With a fairly potent offense along with a revamped defense looking to bounce back from a struggling 2021 campaign, Northern Arizona will trek down south on the I-17 to visit Tempe. Here’s my detailed look at Arizona State’s week one foe.

Northern Arizona Offense

After starting multiple quarterbacks during the 2021 fall season, Northern Arizona undoubtedly landed upon its signal caller of the future in RJ Martinez, who last year was named the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year.

The native of Austin, Texas, appeared in eight games with seven starts and completed 136-of-220 passes (61.8 pct.) for 1,714 yards with an impressive ratio of 14 touchdowns to just two interceptions.

Martinez was also NAU’s second-leading rusher in the fall of 2021, as he had a net of 187 yards (23.4 per game) on the ground with five scores.

The absolute breakout performance for Martinez came last fall against Southern Utah when he completed 23-of-29 passes for 417 yards with five touchdowns and zero interceptions and rushed for 65 yards on ten carries with two scores. Both the passing and rushing yardage proved to be season-highs for Martinez.

Martinez had two additional 200-yard passing days; one came prior to that explosion against Southern Utah, as he had 208 passing yards against Northern Colorado on Sept. 25 and later had 238 passing yards with three touchdowns against Idaho.

Though outshined a bit by Martinez in terms of conference honors, running back, Kevin Daniels had an incredible freshman season as he became the first Lumberjack since 2015 to cross the 1,000-yard rushing threshold as he ran 185 times for 1,146 yards (6.2 avg.) with seven touchdowns in 10 games, adding 25 catches for 141 yards. The pro-sized (6-2, 225) runner from Glendale (Ariz.) High School was a Second-Team All-Big Sky honoree and ranked third in the FCS in rushing yards per game (114.6).

Daniels had four 100-yard games last fall, including a 229-yard outburst against Southern Utah and a 280-yard, five-touchdown day in his final game of the season against Cal Poly. He also tallied 127 yards on 27 carries with a touchdown in NAU’s landmark upset of Arizona in Tucson last September.

George Robinson (46 carries, 160 yards, two touchdowns) adds viable depth at running back, as does all-purpose standout Draycen Hall, a product of Higley High School, who rushed for 120 yards, caught 29 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns, and averaged 26.3 yards on kickoff returns last fall.

In addition to Martinez and Daniels, the Lumberjack offense features a pair of excellent wide receivers in Coleman Owen and Hendrix Johnson, both of whom earned Honorable Mention All-Big Sky honors last fall.

Both local products, Owen hails from Higley High School and Johnson from Anthem’s Boulder Creek High School; the pair combined for over 1,200 yards in 11 games last season as Owen had 43 receptions for 713 yards (16.6 avg) with six touchdowns, while Johnson had 509 yards on 28 catches (18.2 avg.) with five scores.

For their careers, Owen has 61 catches for 933 yards with eight touchdowns in 19 games, while Johnson has 92 receptions for 1,371 yards (14.9 avg.) with ten touchdowns in 23 games.

The main departure on offense is tight end Matthew Kempton, the son of former Phoenix Sun Tim Kempton, who tied for second on the team last year with 29 receptions. Alishawuan Taylor is listed as the top tight end for Thursday’s game.

Behind the talented pair of Owen and Johnson, Jamal Glaspie and Stacy Chukwumezie are the top threats in the pass game.

Last fall, Glaspie had 26 receptions for 332 yards with a touchdown in nine games, while Chukwumezie only appeared in four games but still had 16 receptions for 213 yards with a touchdown.

On the offensive line, NAU returns four players to have started at least seven games last fall, while three of those four started ten or more. The figurehead of the line is Jonas Leader, a Third-Team All-Big Sky pick last year at right tackle, while former Cal transfer PJ Poutasi also figures to be an honors candidate this season at guard.

The depth chart for Thursday’s game shows redshirt freshman Caiden Miles as the top left tackle, with redshirt sophomore Angle Flores at left guard and redshirt junior Jalen Hooper at center with Poutasi at right guard, and Leader at right tackle.

Offense Summary

Last fall, the Lumberjacks had a solid offense by ranking in the FCS top-40 in rush offense (29th, 172.8 ypg.) and 36th in total offense (36th, 396.5 ypg.), but points on the board were a bit of an issue as NAU tied for 68th nationally averaging 24.6 points per game.

The vast majority of the Northern Arizona offensive skill production returns, as the top six rushers and six of the top seven, and nine of the top-11 receivers return from last year.

The tremendous upside of Martinez and Daniels, along with the experience and dynamic abilities of Owen and Johnson, create a variety of threats for the Lumberjack offense, guided by coordinator and former Sun Devil wide receiver Aaron Pflugrad, to utilize in 2022.

Northern Arizona Defense

On the defensive line, Eloi Kwete racked up 45 tackles, including 8.0 for loss with 4.0 sacks and returns for 2022, though the Lumberjacks must replace Carson Taylor, who was the team-leader in sacks (6.0) and TFLs (9.0) last fall.

Also returning on the line are Cosmas Kwete, a former Washington State transfer who started six of eight games played last year, as well as Sheldon Newton, who started three of 11 games played last fall and chipped in 22 tackles, including 2.5 for loss with 2.0 sacks.

Mark Ho Ching and Nehemiah Magalei also return after both players appeared in 10 games last year. Ho Ching had 13 tackles, including 2.5 for loss, and Magalei had 12 tackles, including 2.0 for loss. Sheldon Newton added 22 tackles as a participant in all 11 games on the defensive line last year.

Transfer Logan Bayus from Colorado Mesa was an Honorable Mention all-conference pick last year after recording 41 tackles, including 5.5 for loss with 3.0 sacks.

The game one depth chart has Eloi Kwete at defensive end with Newton at nose tackle and Ho Ching at defensive tackle, with Cosmas Kwete at the “Jack” position.

Though Tristen Vance and Harrison Beemiller – NAU’s second and third-leading tacklers last year – have moved on, Jhasi Wilson returns at linebacker after posting 29 tackles, including four for loss in 11 games.

Heston Lameta, who appeared in nine games in 2019, returns at linebacker after missing all of 2021, but NAU will be tasked with replacing multiple linebackers both in the starting lineup and elsewhere throughout the depth chart.

On this week’s depth chart, Wilson is listed as the top Sam linebacker, with Lameta at Will.

Safety Morgan Vest and cornerback Colby Humphrey are the key returners in the secondary, as Vest proved to be one of the more productive defensive backs at the FCS level with a team-high 106 tackles along with five interceptions in 11 games. Humphrey had 44 tackles and two interceptions in nine games last fall.

Anthony Sweeney, who started eight games at safety and all five of the spring 2020 season for NAU, returns after missing all of last fall due to injury. He was NAU’s leading tackler (83) in 2018 and had 35 tackles the year before.

A running back for NAU from 2018-19 before switching to cornerback after his sophomore season, Jacob Mpungi started nine of the 16 games Northern Arizona played across the spring and fall of 2021. He had 15 tackles during the spring session and 19 tackles during the fall.

Transfers Alonzo Davis (Southern Utah) and former Jacksonville State defender George Steele – no, not George “The Animal” Steele, who tore turnbuckle pads apart with his teeth in the WWF in the 1980s – figure to contribute to significant levels in the secondary, perhaps in the starting lineup.

The depth chart shows Davis and Humphrey as the starting cornerbacks with Vest and Kamdan Hightower as the first-string safeties with Sweeney at the “Axe” position. Hightower, a Scottsdale Chaparral product, started two of four games played during NAU’s spring 2021 season but missed all but two games of the fall season.

Defense Summary

NAU faces a notable overhaul on defense as two of the top three and six of the top nine tacklers from last fall are no longer on the roster. Between injured players returning after missing time in 2021 and a host of departures both in the starting lineup and across the depth chart, Thursday may be a bit of a “trial by fire” acclimation period for the defensive side of the visiting team from Flagstaff.

Additionally, the Lumberjacks had one of the absolute worst pass defenses at the FCS level last year – 121st of 123 teams – as NAU allowed 277.2 passing yards per game. The Lumberjacks also tied for 81st by allowing 30.0 points per game and had the 105th-ranked total defense, yielding 438.9 yards per game.

Between the personnel changes and the statistics of last year, ASU should be in a very good position to have a solid offensive day under first-year coordinator Glenn Thomas as well as a host of first-year, first-team players, including but certainly not limited to starting quarterback Emory Jones.

Northern Arizona Special Teams

Replacing superstar kicker Luis Aguilar and punter Derek Arnson will be no easy task, and in a game such as Thursday’s, NAU can ill-afford kicking or punting gaffes due to new players at their positions.

Clay Gross, Eemil Herranen, Marcus Lye, and Collin Robbins are listed on the roster as options at kicker and punter, but only Robbins, with one career game, has made a collegiate appearance for NAU.

The week one depth chart lists Robbins as the primary placekicker and kickoff specialist, with Herranen slated to handle punts.

In the return game, Coleman Owen averaged a mere 3.9 yards on eight punt returns, while Draycen Hall was the team leader with a 26.3-yard average on 13 kickoff returns.

Overall Summary

Saturday not only kicks off the 2022 season for both Arizona State and Northern Arizona but also marks the 41st all-time meeting between the two programs.

ASU holds a 22-14-4 edge in the series; however, NAU has not beaten ASU since 1938. The two programs first met in 1915 – a 72-3 win for ASU in Flagstaff – and the Sun Devils and Lumberjacks were both members of the Border Conference from 1931-52.

At one point, more than 50 years passed between meetings between the two schools, as ASU and NAU met in 1950 and then not again until 2003.

Since 2003, Arizona State and Northern Arizona have met on a consistent basis, with six games occurring between 2003-16.

ASU and NAU were scheduled to have met in 2020 prior to the scheduling postponements and cancelations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Entering 2022, the expectations for NAU within the conference are mild at best, as the Lumberjacks were picked seventh of 12 teams in both the Big Sky Conference Coaches and Media Preseason Polls. Last season, Northern Arizona scored a potential program-defining win over Arizona in Tucson – NAU’s first-ever victory over a Pac-10/12 team. However, the Lumberjacks finished 5-6 on the year and had five games scoring 16 or fewer points.,

This all said the hype machine is rolling in a very positive direction for NAU’s potential for the future under head coach and former ASU assistant Chris Ball.

Focusing specifically on Thursday’s game, NAU enters Sun Devil Stadium having checked the box last year of knocking off an FBS opponent, so the jitters and intimidation of a larger stadium setting should not be as significant as they might have been without last year’s milestone victory. The Lumberjacks will step on to Frank Kush Field, highly motivated and undoubtedly encouraged with confidence from their FBS win last year.

Anytime NAU – as always, with a roster littered with players from the general Phoenix area – makes its way to Sun Devil Stadium, it can be predicted that the “chip on the shoulder” mentality will be firmly found in the visiting team. That, plus NAU’s win last year in Tucson, added to uncertainty about the meddle of this 2022 Sun Devil team, giving some fans more than just a little concern for this opening contest for both squads.

However, by eliminating emotions and intangibles, ASU should be able to move the ball and score points on its FCS foe, mainly based on the number of departures from a defense that had some significant areas of weakness last fall.

The Lumberjack offense boasts multiple talented skill players that can make ASU pay if the opportunities present themselves, but Sun Devil fans surely can be confident in an experienced set of linebackers, a defensive line rotation that has a tendency to maximize its potential along with a secondary that features talented if all new starters.

Even the most dissatisfied Sun Devil fans at this point indeed can’t even attempt to compare the talent level of this Arizona State team to last year’s Arizona team that suffered a defeat to Northern Arizona.

As is the case with any FCS opponent ASU faces, execution and focus are two of the key elements to prevent a lackluster win – or even worse, an absolutely destructive defeat. ASU has the offensive firepower and defensive prowess to make this a comfortable, large-margin victory for the home team as long as focus and execution both operate at high levels throughout the game.

Familiar Faces

· NAU head coach Chris Ball coached at ASU under Todd Graham from 2012-15

· NAU offensive coordinator Aaron Pflugrad played at ASU from 2009-11

· NAU assistant coach Bob Connelly coached at ASU under Todd Graham in 2012

· NAU assistant coach Robin Pflugrad coached at ASU under Bruce Snyder from 1995-2000

· NAU WR Caiaphas Ardoin attended Foothill College, as did ASU DL Tautala Pesefea

· NAU RB Mikey Castro attended Chandler (Ariz.) Seton Catholic High School, as did ASU OL Matteo Ortiz

· NAU LS Sean Farfan attended Walnut (Calif.) Mt. San Antonio College, as did ASU TE Bryce Pierre

· NAU OL Blake Gamez attended Buckeye (Ariz.) Verrado High School, as did ASU K Robert Liss

· NAU DB Devon Grubbs, RB Tyson Grubbs, and DB Colby Humphrey attended Phoenix (Ariz.) Desert Vista High School, as did ASU DB Alijah Gammage

· NAU DL Mark Ho Ching and DB Dwayne McDougle attended Oakland (Calif.) McClymonds High School, as did ASU DB Ed Woods

· NAU OL Jalen Hooper attended Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco, as did ASU LB Jacob Jornadal

· NAU WR Hendrix Johnson attended Anthem (Ariz.) Boulder Creek High School, as did ASU LS John Ferlmann and DB Conner Lewis

· NAU LB Heston Lameta attended Garden City (Kan.) Community College, as did ASU WR Shawn Charles

· NAU WR Isaiah Lopez attended Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) High School, as did ASU TE Bryce Pierre

· NAU K/P Marcus Lye attended Phoenix Brophy Prep, as did ASU WR Max Ware

· NAU DL Alani Ma’afu and ATH Xander Werner attended Scottsdale (Ariz.) Saguaro High School, as did ASU WR Javen Jacobs, LB Will Shaffer, LB Connor Soelle, and LB Kyle Soelle

· NAU DL Nehemiah Magalei and OL Seth Smith attended Chandler (Ariz.) High School, as did ASU LB Zach Bowers and DL Matthew Pola Mao

· NAU OL Andrew Mason and LB Cole Sabetta attended Gilbert (Ariz.) Perry High School, as did ASU FB Case Hatch

· NAU DB George Steele attended Trussville (Ala.) Hewitt-Trussville High School, as did ASU QB Paul Tyson

· NAU DB Morgan Vest attended Kilgore (Texas) College, as did ASU WR Zeek Freeman

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