NAU Hands ISU First Loss Of The Season, 37-16

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Illinois State offense struggled all game to get something going against NAU (3-2, 2-0 Big Sky), who put up 443 yards of total offense against the Redbirds (4-1, 2-0 MVFC) in a 37-6 win at the Walkup Skydome Saturday.

The first quarter resembled a tug-of-war, with both teams playing strong on the defensive side of the ball. Dalton Keene sacked Case Cookus for an NAU ten-yard-loss early in the quarter and neither team could score, as the game headed to the second quarter with no score.  

The pace started to pick up in the second quarter, as Cookus completed a 23-yard pass to Elijah Marks, moving the Lumberjacks deep into Redbird territory.  However, the ISU defense held up, forcing a Lumberjack field goal to make it a 3-0 deficit with 11:52 left in the first half. With 5:46 left in the half, Sean Slattery put ISU on the map after a 32-yard field goal, evening the score at an even 3-3. Another Lumberjack field goal with 2:38 left in the half to make the score 6-3 in favor of NAU. With a little over a minute left in the half, Slattery nailed a career-long 51-yard field goal, tying the score at 6-6. With 29 seconds left in the quarter, Marks caught a 23-yard pass by Cookus in the end zone, giving the Lumberjacks at 13-6 lead at the half. 

Two more touchdown passes on the first two possessions of the third quarter for NAU gave the Lumberjacks a three-touchdown lead at 27-6, before Slattery's third field goal make of the day on the next Redbird possession made the score 27-9 in favor of the Lumberjacks. Griffin Roehler's third field goal of the game, this one from 33 yards early in the fourth quarter, then gave the Lumberjacks a 30-9 lead early in the fourth quarter.

ISU was able to finally break through for its first touchdown of the game with 8:08 remaining in the contest, as Jake Kolbe found Spencer Schnell for a 15-yard touchdown to bring the score to 30-6. The touchdown pass was the first of the season for Schnell. NAU tacked on a late touchdown on Cookus' third touchdown pass of the game to ice the 37-16 non-conference victory for the Lumberjacks.

Illinois State returns to action next Saturday, when they travel to Carbondale, Illinois, to face in-state rival Southern Illinois.  Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m.

GAME NOTES:
-    Artiss Henderson recorded a career-long 83 yard kick return against Northern Arizona. 
-    Sean Slattery set a career-best with a 51-yard field goal, and finished the game a perfect 3-for-3 on field goal attempts. 
-    Dalton Keene led the Redbird defense with a season-best 10 tackles, one sack and 3 TFLs.

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