TEMPE, Ariz. (September 1, 2022) – Despite opening the game strong, holding the Arizona State Sun Devils to just a field goal in the first quarter of the season opener, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks wore down in the season opener.
Held to just 120 yards on offense Thursday night, Northern Arizona slowly slipped behind despite its defense's best effort to hold Arizona State to four field goals as the Lumberjacks fell 40-3.
"We turned the ball over and we made the mistake on the field goal which cost us," said Lumberjacks head coach
Chris Ball. "But everything we saw out there is fixable. We just didn't take care of the ball and execute like we needed to do tonight."
Arizona State's opening drive went 69 yards on 11 plays, but resulted in just a 27-yard field goal after the Lumberjacks recorded a stop inside the red zone. Set up with a first down at Northern Arizona's 14-yard line, Arizona State managed just five yards on three runs against the Lumberjacks' front.
Back on the field a little more than three minutes later following a three-and-out by the offense, Northern Arizona's defense once again held up as Alonzo Davis broke up a deep pass inside the Lumberjacks' 10-yard line as the Sun Devils faced a third-and-9 on the 46.
"The defense played well at times, but there's some other times where we missed on some plays," Ball said. "So we have got to look at the tape. We don't have 29 days to get ready for Sam Houston. We have another good team coming up, another team that just moved up to the FBS."
The Lumberjacks' best offensive drive of the game began late in the first quarter, with
Kevin Daniels converting a third-and-3 with a 6-yard carry and
RJ Martinez hitting
Jamal Glaspie for a 15-yard gain on third-and-4 to cross midfield.
An 8-yard catch by
Coleman Owen, coupled with a facemask penalty put the Lumberjacks just outside the red zone before a bobbled snap on a field goal attempt left Northern Arizona without points deep in Arizona State territory.
From there, Arizona State scored a touchdown on three consecutive drives to take a 24-0 lead with Northern Arizona finally stopping the run thanks to defensive tackle
Sheldon Newton.
Breaking through the middle of Arizona State's offensive line on the first play of a drive beginning at the Sun Devils' 36, Newton strip sacked quarterback Emory Jones and recovered the ball at the Arizona State 28. Three plays later,
Collin Robbins converted a 48-yard field goal for Northern Arizona's first points of the game with just five seconds before halftime.
"We ran a great stunt,
Mark Ho Ching penetrated really well and freed me up. And I got a hit on the quarterback and got the ball out," Newton said.
However, Arizona State opened the second half with four consecutive scoring drives including a touchdown five plays into the third quarter to take a 31-3 lead as Xazavian Valladay broke free for a 27-yard run.
While Northern Arizona's defense stalled three straight Arizona State drives between the 18 and 26-yard lines, the offense struggled to stay on the field with just 38 yards in the second half.
The Lumberjacks travel to Huntsville, Texas next week to face the Sam Houston Bearkats on Saturday, Sept. 10. Sam Houston opens its season at Texas A&M on Saturday in College Station, Texas.
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