" . . . Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (3-4, 2-2 Big Sky) entered the season with the expectation of a high-powered offense and a developing defense, it has been the latter to shine over the past few weeks ahead of Saturday’s meeting with the No. 10 Montana Grizzlies (5-1, 2-1).
Allowing just 21 points over its past two and a half games, Northern Arizona’s improvement on defense seems apparent in the numbers. With 10 sacks, eight takeaways and just 29 percent of third downs converted, the Lumberjack defense dominated Montana State and Idaho State.
Beginning with a second-half shutout of Northern Colorado, the defense stepped up following the injury to quarterback Case Cookus.
“We always want to play well and have a high standard on what we are doing, but I think everybody on the team obviously wanted to step up and do well,” said Lumberjacks defensive coordinator Andy Thompson. “We were struggling and we weren't winning football games. We have had a good couple weeks and we want to keep building on the momentum we have started the past couple games.”
Thompson entered his eighth season as the team’s defensive coordinator with a fair amount of work on his hands. The Lumberjacks finished near the bottom in most of the Big Sky’s defensive categories, ending the 2015-16 season 11th in total defense, 10th in scoring defense and 13th in passing defense.
Through seven games, Northern Arizona sits fourth in total defense, fourth in scoring defense and fifth in passing defense while playing with a host of new faces."
" . . . SATURDAY'S TEST
The turnaround, however, has come against a pair of offenses ranked near the bottom of the Big Sky. Montana state currently ranks 10th in scoring and 11th in total offense while Idaho State is 12th in scoring and 12th in yardage. Neither stacks up to the challenge that is Montana, which is second in scoring and fourth in total offense within the Big Sky. Nationally, the Grizzlies rank fifth in passing offense, seventh in total offense and third in scoring. “Our guys are going to play really hard, you can count on that. They are going to play with great physicality and they are going to be doing everything they can to try to create some more takeaways. It has been huge,” Thompson said. “We are going to have a lot of passion, and you are going to see guys that like to play with each other. I don’t know what the outcome will be, but I know they are going to do those four things for sure, and we are excited to get the opportunity to play against a really good offense.” "
