The Sun Devils kick off the 2016 season in a much different manner than last year, playing at home facing an FCS opponent. Undoubtedly the easiest game on ASU’s schedule, yet probably holding more intrigue than the same caliber of matchups in years past. Joe Healey examines the Lumberjacks.
Northern Arizona Offense
It is difficult to believe many FCS underclassmen made as quick and impressive of an impact as the collective one made by NAU quarterback Case Cookus, who in 2015 enjoyed a sensational debut season.
In 11 games, Cookus (6-4, 200) threw for 3,117 yards with 37 touchdowns to just five interceptions while completing 69-percent of his passes. Among his FCS peers, Cookus ranked second nationally in pass efficiency, passing touchdowns and yards per pass attempt while ranking third in points responsible for and completion percentage, seventh in passing yards per game, eighth in total offense and ninth in total passing yards.
Cookus’ achievements from his true freshman season alone are comparable to the career wish list of most college athletes: Jerry Rice Award winner (most outstanding FCS freshman), Walter Camp All-America, College Sports Madness First-Team All-America and fifth in FCS STATS National Offensive Player of the Year voting, among other honors.
Despite his gaudy passing stats, do not discount Cookus’ overall athletic ability as the former high school wide receiver had 209 net rush yards with three touchdowns last year.
Should the need emerge, Blake Kemp is listed as NAU’s backup quarterback. The well-traveled fifth-year senior played at Hamilton High School in Chandler and also at Mesa Community College and East Carolina University.
At running back, the Lumberjacks take a page out of ASU’s depth chart book as NAU has an “OR” listed between starting candidates Corbin Jountti and Kendyl Taylor.
With 1,000-yard rusher Casey Jahn having graduated, Jountti (5-11, 195) returns as NAU’s leading rusher from 2015 with 378 yards on 78 carries with six touchdowns.
Taylor (5-10, 210) should be a familiar name to Arizona State followers as the younger brother of Kerry starred at Hamilton High School and played two years at Washington before transferring to NAU before last season. In an all-purpose role last year, Taylor rushed 51 times for 249 yards and added 21 receptions for 204 yards with two touchdowns but this year is expected to exclusively play running back.
To have the success Cookus enjoyed as a freshman, a top-tier receiving target needed to be on the other end of his passes and NAU has exactly that in junior Emmanuel Butler.
A First-Team All-Big Sky honoree last year and listed by at least one publication as a First-Team FCS All-American in 2015, the Phoenix Mountain Pointe High School graduate set a school record with 1,208 receiving yards while tying the NAU single-season mark with 15 touchdowns in 2015. A big (6-4, 220), physical receiver with a wide catching radius and excellent hands, regardless NAU’s level of play, Cookus-to-Butler will be one of the top passing combinations ASU will face in 2016.
Elsewhere at wide receiver, Elijah Marks (6-1, 175) and junior college transfer William Morehand (6-0, 180) are slated to start with Butler, while Oklahoma transfer Dallis Todd (6-3, 195), Utah transfer Delshawn McClellon (5-9. 175) and Hunter Burton (6-0, 165) are listed as the top receivers.
Marks is NAU’s second-leading returning receiver behind Butler (26-239-6), while Burton saw scarce reps in the passing game in 2015 (4-28-2).
Sophomore Jonathan Baldwin (6-4, 230) backed by junior Neal Murphy (6-1, 240) is the listed two-deep at tight end. In 2015, Baldwin caught five passes for 59 yards behind graduate All-Big Sky tight end R.J. Rickert.
The Lumberjack offensive line figures to consist of (left-to-right) tackle Jacob Julian, guard Dylan LaFrenz, center Blake Porter, guard Tyler Shank and tackle Cole Habib.
Of the returners from 2015, Julian was the top awards recipient as he was a Third-Team All-Big Sky honoree, while Porter was an Honorable Mention selection. The left side has some decent size in Julian (6-4, 300) and LaFrenz (6-4, 295), but Porter (6-0, 280) and Habib (6-5, 255) are slighter in size compared to the typical linemen ASU faces.
If LaFrenz rings a bell – it should – as he was verbally committed to ASU in the late stages of Dennis Erickson’s tenure with the Sun Devils but ended up signing with NAU after Todd Graham was hired.
Offense Summary
Do not let NAU’s status as an FCS-level team fool you – Cookus and Butler have the potential to provide a legitimate threat to the beleaguered Arizona State secondary. After the dubious records set by ASU’s pass defense in 2015, this combination will be an intriguing test to encounter as the Devils strive to right the wrongs of last year.
Aside from its stellar one-two punch in the passing game, NAU has FBS level talent scattered across the skill positions, with Kendyl Taylor as a potential breakout candidate this year.
Cookus’ timing and effectiveness could be shaken by the sizeable advantage ASU figures to have in its front seven against the Lumberjack offensive front. Players such as JoJo Wicker, D.J. Calhoun, and others should be able to use their skill sets as pass rushers to mitigate the admirable abilities of Cookus in the passing game. However, if Cookus is able to have enough time to operate in the pocket, he is able to make crisp decisions that can attack ASU’s secondary.
Northern Arizona Defense
The Lumberjacks list a 4-2-5 as its base defense and in total have several key figures to replace from 2015 as five of the top seven tacklers are gone from last year’s roster.
Up front, NAU figures to start left end Siupeli Anau (6-3, 250) with tackles Kourey Gabriel (6-0, 285) and Deon Young (6-1, 265) and right end Lorenzo Melvin (6-2, 230). Across the board, ASU will have a substantial size advantage with its offensive line going against the Lumberjack defensive front, requiring the NAU defenders the rely on speed and athleticism to avoid being neutralized by the much larger Sun Devil blockers.
Last season Young posted 17 tackles including 2.0 sacks, Gabriel totaled 16 tackles including 1.5 for loss with 0.5 sacks and Melvin registered 15 tackles with 1.5 sacks. Anau is the most accomplished of the potential starting linemen as he was an Honorable Mention All-Big Sky pick in 2014 but missed 2015 due to injury.
Senior Jake Thomas (6-1, 235) starts at MIKE linebacker with junior Byron Evans (6-1, 235) at SAM, with Thomas as the team’s leading returning tackler for 2015 with 68 stops including 7.5 for loss with 4.5 sacks.
The typical five-man Lumberjack secondary includes cornerbacks Maurice Davison (5-9, 160) and Andrew Gose (5-11, 160) with safeties Wes Sutton (6-0, 175) and Keith Graham (5-11, 185) and nickel back Cole Sterns (5-11, 175).
In 2015, Davison totaled 31 tackles and five pass breakups, Graham added 25 tackles, while Sterns had 24, Sutton chipped in 23 and Gose added six tackles.
Though he is listed as the backup strong safety to Sutton, LeAndre Vaughn is NAU’s second-leading returning tackler from 2015 (62) and had two interceptions last season.
Defense Summary
Statistically last season, NAU allowed 474.4 total yards per game including 180.0 on the ground and 294.4 through the air. Of the 27 sacks and ten interceptions, the Lumberjacks totaled in 2015, returning players account for only 13.5 and two of those, respectively.
If the Lumberjack linemen are not able to gain some sort of quickness advantage over the Sun Devil offensive line, Demario Richard, Kalen Ballage and company could have a series of easy paths on the ground and ASU could get a great deal of clean looks in the passing game.
What remains to be seen is how experimental Todd Graham and Chip Lindsey chose to be in the season opener, but even if the offensive scheme is as vanilla as can be, the Sun Devils have a multitude of man-to-man and unit-to-unit advantages.
Northern Arizona Special Teams
NAU will usher in a new kicker on Saturday – not just new for the season, but new to college football – as true freshman, Griffin Roehler is listed ahead of fellow true freshman Luis Aguilar at kicker.
The Lumberjacks also will see a new punter for the 2016 season in Dylan Kegans, who previously spent time on ASU’s roster.
Kendyl Taylor is listed as the primary option on both kick and punt returns, with William Morehand behind him in both departments. Taylor saw some action on kick returns last year, averaging 20.7 yards on six returns.
Overall Summary
With all due respect to the visiting Lumberjacks, the expectation any time ASU plays an FCS-level team is a smooth, distant victory and an opportunity for new players and those that typically would not get game day reps to see playing action and refine their skills.
The Lumberjacks bring an element to this game different than any other FCS opponent ASU faces in terms of the “chip on the shoulder” mentality the players carry into Sun Devil Stadium. Naturally, the NAU roster consists of numerous Arizonans and the nine of the 22 projected offensive and defensive starters are from the general Phoenix area.
This underdog – even “little brother” – mentality is something that has materialized in ways in the past as in 2006 the game was tied at 14 entering the fourth quarter and three years earlier, ASU held just a 27-14 edge heading into the final quarter. In Todd Graham’s only matchup with NAU, however, ASU decimated the Lumberjacks with a 63-6 final verdict, proving just about anything is possible in this series.
Keys to a Sun Devil Victory
Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It: Many fans want to see what the new quarterback(s) can do and want to see what five-star freshman N’Keal Harry is all about, but feeding the proven commodities of Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage early and often to kick start the offense is the wisest way to uncover options for the newcomers to exploit.
Confidence for Manny: Whether by big stats or just consistently fluid operation of the offense, assuming Manny Wilkins gets the start and the bulk of the quarterback snaps, to smoothly induct Wilkins into the role is a key goal against NAU.
Limit Cookus: Even if ASU happens to walk off Frank Kush Field with a satisfactory margin of victory, if Cookus is able to have widespread success against the Sun Devil secondary, fears and concerns will persist for the unit’s potential for 2016. Limiting Cookus’ productivity could be used as a legitimate building block of confidence for the nation’s poorest pass defense in 2015.
Go Full Speed: In a game of this nature, there can be a sense of overconfidence that creates the presumption that “going through the motions” will still ensure victory. Due to ASU’s struggles last season, it would be a surprise for ASU to enter this game with any measure of lethargy.
Familiar Faces
· NAU wide receivers coach Aaron Pflugrad was on the Sun Devil football team from 2009-11 and was a graduate assistant coach under Todd Graham in 2013-14
· NAU Dylan LaFrenz was verbally committed to ASU before signing with NAU in 2012
· NAU LB Jake Thomas is the son of former Sun Devil OL Kevin Thomas, starting center for ASU’s Rose Bowl champion team in 1986
· NAU K/LB Dylan Kegans was previously on the ASU football roster
· NAU ATH Aaron Manning attended Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) High School, as did ASU’s A.J. and Ami Latu
· NAU CB Mo White II and OL Shane Susic attended Scottsdale’s Notre Dame Prep, as did ASU TE Grant Martinez
· NAU TE Patrick Baldenegro, OL Tyler Shank, and CB Wes Sutton attended Chandler High School, as did ASU’s N’Keal Harry, Chase Lucas, Tyler McClure and Bryce Perkins
· NAU LB Brandon Worthy attended Murrieta (Calif.) Vista Murrieta High School as did ASU’s Coltin Gerhart
