Sept. 23, 2006
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery
Pocatello, ID --- Idaho State moved the ball up and down the field on Northern Arizona, but ISU had three turnovers, and the Lumberjacks turned everyone of them into a touchdown, giving NAU just enough to hold off a late rally 33-27 in the conference opener for both teams.
The Bengals piled up 503 yards of offense, but three consecutive turnovers turned a 20-13 ISU lead into a 33-20 NAU advantage, and then the Lumberjacks (2-2, 1-0) held on for dear life as ISU just missed pulling it out in the final seconds.
Down 33-20, Idaho State (1-3, 0-1) took over at their own 10 with 6:18 left, went 90 yards in 10 plays, culminating in a 29-yard touchdown pass to Eddie Thompson on fourth down, making it 33-27 with 4:41 left. After an NAU punt to the ISU 10, Gutierrez looked to have thrown his third interception of the game, but Akilah Lacey wrestled the ball away at the NAU 46, giving him 216 yards receiving.
After Gutierrez spiked the ball to kill the clock, he nearly hit Lacey in the end zone, but NAU's Jeff Wheeler just caused enough problems with the throw to hinder Lacey, and the ball went off Lacey's hands. After an incompletion to Clyde Logan, Gutierrez fourth down pass fell incomplete in the middle of the field after receiver Jaron Taylor went out, and the pass went in.
The loss ruined spectacular nights by Lacey and Josh Barnett. Lacey caught nine passes for 216 yards, becoming only the third Bengal to ever record a 200-yard receiving game, and it was the most receiving yards in Holt Arena history. Barnett rushed for 118 yards to move into fifth place on the ISU career rushing list, and he added a touchdown as well.
Gutierrez, despite two interceptions, threw for 394 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-37 passing.
The Lumberjacks took the lead for good after Gutierrez was picked off at the NAU 1-yard line to open the second half. NAU senior quarterback Jason Murrieta led a five play 82-yard drive, connecting with Kenny Mahone for a 6-yard touchdown. Murrieta on the next drive, again after an interception, connected with Mahone again for a 10 yard score, giving him four touchdown passes on the day. Overall he was 32-of-44 for 301 yards with four touchdowns and no picks.
The game opened with fireworks, as Murrieta hit Skyler Moore from 22 yards out on a rollout under pressure just 2:57 into the game. ISU then got on the board when Gutierrez hit running back Ken Cornist, who had no one within 20 yards of him for a 74-yard touchdown strike.
Barnett scored from seven yards out, sandwiched around two field goals from Robbie Dehaze, but the game was tied at 13 as Dan Zeidman's extra point was blocked. With 2:37 left, Gutierrez hit Lacey for an 80-yard score, and after a punt, ISU was looking to tack on more, but Josh Barnett fumbled, and Chris Hunsaker returned it 38 yards to the ISU 3-yard line with 26 seconds left, leading to a 2-yard touchdown pass from Murietta to Moore, tying it at 20 going into the half.
Idaho State is off next week, and then they hit the road for a pair of games, starting at Northern Colorado at 1:35 on October 7, a game that will be shown live on Altitude Sports.
NOTES: Lacey's 216 yards are bested at ISU only by Ed Bell (261 against Parsons) and Shawn Beals (222 at Montana), and he now has 2,098 yards, fifth-most in school history ... Barnett's 118 yards on the ground gives him 1,733 yards, putting him in fifth at ISU on the career rushing list as well ... Gutierrez's 394 yards passing was the 13th-most in school history, and the most since Mark Hetherington threw for 415 against Montana at Homecoming in 2004 ... the loss ended ISU's five-game Homecoming winning streak ... the marked only the fourth time in the last 13 meetings that one of the two squads did not record 40 points, but the new clock rules are to blame for that, as 4:31 of the clock was lost due to the 2006 clock rules ... Pago Togafau recorded a career-high 21 tackles, including 11 in the first quarter ... ISU recorded three sacks after having just two through the first three games ... Dan Zeidman hit the speaker on a punt in the third quarter, marking just the second time it has ever been hit in a game. Ben Simpson hit the speaker against Montana State in the final game of the 1999 season.
