Weber State @ NAU (prediction thread)

[mtjack]

Saturday, October 25th, 3:05 pm PST

This should be a good one. Then again, I said the same about Portland State, Idaho State and Sacramento State. I was wrong all three times. I'd be thrilled to continue being wrong and have NAU win by 32, 20 or 22 going away. My heart wants this will happen. My brain says it won't.

Weber State is good. Damned good. Their running back's a fire hydrant with legs and put a hurt on a good Grizzly defense. There won't be any holding the opposing team to negative rushing yardage this weekend. I think the Jacks will be able to limit Trevyn's effectiveness and possibly hold him under 100 yards. Weber's QB, Higgins, impressed me in the two partial games I saw on tv when Weber State played UM and MSU. He'll get his yards too. Lots of small, quick receivers.

Their defense if solid and will come to play but I say we have a slight edge there. Weber's been tested with a tougher schedule to this point. Two BCS schools, U Hawai'i and U Utah, on the road ending in losses and Montana win at home. The start and end of our tough schedule to this point has been ASU on the road. NAU's had it relatively easy up to this point. Advantage there to Weber State.

Weber State kept their game against Northern Colorado close courtesy of a slew of turnovers and penalties. NAU struggled against Northern Colorado too. Similar weaknesses on both teams, perhaps?

Predict the winner of this game is the team to make the fewest mistakes on special teams and limit the turnovers/penalties.

Final Score: Lumberjacks 33
Wildcats 29

These two teams control their own destinies in the conference. Here's hoping for a well played, injury free competitive game.

Go Jacks!

MTJack

PS - Give a shout out to the Purple Pack (Weber State student booster bus) as well. They deserve props for making the long trip to support their school.

Side note:
Holy crap, I just took the time to look over the NAU roster and am stumped at how few seniors are on this team. Albeit, they do lose a lot of starters/contributors in that senior bunch but I'd have to say that this bodes well for the immediate future.

 

[weberwildcat]

I'm gonna go with: WSU 35, NAU 24

NAU has plenty of offensive firepower, but WSU's D has been great this year. I see the game going close to WSU's averge of 34 ppg and allowing 21 ppg.

If WSU can pull off a W in Flagstaff, I don't see them losing a conference game this year.

 

[weberwildcat]

TSN Outlook of game:


No. 16 Weber State (6-2, 4-0 Big Sky) at No. 15 Northern Arizona (6-1, 4-0 Big Sky), 6:05

In the 44 previous meetings between Northern Arizona and Weber State, never has there been more on the line. The winner of this contest will be in the drivers seat to win the Big Sky championship.

Winners of six-straight, the Lumberjacks are in search of their first postseason appearance since 2003, and are off to their best start since that season. The offense has been among the most versatile in school history, rivaling such attacks as the Travis Brown/Archie Emerson unit back in 1996.

Like past years, the quarterback position has been responsible for a large part of the offensive success, led by Lance Kriesien (1,252 yards passing, eight TDs and two interceptions) and Ole Miss transfer Michael Herrick (463 yards passing, three TDs).

The running game has also been the strength of Northern Arizona's offensive prowess, as the Lumberjacks rank 16th in FCS in rushing (196 yards). Tailback Deonte Williams (709 yards rushing and nine TDs) ranks 19th nationally and leads the Big Sky in rushing yardage.

The Lumberjacks lead the nation in rushing defense (11 yards per game) and rank 22nd in FCS in total defense (314 yards per game).

NAUs defensive line has been among the best in the FCS, led by defensive ends Michael Battiest (team-leading five sacks) and Kyle Wrath (4.5 sacks),while cornerback K. J. Gerard (five interceptions) was one of the most recent additions to the Buck Buchanan Award watch list.

Wildcat running back Trevyn Smith (team-leading 766 rushing yards and eight TDs) will offer the stiffest FCS challenge yet for the Lumberjack rushing defense. Smith had 170 yards in Weber State's 29-20 loss in Ogden last season.

Payton Award candidate Cameron Higgins (2,534 passing yards, 25 TDs and six interceptions) has flourished with a bevy of receivers, including Tim Toone (45 catches, 16.6 average, four TDs), Bryant Eteuati (38 catches, 1.091 all-purpose yards, six TDs) and tight end Cody Nakamura (30 catches, 15.6 average, six TDs)

The Weber State defense has been solid against the run (118 yards per game, 28th in FCS), and has been bolstered by defensive end Kevin Linehan (team- leading 6.5 sacks) and safety Beau Hadley (team-leading four interceptions).

Northern Arizona 35, Weber State 28

 

[king]

eewww!! :shock: This one had a bad smell from the beginning if you're a lumberjack fan. NAU did't show up defensively or offensively today. What a shame, this could have been a great game. The refs also made some very questionable calls on "fumbles" that turned into WSU touchdowns. On the otherhand Weber played great. Their offense was as smooth as a baby's butt and their defense shut down NAU's offense. I have to say that even if NAU had played to their normal capabilities, they would still have lost. I have now seen all teams in the conferance play and I think that Weber is the better team this year. I don't see them loosing a conferance game this year and they should represent the Big Sky very well in the playoffs. Congrats to all wildcat fans, you guys have a great team and definately deserved to win this one.

For the Lumberjack it doesn't get any better next week as they travel to Montana. We will see how they respond after the letdown they just had. If they get blown out again, they will loose all credibility and their season will pretty much come to an end. If they give the Griz a good game, even if they still loose, they will still maintain some credibility and could still be seen as a possible playoff team. This is the fork in the road for NAU. They will either salvage their season or see it go down the tubes. We'll see what the future holds.

Lets go Lumberjacks :mrgreen: