Two games into the year and NAU has struggled to come out of the gates after having such lofty expectations going into this year. Last week the Jacks lost to Western Illinois in a battle of two ranked teams and have only collected four touchdowns thus far after being promoted as having one of the best offenses in the FCS. This week against N.M. Highlands is the last chance NAU has to get the ship right before Big Sky play begins and the true tests begin in the early part of this Fall semester.
Lack of Fireworks Thus Far
Case Cookus and Emmanuel Butler came into the year as perhaps the most hyped up quarterback-receiver tandem in the Big Sky. Thus far the two have regained a small amount of their status they left off with last year. Because however everyone is expecting these two to dominate the field, teams will game plan to stop them and so far they have found ways to at least limit the two throughout the course of the games they’ve played. Butler has two of the four touchdowns the team has scored as a whole however, meaning that he is stepping up when it is time to answer the call. But other targets like Elijah Marks and Delshawn McClellon must find some kind of consistency with Cookus to allow him to spread the fiend and give running back Kendyl Taylor some snaps where the defense spreads itself out and loads up on defensive backs to allow him an opportunity to get to the second level with ease. Teams know where the first salvo of fireworks are going to come from with this team, it is up to the rest of the supporting cast to provide the rest.
Defense Looking to Step Up
In the last game for NAU, Western Illinois had themselves a field day on the offensive side of the ball. Running back Steve McShane ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns while Lance Lenoir racked up 11 catches and over 200 yards. Take away Lenoir, the team only would have had 105 total passing yards out of their 336 they did collect. The defense for NAU clearly needs to find some kind of identity here as those kinds of performances are not only tough to bear, but unacceptable for a team that is in the pole position to take their conference at the end of the season. NAU cannot expect to win shootouts every game because at some point there will be an opponent that has just one extra bullet to fire that the Jacks won’t be able to answer to. When that day comes, forget about being ranked in the preseason. It won’t matter come the final curtain call for the year.
Discipline, Discipline, Discipline
Referees have been very flag happy around the Lumberjacks so far in the early going this season. In just two games the Jacks have gathered 19 penalties and are averaging around 80 penalty yards a game. That is giving up great field position to the opponent and puts pressure on both sides of the ball. For a young team like NAU they need to start cracking down on these procedural and in play problems otherwise they are going to continue until they are almost common place. Plus, the frustration that builds because of the consistency of these penalties will more than likely lead a player to get frustrated and make another crucial mistake, stacking onto the already existing problem. Coach Jerome Souers will have to start bringing his players together and find the source of these calls before his team shoots themselves in the foot so many times that they won’t be able to hope their way out of a problem.
The game will be played at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, AZ on Fox Sports AZ. The game will be on a tape delay there, but kickoff will be at 4 PM Arizona time this Saturday.