's 99-yard touchdown in 1990. Chukwumezie's first touchdown of the game came from 63 yards out while the present day
Hendrix Johnson finished with scores of 12 and 44 yards.
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