#NAUSTRONG /LumberjackCountry /NAUFootball 2017 NORTHERN ARIZONA FOOTBALL @NAU_Athletics @NAU_Football GAME 1 : Northern Arizona at Arizona @NAUAthletics @NAU_Football Saturday, September 2, 2017 | 8:00 p.m. | Tucson, Ariz. | Arizona Stadium NORTHERN ARIZONA LUMBERJACKS (0-0) ARIZONA WILDCATS (0-0) GAMEDAY 2016 RECORD: 5-6, 4-4 Big Sky 2016 RECORD: 3-9, 1-8 Pac-12 2016 AWAY RECORD: 2-4 2016 AWAY RECORD: 3-4 HEAD COACH: Jerome Souers (20th Year) HEAD COACH: Rich Rodriguez (Sixth Year) RECORD AT NAU: 112-103 RECORD AT NAU: 36-29 OVERALL RECORD: 112-103 OVERALL RECORD: 156-113-2 2016 PPG/ALLOWED PER GAME: 32.8/28.5 2016 PPG/ALLOWED PER GAME: 24.8/38.3 TELEVISION: Pac-12 Network (Kate Scott and Glenn Parker) RADIO: 93.5 FM & AM 930 KAFF Country Legends - Flagstaff; 97.9 FM The Eagle - Prescott; Money Radio 1510 AM & 105.3 FM - Phoenix; KHAC 880 AM - Window Rock (Mitch Strohman, Kevin Stephens and Matt Howdeshell) LIVE VIDEO: pac-12.com LIVE AUDIO: nauathletics.com LIVE STATS: arizonalivestats.com NAU’S OPENING DRIVE ARIZONA’S OPENING DRIVE • Northern Arizona opens the 2017 season coming off a 5-6 campaign, • Like NAU, Arizona heads into the 2017 season hoping to put last sea- its first sub-.500 record since 2011. NAU went 4-4 in the Big Sky Con- son’s disappointments behind them. The Wildcats were winless in ference and finished in a tie for sixth a year ago. eight Pac-12 games while posting just a 3-9 overall record. • Head Coach Jerome Souers enters his 20th season at the helm of • Arizona is led by head coach Rich Rodriguez, who begins his sixth the Lumberjacks as the Big Sky’s winningest coach with 112 victories. season with the Wildcats. Rodriguez owns a 36-28 record during his • Boosted by the return of sophomore quarterback Case Cookus, who time in Tucson. only appeared in four games in 2016 before suffering a season-ending • The Wildcats were picked sixth out of six teams in the Pac-12 South injury, NAU was voted third by both the league’s coaches and media Division accoring to the conference media. They bring back 45 let- in the preseason polls. terwinners, but also have 61 freshmen - including redshirts - on their • Cookus threw for 1,173 yards with a 13-to-1 touchdown-to-interception roster. ratio last season before going down. He has been named to both the • Under center, redshirt junior quarterback Brandon Dawkins returns but Walter Payton Award and CFPA FCS National Performer of the Year has not been announced as Arizona’s starter as of yet. Dawkins, a Watch Lists. dual threat, threw for 1,348 yards and eight touchdowns and rushed • He will have his top target for one more season as senior wide receiver for 944 yards and another 10 scores. Emmanuel Butler returns for a final go-around in the Blue & Gold. • Arizona’s other candidate to start at quarterback is sophomore Khalil Butler, already among the NAU greats with 11 games at minimum to Tate, who compiled 243 passing yards and 237 rushing yards in seven play, totaled 1,003 yards receiving last year and nine touchdowns. games a true freshman last season. A preseason FCS Stats All-America Second Team pick, Butler joins • Whoever gets the season-opening call on Saturday, they will be pro- Cookus on the Walter Payton Award Watch List. tected by a pair of offensive linemen who were named to preseason • The ’Jacks return 32 total letterwinners, and among them is soph- watch lists. Senior Jacob Alsadek is a preseason candidate for the omore kicker Griffin Roehler. Roehler led the team with 83 points Wuerffel Trophy, while sophomore Nathan Eldridge was named to the scored last season and was an All-Big Sky First Team selection in his Rimington Trophy Watch list. debut season. Roehler also earned Third Team All-American honors from College Sports Madness in 2016. 2017 NAU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE ARIZONA WESTERN CAL POLY NORTHERN ILLINOIS PORTLAND UC DAVIS SACRAMENTO MONTANA MONTANA SOUTHERN ILLINOIS COLORADO STATE STATE STATE STATE UTAH Sept. 2 Sept. 9 Sept. 23 Sept. 30 Oct. 7 Oct. 14 Oct. 21 Oct. 28 Nov. 4 Nov. 11 Nov. 18 8 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. 4 p.m. 4 p.m. 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 4 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 5 p.m. 2:30 p.m. Home Games in Gold | All times local to Flagstaff 1 QUICK FACTS TEAM COMPARISON (2016 STATS) SERIES HISTORY GENERAL INFORMATION vs. ALL-TIME SERIES Location ........................................................Flagstaff, Ariz. Arizona leads 13-1 32.8 24.8 Founded .................................................................... 1899 Points/G 5,230 4,957 Enrollment (statewide) ............................................. 30,383 Total Off. 1,723 2,820 LAST MEETING Nickname........................................................Lumberjacks Rush Off. 3,507 2,137 Arizona 77, NAU 13 Mascot ....................................................................... Louie Pass Off. 28.5 38.3 Sept. 19, 2015 (Tucson, Ariz.) Colors ......................................................... Blue and Gold Pts Allowed/G 4,544 5,632 Affiliation ................ Football Championship Division (FCS) Total Def. 1,687 2,330 LAST NAU WIN Home Facility (Capacity) .....J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome (10,000) Rush Def. 2,857 3,302 NAU 7, Arizona 6 Conference .............................................................Big Sky Pass Def. 27 28 1932 (Phoenix, Ariz.) President ....................................................Dr. Rita Cheng Sacks 8 12 VP for Intercollegiate Athletics .................Dr. Lisa Campos Int. 41.2 Punt Avg. 41.6 80/717 Pen./Yards 76/768 TEAM INFORMATION 2016 Final Record .........................................................5-6 2016 Big Sky Record/Finish ..................................4-4/T6th ’JACKS-’CATS CONNECTIONS Final National Ranking ................................................. N/A • A number of NAU players have connections with the Arizona football program. Letterwinners • Freshman Max Michalczik is the son of current Arizona offensive line coach Jim Michalczik. Offensive Returning/Lost ............................................. 16/8 • Junior Jake Casteel’s father, Jeff Casteel, was Arizona’s defensive coordinator from 2012-15. Defensive Returning/Lost .......................................... 14/14 • Byron Evans, the father of NAU senior Byron Evans, was the 1986 Pac-10 Defensive Player Special Teams Returning/Lost ....................................... 2/2 of the Year at Arizona and was a fourth-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles. He would Starters go on to play eight years with the Eagles in the NFL. Offensive Returning/Lost ............................................... 7/4 • Overall, NAU has eight players from Tucson on its roster including Casteel, Michalczik, senior Defensive Returning/Lost .............................................. 2/9 Nick Davis, juniors Cole Sterns and Markquise Simmons, sophomore Taylor Powell, and Special Teams Returning/Lost ....................................... 1/1 freshmen Jonas Leader and Connor Leavens. • Offensive line coachTim Davis was a graduate assistant at Arizona during the 1987 season. COACHING STAFF Head Coach........................ Jerome Souers (20th Season) SEASON OPENER HISTORY Alma Mater ................................................... Oregon, 1983 • Under head coach Jerome Souers, the Lumberjacks own a 9-10 record in season openers. Record at NAU ............................................112-103 (.521) • This Saturday’s 2017 season opener will be the 10th time in 20 years that NAU has kicked off Career Record ...........................................................Same the season with either Arizona or Arizona State. Big Sky Record ................................................76-71 (.517) Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers ......... Andy Thompson NAU VS. THE FBS Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks ......... Brian Sheppard • The Lumberjacks are 8-51 all-time versus FBS/I-A opponents since 1957 and have lost four Defensive Line ................................................ Travis Baker straight since defeating UNLV, 17-14, on Sept. 8, 2012 in Las Vegas. Defensive Secondary ....................................Vernon Smith Wide Receivers .......................................... Aaron Pflugrad YEAR 20 Offensive Line ..................................................... Tim Davis • Jerome Souers enters his 20th season as the head coach of the Northern Arizona football Running Backs/Tight Ends ...............................Jimmy Beal team. He is the longest tenured head coach in the Big Sky Conference by a wide margin as Safeties..................................................... Cody VonAppen Cal Poly’s Tim Walsh is the next closest as he is beginning his ninth season. In all of the FCS, Special Teams ................................................Gary Hyman he is tied for the seventh-longest tenured head coach. Dir. of Recruiting/Player Development............. Craig Knoth • Last season, Souers earned career win No. 112 and became the winningest coach in con- Graduate Assistant/Operations.................... Lanae Blocker ference history on Nov. 5 in the process when the Lumberjacks defeated Weber State on the Graduate Assistant/Offense ...............................Nick Butier road, 33-20. Graduate Assistant/Defense .......................Devon McPeek • In his first 19 years, NAU has made three FCS/I-AA playoff appearances and has a total of Graduate Assistant/Recruiting .....................Louie Ramirez 12 winning seasons. Video Coordinator .......................................... James Foran THE CHEF IS BACK MEDIA INFORMATION • Coming off an injury shortened 2016