Looking Ahead No. 8: Northern Arizona

Northern Arizona football coach Jerome Souers (right) had the kind of "off-season" that coaches dream of -- in nightmares. The crash of the Arizona economy created rumors the school was considering dropping football, and NAU President John Haeger told the Board of Regents that continuing budget cuts could force the closure of the Skydome. Veteran defensive coordinator Corey Batoon went back to Arkansas State, from whence he came, and the program also lost its secondary coach, director of football operations and strength coach. Running back Deonte Williams, the Big Sky's newcomer of the year, left the program. And starting defensive end Kyle Rath suffered a partially-torn ACL which will sideline him for the first half of the upcoming season.

All of that "adversity," as coaches like to call it, was piled on to the lingering disappointment over the way the Lumberjack season ended last fall. After starting off the year 6-1 and climbing to No. 15 in the FCS polls, NAU crashed hard, losing four straight to end the season at 6-5 for the third straight year.

Run Defense Exposed

The Jacks wound up with the best rushing defense in the nation, setting a Big Sky Conference record by limiting opponents to less than 60 yards a game -- on an average of 2.1 yards per carry. But they were badly exposed over the final third of the season by the three best running backs in the Big Sky when Trevyn Smith (Weber State), Chase Reynolds (Montana) and Demetrius Crawford (Montana State) all rambled for over 100 yards apiece in wins over the Jacks. Eastern Washington's Matt Nichols then put up 346 yards and two TDS in passing the Eagles to a season-ending win over NAU.

Despite the bitter finish and the turmoil within the program, NAU rewarded Souers, the dean of Big Sky coaches, with a contract extension through 2010. Entering his 12th season at the Axer helm, Souers' program has been on a roller coaster since he arrived from Montana in 1998. The Jacks have posted seven winning seasons and tied for the league title once during that time, but they've also suffered through four losing campaigns. Most significantly, Souers, who was Montana's defensive coordinator when the Jacks tabbed him, is 0-11 against his former employer.

NAU's had few problems against Idaho State during that time, however, at least in Flagstaff. The Bengals haven't won at the Skydome since 1984, which ties Weber State for ISU's longest road losing streak. When the Bengals go to Flagstaff this year, it will be the seventh game of the season for NAU, which doesn't open its season until Sept. 12 at Arizona. The Axers then host Southern Utah, Montana and Northern Colorado, before playing at Montana State and Portland State.

Despite losing RB Williams, who ran for 194 yards and three touchdowns in the Axers' 52-30 win in Holt Arena last year, NAU still has the oft-injured Alex Henderson to provide firepower in the backfield. Henderson, who ran for over 1,000 yards as a freshman and Big Sky Newcomer of the Year, was limited to just six games last season, but still averaged over 5 yards a carry. He'll be joined in the backfield by quarterback Michael Herrick, who split time with the departed Lance Kriessen after transferring from Ole Miss last fall. Herrick completed almost two-thirds of his passes, but threw only three TDs vs. six interceptions. His top targets will likely be Conrad Meadows (4 catches for 141 yards and two TDS vs. ISU), and recuperating TE Shaun Fitzpatrick, who was limited to three games last year, but still caught 9 balls for a 16-yard average.

The "D" Is the Key

The real key for NAU, however, will be how the Axers' ultra-aggressive "flex" defense, which relies heavily on blitzing linebackers and safeties, adjusts to the loss of its leader Batoon, and two key playmakers: all-American defensive back K.J. Gerard and linebacker Cyrus Igono. The Axers do return end Michael Battisti, their sack leader with six, pre-season all Big Sky linebacker Cody Dowd, and five other starters who contributed to the league-leading 42 sacks registered by the Lumberjacks last season.

While NAU was able to take advantage of lesser offenses early in the season, the Axers' gambling tendencies left their secondary at risk. ISU quarterback Russell Hill, for example, ripped NAU for 361 yards and two touchdowns, while Eddie Thompson and Jaron Taylor combined for 16 catches between them. The Bengals were able to pick up only 33 net yards on the ground, however. Later in the season, when the best running backs in the league were able to gain yards against them, the NAU secondary was under even greater pressure.

Under normal circumstances, you wouldn't think this would be the year that an Idaho State team picked to finish last in the league would break the 25-year Flagstaff drought. But so many things have gone so wrong for the Axer program in the last 10 months, well crazier things have happened.

--Brad B.

And thanks for being a Bengal fan -- it'ain't always easy, but it's always fun.

No way to re-LAX

For those of you uninitiated in traveling with a team, let me tell you, it's sort of like watching an amoeba....the gang mostly stays in a circle, and every now and then a smaller group moves away from the group like a cell trying to reproduce, and eventually, most of the rest of the group follows suit and moves to them, keeping the amoeba intact. It's just sort of funny.

So, after a whirlwind bit of travel, going from ISU men's basketball Friday night to driving to Missoula to the football game to driving back right afterward just so I can get up at 5:15 (what is the deal with the 5:15s I've been awake for this year?) to go to the Salt Lake Airport for a near 7 hour flight to Hawaii, we missed our connection in LAX, so we have a three-hour wait, meaning we'll get back to Holt at 4:30 pm instead of 2:00 pm...oh well, at least they have free internet.

The one thing you cannot possibly do well on a plane is sleep...it's just not possible. I had two seats, and I'm not the biggest character in the world, but I couldn't get comfy. Mark Campbell had THREE seats and laid out across them like a bed and didn't get much sleep at all either. Traveling is hard, and there is a reason it's hard to win non-conference games on the road....recovery is just hard.

For those that missed it....
Idaho State just did get nipped by Hawai'i, 67-64 in overtime, and while ISU had PLENTY of chances, the fact that ISU played 45 minutes of zone defense and got whistled for 29 fouls is comical, especially when Hawai'i played man-to-man all game, and a full court trap for 15 minutes, and got whistled for just 21. Also, the same three officials that worked the four-game Hawai'i tournament the previous two days worked the game ... it's just interesting. Anyway, here is the Honolulu Advertisers's perspective, and here is ISU's take as well, plus Kellis's running blog of the event, and this as well...we missed ya' buddy.

Doing the Charleston
Jeff Charleston is doing pretty well for the Saints after getting picked up at midseason, as this attests. The article doesn't mention that Jeff also worked for a bit on his dad's ranch to help stay in shape, and I know that because Jeff's dad told me that after the Portland State game.

Not an earthquake....just the bandwagon jumper-offers...
Kelvin Ang posted a few thoughts about ISU's opening weekend, and his comments are pretty good. Nice of some of the "fans" to practice jumpship in the comments section after the first three games of the season, back-to-back-to-back with a new coaching staff and offensive scheme in the first games after two of the program's greatest players have left. Seriously....it's game three....the fact that Sobolewski picked up a win in that third game is great, especially after opening with two probably NCAA Tournament teams to start.

One Last Game...
Football is heading into their final game (bring a can of food for buy-1-get-1-free....) and the Olympian in Washington has a great profile on Jaron Taylor. The Montana student newspaper has a conference final weekend outlook going, but I haven't heard too many folks bring up this point...Weber State is in, but if Montana State wins the Brawl of the Wild this week, they are 6-2. Montana would be 6-2, so Montana State would be in second place, and they would be playoff eligible to get in with their 8-4 record and seven Division I wins...do they get in? If the west gets four...well, Cal Poly is a shoe-in, right? Weber State is in....if they consider the Southland a west school, there might be a debate about Montana State. I have a feeling they would get left out due to the perceived East Coast bias, but I could see a case where they get in too. I can't imagine Montana getting left out, but it would be odd to see the second place Big Sky team left out for the third place, no? Could happen though...that'll be an interesting game to see on Big Sky TV...

From the Los Angeles International airport....that's about it. Cody VanFleet looks exhausted by the way...also, congrats to Mark Liptak, who made his re-debut on the air for Bengal women's basketball...heard nothing but good things about the broadcasts...

What's Over-Under on Cal Poly-ISU? Take the Over

Points, points and more points. That's what I'd expect when the Bengals travel to San Luis Obispo to take on an explosive Cal Poly team on Saturday night. The Mustangs have averaged 53 points a game in their last four outings, including a 69-point monster against Southern Utah this past Saturday. They will give the Bengal defenders, who will be busing to Salt Lake, flying to Oakland, then busing to SLO, plenty of opportunity to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out those cramped leg muscles.

The marquee name for Cal Poly is Ramses Barden, not only because he has a cool name, but because he's one of the best offensive players in the country, no matter what class you're talking about. Barden, a majestic 6-foot-6 and 228 pounds, considered going to the NFL after his junior season, but the NFL projected him as only a fifth round draft choice. So he's back at Cal Poly, where he's averaging 21 yards a catch and has already put up 10 touchdown catches in six games this season.

Throwing the football to Barden will be Jonathan Dally (pronounced like alley), probably the most underrated quarterback in the FCS. Dally put together one of the best all-around games I've ever seen a quarterback play against the Bengals last year. He ran for 119 yards and a touchdown, and completed 16 of 24 passes for 453 yards and five touchdowns. Over the last season and a half, Dally has thrown 44 touchdown passes to just six interceptions. His numbers this year reflect improved accuracy over last season, with Dally completing almost 68 percent of his passes, and he has 15 touchdown throws to just one pick so far this year.

Cal Poly is 5-1 on the year, losing only to Montana when they missed on a last-second field goal in the second game of the season, and the Mustangs own a 29-27 win over FBS team San Diego State in the season-opener. They will put up points on Saturday night, of that there is no doubt.

The "good news" for the Bengals is that Cal Poly's own defense has proven to be more than vulnerable. Southern Utah scored 41 points against the Mustangs last Saturday, largely on the strength of a 469-yard passing day by SUU's Cody Stone. Bengal fans will remember last year, when Josh Barnett ran for 118 yards and Jaron Taylor (pictured) had his coming out party with a four-catch, 149-yard, two touchdown night for ISU. If Bengal WR Eddie Thompson is available to team with Taylor and Isaiah Burel (we'll hear more on ET's injury situation from Bengal Coach John Zamberlin on tonight's coach's show -- 6 p.m., KSEI 930-AM), it should be "points-a-plenty" on the Central Coast.

--Brad B.

Oh and thanks for being a Bengal fan -- it ain't always easy, but it's always fun.