Idaho State (2-3, 1-1) at Northern Arizona (2-4, 1-2)
Walkup Skydome, Flagstaff, Arizona
Saturday, 4 p.m. MST
My prediction …
Northern Arizona 33, Idaho State 11
— This is a tough one. Northern Arizona, the preseason favorite — because nobody really knew who to pick — doesn’t have sophomore quarterback Case Cookus after he injured his shoulder against Eastern Washington.
Since then, in a 21-18 loss at Northern Colorado and a 20-14 win at Montana State, the backup for Cookus, senior Blake Kemp, is a combined 60 of 86 for 468 yards, one touchdown and no picks.
Not terrible numbers, right?
But, under Kemp, NAU isn’t producing points. In the loss to Northern Colorado, three Lumberjack drives ended in fumbles — and another stalled in the red zone where the ’Jacks settled for a field goal. In Bozeman last week, Northern Arizona attempted four field goals and turned the ball over on downs at the Montana State 35.
What I’m saying is that without their star quarterback, the Lumberjacks are still moving the football effectively, but they’re not capitalizing on scoring opportunities with TDs.
Think about this … Northern Arizona outgained Northern Colorado 493-263 and Montana state 405-201. In reality, then, NAU dominated both games, but still only went 1-1.
That’s a long preamble to get to this point: Case Cookus or no Case Cookus, the Bengals are going to have to play really well to keep this one close.
But I’m excited to see how Kramer and company look after the bye. It came at a good time.
Walkup Skydome, Flagstaff, Arizona
Saturday, 4 p.m. MST
My prediction …
Northern Arizona 33, Idaho State 11
— This is a tough one. Northern Arizona, the preseason favorite — because nobody really knew who to pick — doesn’t have sophomore quarterback Case Cookus after he injured his shoulder against Eastern Washington.
Since then, in a 21-18 loss at Northern Colorado and a 20-14 win at Montana State, the backup for Cookus, senior Blake Kemp, is a combined 60 of 86 for 468 yards, one touchdown and no picks.
Not terrible numbers, right?
But, under Kemp, NAU isn’t producing points. In the loss to Northern Colorado, three Lumberjack drives ended in fumbles — and another stalled in the red zone where the ’Jacks settled for a field goal. In Bozeman last week, Northern Arizona attempted four field goals and turned the ball over on downs at the Montana State 35.
What I’m saying is that without their star quarterback, the Lumberjacks are still moving the football effectively, but they’re not capitalizing on scoring opportunities with TDs.
Think about this … Northern Arizona outgained Northern Colorado 493-263 and Montana state 405-201. In reality, then, NAU dominated both games, but still only went 1-1.
That’s a long preamble to get to this point: Case Cookus or no Case Cookus, the Bengals are going to have to play really well to keep this one close.
But I’m excited to see how Kramer and company look after the bye. It came at a good time.
unch:
