The first slate of games kicks of this week!  And yes, I did not say weekend on purpose because 2 of our Big Sky brethren will start their season tomorrow.  As per usual during the first week, many teams are playing outside of our FCS division, some up, some down.  So let’s get right to it, since there isn’t much else to be said.  Predicted winners in bold:

Thursday, September 2:

Western New Mexico @ #23 Northern Arizona

The Lumberjacks look to improve upon their disappointing 2009 campaign, in which they finished 4-4 in league, 5-6 overall including 4 straight losses.  Graduated are Alex Henderson, the lead rusher and scorer for the Jacks, as well as their two leading receivers in Ed Berry & Conrad Meadows.  A host of running backs are looking to replace Henderson, namely Giovannie Dixon who was the primary backup last year.  Read the rest of this entry »

Northern Arizona 42 Southern Utah 39

Lumberjacks hold off Thunderbirds

The NAU Lumberjacks jumped out to a 35-17 lead after 3 quarters, then had to hold off a furious rally by Southern Utah in the 4th quarter, prevailing over the Thunderbirds 42-39.

Alex Henderson led the way for the Jacks, with 32 carries for 168 yards and 2 TDs. He also recovered his own fumble in the end zone for a 3rd TD. Micheal Herrick completed 15 of 21 passes for 306 yards and a TD. 4 of those were complete to Conrad Meadows for 121 yards. Austin Shanks and Giovannie Dixon added TD Runs. NAU has 554 yards of total offense.

The Thunderbirds gashed the NAU defense for 540 yards of total offense, led by 425 yards passing by Cade Cooper. Cooper completed 33 of 48 for 4 TDs and no INTs. Austin Minifee had 89 yards rushing and 85 receiving, including 3TDs receiving. Tysson Poots had 6 catches for 109 yards and a TD.

The Lumberjacks evened their record at 1-1, while Southern Utah dropped to 1-2. The Lumberjacks will be in action Saturday September 26, hosting the Montana Grizzles.

Scoreboard
Final 1 2 3 4 T
Southern Utah (1-2) 7 7 3 22 39
Northern Arizona (1-1) « 14 14 7 7 42

Scoring Summary
NAZ Daiveun Curry-Chapman 5 yd pass from Michael Herrick (SHAUN FITZPATRICK 2pt run)
NAZ Alex Henderson 0 yd run (failed 2pt rush)
SUT Austin Minefee 17 yd pass from Cade Cooper (Ryan Griffith kick)
NAZ Austin Shanks 35 yd run (Matt Myers kick)
NAZ Alex Henderson 3 yd run (Matt Myers kick)
SUT Tysson Poots 25 yd pass from Cade Cooper (Ryan Griffith kick)
NAZ Alex Henderson 57 yd run (Matt Myers kick)
SUT Ryan Griffith 17 yd FG
SUT Major Gray 1 yd run (Ryan Griffith kick)
NAZ Giovannie Dixon 30 yd run (Matt Myers kick)
SUT Austin Minefee 15 yd pass from Cade Cooper (Fesi Sitake 2pt pass from Cade Cooper)
SUT Austin Minefee 40 yd pass from Cade Cooper (Ryan Griffith kick)

Team Stats
SUT NAZ
First Downs 29 23
Third Down Efficiency 8-16 5-10
Fourth Down Efficiency 2-2 1-2
Plays-Net Yards 81-540 61-554
Rushes-Yds 32-109 40-248
Passing Yds 431 306
Kick Return Yds 74 82
Punt Return Yds 15 4
Passes 34-49-0 15-21-0
Punts 4-167 3-154
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 4-1
Penalties-Yds 10-105 7-118
Time of Poss. 34:10 25:50

Individual Stats
RUSHING
SUT: Austin Minefee 19-89, Trevor Ward 1-14, Ammon Olsen 1-12, Major Gray 3-2, Cade Cooper 8–8
NAZ: Alex Henderson 32-168, Giovannie Dixon 7-45, Austin Shanks 1-35
PASSING
SUT: Cade Cooper 33-48-425-0, Ammon Olsen 1-1-6-0
NAZ: Michael Herrick 15-21-306-0
RECEIVING
SUT: Fesi Sitake 10-80, Tysson Poots 6-109, Austin Minefee 5-83, Mitch Jessop 4-74, Jared Ursua 4-48, Karl Williams 3-29, Deckar Alexander 1-5, Abbel Aiono 1-3
NAZ: Conrad Meadows 4-121, Alex Henderson 3-64, Daiveun Curry-Chapman 3-47, Ed Berry 2-33, Ryan Rauschert 2-19, Giovannie Dixon 1-22

Southern Utah @ Northern Arizona
6:05pm ET Saturday September 19, 2009

The Lumberjacks come into Saturday’s showdown with the visiting Thunderbirds off of a 34-17 loss at Arizona. The Jacks put up a good fight, being as close as 21-10 with the ball deep inside Wildcats territory. NAU will look to kick off the 2009 home season on a positive note.

The Thunderbirds are coming off of a 35-19 loss at San Diego State this past Saturday. They stand at 1-1 after starting the season off with a 36-7 victory over Dixie State.

Look for the Lumberjacks offense, under the direction of Micheal Herrick to attack the SUU defense through the air . San diego State had a great deal of seuccess through the air. Having success through the air will allow Alex Henderson to find some gaps in the Thunderbird defense.

Another key factor will be if the Lumberjack defense can force Southern Utah QB Cade Cooper into forcing throws and throwing interceptions. In the win for the Thunderbirds: 0 turnovers; the loss: 3 turnovers.

Prediction: The NAU defense force the Thuderbirds to turn the ball over numerous times, and Herrick has a big day. NAU 31 SUU 20

NAU Puts Up Fight, Bows to Cats

The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks gave the Arizona Wildcats all they wanted for a half, but the Wildcats proved to be too much, pulling away late for a 34-17 victory at home. The Lumberjacks trailed only 14-10 in the 2nd quarter, but Arizona outscored NAU 20-7 the rest of the way.

The Jacks had no answer for Arizona running back Nic Grigsby. Grigsby carried the ball 15 times for 207 yards and 2 TDs, with a long run of 94 yards in the 3rd quarter.

Micheal Herrick made the start at quarterback for the Lumberjacks, completing 20 of 30 passes for 2 TDs and 2 INT.

Grigsby led off the scoring with a 25 yard TD jaunt in the 1st quarter. After a 43 yard field goal by NAU kicker Matt Myers, Grigsby took it in from 30 yards out to give the Cats a 14-3 lead. The Lumberjacks then went on a 14 play, 79 yards scoring drive to cut the Wildcat lead to 14-10, early in the 2nd quarter. Micheal Herrick hit Ed Berry with a 4 yard TD pass to finish the drive.

The 2nd quarter was uneventful, until Matt Scott hit Terrell Turner with a 2 yard TD pass with 30 seconds to go before the half to give the Cats a 21-10 halftime advantage.

NAU’s last opportunity to get back in the game was foiled by a Terrell Wade INT near the Arizona goal line, stopping a Lumberjack scoring drive. Nic Grigsby went 94 yards on the next play to the NAU 1. Keola Antolin plunged in on the next play and the Cats took a 27-10 lead.

Arizona backup QB Nick Foles threw a TD pass early in the 4th quarter to make the score 34-10. Herrick and Berry teamed up again for a 19 yard TD completion to close out the scoring.

The Lumberjacks host Southern Utah on Saturday.

SCOREBOARD
Final    1    2    3    4    T
Northern Arizona  (0-1)    3    7    0    7    17
Arizona  (2-0) «    14    7    6    7    34

SCORING SUMMARY
AZ    Nic Grigsby 25 yd run (Alex Zendejas kick)
NAZ    Matt Myers 43 yd FG
AZ    Nic Grigsby 30 yd run (Alex Zendejas kick)
NAZ    Ed Berry 4 yd pass from Michael Herrick (Matt Myers kick)
AZ    Terrell Turner 2 yd pass from Matt Scott (Alex Zendejas kick)
AZ    Keola Antolin 1 yd run (missed kick)
AZ    Juron Criner 5 yd pass from Nick Foles (Alex Zendejas kick)
NAZ    Ed Berry 19 yd pass from Michael Herrick (Matt Myers kick)

Team Stats
NAZ    AZ
First Downs    13    27
Third Down Efficiency    4-9    8-13
Fourth Down Efficiency    0-0    3-4
Plays-Net Yards    49-226    75-559
Rushes-Yds    19-67    47-365
Passing Yds    159    194
Kick Return Yds    88    84
Punt Return Yds    0    0
Passes    20-30-2    20-28-1
Punts    4-169    0-0
Fumbles-Lost    1-0    1-1
Penalties-Yds    1-5    5-35
Time of Poss.    24:8    35:52

Individual Stats
RUSHING
NAZ: Alex Henderson 14-56, Giovannie Dixon 2-13, Austin Shanks 1-6, Team 1–1, Michael Herrick 1–7
AZ: Nic Grigsby 15-207, Keola Antolin 9-60, Matt Scott 7-48, Greg Nwoko 9-32, Nick Booth 3-17, Terrell Turner 2-6, Nick Foles 1–2, Delashaun Dean 1–3
PASSING
NAZ: Michael Herrick 20-30-159-2
AZ: Matt Scott 14-20-150-1, Nick Foles 6-8-44-0
RECEIVING
NAZ: Ed Berry 7-71, Daiveun Curry-Chapman 4-34, Conrad Meadows 4-18, Alex Henderson 2-16, Mike Czyz 1-12, Austin Shanks 1-7, Curt Sweeney 1-1
AZ: Terrell Turner 5-46, David Douglas 5-43, Delashaun Dean 2-26, A.J. Simmons 2-21, David Roberts 2-17, William Wright 1-21, Nic Grigsby 1-12, Juron Criner 1-5, Chris Gronkowski 1-3

Northern Arizona @ Arizona Preview

10:00pm ET Saturday September 12, 2009

The Arizona Wildcats are coming off of a season opening victory over the Central Michigan Chippewas, 19-6. New Wildcat quarterback Matt Scott completed 19 out of 30 passes for 202 yards and an interception. Nic Grigsby led the Wildcat rushing attack with 23 carries for 118 yards and a touchdown. Scott added 83 yards on 9 carries. Alex Zendejas jr. added a career high 4 field goals. The Wildcats owned a time of possession advantage of 38 minutes to 22 minutes, thanks to a balanced offensive output of 246 yards on the ground and 202 yards through the air.

The Wildcat defense was spectacular, holding a potent Central Michigan offense to under 300 yards of total offense. Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour never got going against the Wildcat defense, throwing for only 108 yards and an INT.

This is a tough opener for the Lumberjacks. Starting the season with a new QB, new RB and rebuilding the defense is tough enough, but beginning the season with an FBS opponent on the rise makes an already tough task even tougher. Look for the Lumberjacks to put up a fight, but the Cats to be too much.

Score Prediction: Arizona 41  NAU 7