October 2, 2009

Football Hosts Northern Colorado for Family Weekend

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona football team will play host to Northern Colorado Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Walkup Skydome in the annual Family Weekend game. The game will be televised on Universityhouse (Dish Network 9411) and broadcast on the Sodexo Lumberjack Radio Network (Flagstaff, KAFF AM 930/Phoenix/Globe, 94.1 FM KRDE). The game broadcast can also be viewed live online for free on www.bigskytv.org.

“I love the character of this team,” said Head Coach Jerome Souers. ‘We are going to lean on that character this week. We are going to bounce back, dust ourselves off and right back at them.”

The Lumberjacks are playing the final of three consecutive home games after opening the season at Arizona. NAU finishes the campaign with five of seven on the road.

NAU and Northern Colorado will be meeting for the fourth time in school history as members of the Big Sky Conference. The Lumberjacks are 4-1 all-time in Greeley and 6-2 all-time against the Bears.

NAU owns a 34-18 record in Family Weekend games, including wins in each of the last two seasons. The Lumberjacks defeated Sacramento State last season 42-10.

Quarterback Michael Herrick has posted two solid back-to-back performances at home in the Walkup Skydome.

“I am really proud with how our offense played,” said Souers. “Michael made some great adjustments and completed some balls to the guys in some better situations.”

Herrick had a career-day last week against fourth-ranked Montana. He finished the game 36-for-49 passing for a career-high 440 yards and four touchdowns. The 440 passing yards were the third-best single-game performance in school history and most by a NAU quarterback since 1997. It also set a Walkup Skydome mark for individual passing yards, breaking the 19-year old mark set by NAU's John Bond of 424 yards set against Nicholls State in 1990. Travis Brown is the only other NAU quarterback to throw for more yards in a game, throwing for 452 yards at Weber State in 1997 and 474 at Montana in 1996.

Herrick's 440 passing yards are the third-most in the FCS this season. He is third in the nation in passing efficiency (164.1) after three games, completing 71-of-100 passes for 905 yards and seven touchdowns.