With Northern Arizona’s surprise win at Arizona last season, suffice to say that this is a program that has ASU’s full attention ahead of their season-opening matchup. How different is this NAU team in 2022? Flagstaff’s KAFF Radio News Director Dave Zorn, who has covered the Lumberjacks for the past eight years and is the host of the team’s halftime show, familiarizes us with the Arizona State’s in-state opponent.
DevilsDigest: When you look back at 2021, NAU has that win historic win at Arizona, which is obviously their crown jewel feat of the season, but overall did finish just 5-6. Coming into the season, and perhaps based on last season’s record, the Lumberjacks were picked seventh out of 12 teams in the Big Sky. So you have a team that didn’t finish 2021 on a great note, and in 2022 their expectations are low. What is your assessment of what transpired last year in Flagstaff, and how do you feel NAU will fair this season?
Dave Zorn: “Last year, the win against U of A was unexpected in a way because that wasn’t the most talented NAU team that went down to Tucson in recent years. But things are completely different now in Tucson, as we all know. But the thing about last year is that there was a lot of youth on this team. There were a lot of green guys that ended up playing. But I think that was a great thing because I think it’s made this team better than what I think the experts think. There’s a ton of talent coming back and a lot of starters on both sides of the ball.
“Offensively, they may even be as good now offensively than they had been in the last five, six years. The only concern for me is really offensive line because they’re just young. But they’re stockpiled at running back and receiver. At quarterback, it’s 1 and 1A now. RJ Martinez is going to be the starter as he should be. He got his first action against U of A., and all he did was beat them up there. But I tell you what, the kid from Casa Grande, Angel Flores, has really come on like gangbusters, and he’s probably the number two guy. Every time I’ve seen Angel in there with the 1’s, he has just been incredible. So I think this is the best quarterback rotation this team has had in quite some time.”
DevilsDigest: That road win at Arizona is a victory that is impossible to overstate its importance as it was NAU’s first win over a Pac-12 school. And yes, the 2021 as a whole wasn’t a great year, but when you look at that win in a vacuum, what has it done to the program, and the fan base over in Flagstaff ever since?
Dave Zorn: “That win energized the NAU fan base quite a bit, and I think for a while there, a bunch of fans were like, ‘Did that just happen? Did we really just watch that?’ NAU was there taking a knee in Tucson…okay…I think maybe even the team didn’t realize what had happened. Mike Marlow, the NAU Athletic Director, joked and asked, ‘if we beat ASU this year will they let us keep the Territorial Cup for one year?’
“That game did one thing for you, and that helps a little bit more from a local recruiting standpoint. Since head coach Chris Ball has been here, his number one goal in recruiting is to win the state. He wants to get as many players as he possibly can from the state of Arizona and try to keep the players away from Weber State, Montana, and Montana State. You got a guy, for example, a couple of years ago in Hendrix Johnson, who was probably the number one or number two receiver in the state who had four different scholarship offers from FBS schools but chose to go to NAU. And you’ve got a couple of other guys on this team that have that same background.
“That win over U of A gets the monkey off our back there and has been helpful for recruiting. But I think that game probably did more damage to U of A than it helped NAU.”
DevilsDigest: Looking at the offense, and naturally, ASU fans are very familiar with NAU offensive coordinator Aaron Pflugrad, who was a former player in Tempe as well as Oregon. How would you describe his style of offense? And with the overall experience level improving on this side of the ball, what are you expecting from his offensive philosophy to change, and what can ASU fans expect from NAU on Thursday?
Dave Zorn: “Well, I think you remember back when he played, Pflugrad was part of high-tempo offenses, and I see a lot of similarities with NAU’s offense to the offense he played at ASU. Now, it’s not going to be quick snap to the ball, boom, boom, boom, down the field, like it was at ASU or Oregon ten years ago. But it’s a balanced offense, and I think they are pretty quick to the ball for the most part. And, like I said, they have some weapons. Last year, a guy who really exploded on the scene and is now one of the best running backs in the Big Sky was Kevin Daniels, who went to high school down in Glendale, and NAU was his only offer. He basically re-wrote Glendale High School’s rushing records and had a great year last year (1,146 yards rushing, 6.2 yards per carry). And there’s a guy like George Robinson who’s 6-2 230 pounds, a more physical between the tackles type of runner. Pflugrad does a great job of getting the right guys in for the package he’s gotten running. I think he’s done a great job with the quarterbacks too. He takes advantage of what the defense gives him.
"It’s been a learning process, and I wouldn’t say he’s an A-Plus offensive coordinator, probably more of a B offensive coordinator. For the most part, he gets the most out of his guy; he’s been a pretty good play caller and has done a pretty good job here at NAU.”
DevilsDigest: Let’s move on to the defense. It’s a group that didn’t put up good numbers last year, and perhaps that’s extra disappointing with a head coach in Chris Ball, who is a great defensive mind in his own right. In 2021 they gave up 30 points or more in six games, albeit some of them victories, so it has been a struggle. Were you surprised seeing that performance, and on that note, what are you expecting from that group in 2022?
Dave Zorn: “I wasn’t surprised by last year because they were incredibly young. Because of injuries late in the year, there were some guys out there that probably shouldn’t have seen the field, and they were starting. Again, getting that experience and those reps is what will help improvement.
“The defensive line is probably the strength of the defense going into this year. They have some size and some fast dudes on that line. I’m a big fan of Polynesian football players, and NAU has got a couple of those mean and gritty Polynesian players on the D-line. One guy that stands out on defense is defensive back and team captain Morgan Vest. Plain and simple that guy is a football player, and he’s involved in most tackles. If I were to go back and maybe compare him to somebody ASU fans would be familiar with, I would say that he’s a bigger Adam Archuleta or maybe a Mike Nixon. Not the biggest guy in the world, at 6-1 205 lbs. but he makes plays, and he’s always around the football.
“If there’s a weak part of this defense, it’s probably linebacker only because there’s a lot of inexperience there. There are a lot of transfers who have come in, quite a few actually from FBS schools. I saw them in the scrimmage, and I just don’t know where that is. I’m curious to see how they do against other competition. But they’ve been a fiery bunch making plays; it’s just kind of untested. Jerry Partridge, the defensive coordinator, was roommates with Chris Ball in college, so they’ve known each other for years. He’s a fiery, gritty old guy who gets the most out of his players. Whether it’s enough to hold back ASU and a mobile quarterback, I don’t know if they can do that. If they can, they’re gonna be in the game. But if it gets to be a track meet early, like we’ve seen in the past year between these two teams, where you blink, and it’s 21-0, then obviously you take the check and go back home and get ready for Sam Houston the next week.
“It’s a defense that runs a base 4-3, but you’ll see them float the outside linebacker into coverage a little bit more, maybe like the old Devilbacker at ASU. I don’t think you’ll see a five-man front. I don’t think they blitz a ton either; at least I wouldn’t be in this game. There are more important games on the line than ASU as far as showing blitz packages. Defensive backs-wise, I think they got to speed to hang with teams. But there are gonna be a lot of young new guys starting at the corners, and that’s a little bit scary. One guy that comes to mind who I know the coaches are high on is Kamdan Hightower out of Scottsdale Chaparral. They’re talented kids, but again, they’re young.”
DevilsDigest: So we already mentioned the name Chris Ball a few times in our conversation so far, someone who was on Todd Graham’s staff at ASU. What has been the perception of his Flagstaff tenure to date? Modest improvement from year one to last season, but do you feel that the fan base and administration are fully behind him? Or does a lack of winning season with him at the helm causing some impatience?
Dave Zorn: “I think he’s in good shape. He had to basically start from scratch and rebuild this program since Jerome Sowers was here. He (Sowers) recruited smaller players, and one of the first things Chris Ball told me in his first year here was, ‘Dave, did you take a look at our defensive lineman? There are high school defensive linemen in Flagstaff right now who are bigger than some of these guys.’ And he was right, they had to get bigger on the defensive line, and they’ve done that. They are more talented on the offensive line because of what they’ve done recruiting-wise. And from an overall talent standpoint, there are some good football players here, and it’s just taking a little bit of time to get things right.
“The Big Sky Conference depending on who you talk to, it’s either no. 1 or no. 2 conference in the FCS. You got schools like Montana, who’s constantly good. Montana State is now the premier team in this conference. Eastern Washington is always in the conversation. Sac State’s got a great defense in this conference. So you are playing a lot of tough teams in the Big Sky, and NAU has to get to a point where they’re in the conversation among the top four. I think they’re right there. I know; they were picked seventh. I voted in the preseason poll, and I had them at fourth. But preseason polls are a crapshoot for the most part. But I think being picked seventh in his fourth year here is going to light a fire under Ball.”
DevilsDigest: Maybe you couldn’t really blame NAU coming in this week with some confidence after what they did to Arizona last year. Do you sense that they now have that bigger appetite, so to speak, ahead of the ASU game and have a bigger belief in their chances of an upset?
Dave Zorn: “I think where this program is right now, I think they’re not going to be intimidated coming into Sun Devil Stadium, that’s for sure. Some of the younger guys might, especially the valley kids, but going down to Tucson last year and winning in that stadium probably will give them a little bit of confidence for Thursday. In the offseason, the one thing that Chris Ball was on his players about was the lack of leadership he saw last year. So he’s developed an inside team leadership; they call it a player’s committee. There were teammates that didn’t hold each other accountable the way he thought they should of last year. So in the offseason, a lot of team building took place. We’ve seen better leadership, the practices I have gotten to, I’ve seen more hooting’, hollering, and high-fiving. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t say the new performance center up here has played a big role in that because that place is phenomenal. This place is amazing for a smaller university, and they have everything they need there. It’s been a morale boost for the program.
“So the camaraderie and leadership building may win them a couple of games, where it didn’t last year. Whether this happens in their first game or not remains to be seen. But I think with this offense and the weapons they have, they’re gonna be in every game this year, including ASU. Now, it’s just whether the defense can slow other teams down that’s the biggest question for me.”
DevilsDigest: In your opinion, what has to happen on Thursday for NAU to pull off the upset, and what is your score prediction?
Dave Zorn: “I suppose I’ll pull a ‘Kirk Herbstreit,’ and because I’m part of the NAU broadcast team, I try not to predict this game at all. I’m one of the people that hates this game because I obviously work for NAU, but I’m a longtime ASU fan. But as I’ve said, the NAU defense has to play a high quality game. That means wrap-up tackles, pitching some three-and-outs, and holding ASU to field goals. I want to see a really good effort out of that defense creating turnovers. I know it’s a cliche, but if they don’t turn the ball over, I think they’ll probably be in decent shape for most of the game.
“And for me as someone who follows Arizona State, how is ASU going to come out and look like with all that’s gone on in the offseason? Is this team ready to play? There have been a lot of distractions, and I’m not gonna say then NAU can take advantage of any of that. But NAU’s standpoint, they have to be ready to play at the snap and to take care of the football, and defensively will have to play a solid game to win. I’m gonna be hated either way if I predicted a score, but I’ll put it this way: I think if NAU does the work on defense, this will be a close game in the fourth quarter, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today here and get all the latest Sun Devil news!
