FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - For nine minutes and 23 seconds, Northern Arizona's once-anemic offense kept Montana State's once-explosive offense off the field on Saturday.
The drive spanned the maximum possible distance the turf at the unusually deafening Walkup Skydome, which housed a robust crowd of 12,155, allows: 99 yards. It took 19 plays.
The Bobcats didn't even run that many plays in the entire first half.
Over those 30 minutes, MSU gained 19 yards on 13 plays and fell behind 28-0.
The Bobcats dented their deficit once over the game's final 30 minutes. But they all stared helplessly - defenders and offensive weapons, alike - as Cody Dowd recovered the fumble of Denarius McGhee and marched 28 yards into the end zone with an escort of Lumberjacks.
Head coach Rob Ash's analysis of his team's 34-7 flop in Flagstaff was simple: "We just go out-played."
"I don't think you can blame it on our offense or our defense," Ash said. "We win and lose at a team and it was no different today."
As a team, the Bobcats lost the yardage battle 404-123. It was the most points MSU has given up in a first half all season. It was the least amount of yards MSU has gained all season.
Senior captain Mike Person called it "humbling."
"It took us down a notch," the offensive tackle said. "It's only uphill from here."
As for the positives, an exasperated Ash shrugged.
"The best part of our game was our punting," he said. "You've got to look for a something, right?"
MSU did come out ahead on the turnover battle, 3-2. But the three fumbles the Bobcat defense collected weren't consequential. Not even the two gaffes in NAU's blemish-marked third quarter could help MSU back into the contest.
After the first fumble by running back Zach Bauman midway through the quarter, the Bobcats (5-2, 3-1 Big Sky Conference) went three-and-out. NAU quarterback Michael Herrick's fumble did eventually lead to seven MSU points - in the fourth quarter, on a drive that would have ended on downs if not for a roughing-the-passer penalty.
Too little, too late.
"We never really turned the corner," Ash said.
The Lumberjacks (4-2, 2-1) went flying around that corner in the first half.
Herrick completed 23 of 28 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns. The Walter Payton candidate, who may very well be taken off the watch list on Oct. 25, hasn't put up numbers like that over a full game this season.
Plays like his 15-yard fling in the face of a pass rush that Austin Shanks hauled in Willie Mays-style behind solid coverage from freshman corner Sean Gords with 27 seconds left in the first half had MSU shaking its collective head.
"Herrick got comfortable and they were well-prepared," Ash said. "We just didn't make many plays defensive or offensively."
Ash had similar thoughts about NAU's prior score - a 15-yard slant caught by Daiveun Curry-Champan caught in front of equally tight coverage.
"We were there," Ash said. "There were a few fourth-down plays where we were there too."
But for a defense playing without four seniors - corner Arnold Briggs, who was a game-time scratch, safety Jordan Craney, linebacker Clay Bignell and defensive end Dustin O'Connell, being there wasn't enough.
"We didn't have our best corner, our best safety, our best linebacker and our best defensive end," Ash said. "That's pretty tough."
On offense, despite getting two senior starters back on the offensive line in Conrad Burbank and Alex Terrien, there were equal struggles. McGhee was sacked a career-high four times. He also fumbled twice.
Give credit to the overly aggressive Lumberjacks, Person said.
"They're a 50 percent blitz team," he said. "That's an astronomical amount. They didn't do anything fancy. We just didn't perform."
NAU's defense was ranked 11th in the nation coming into the contest and it didn't struggle with the nation's second-ranked offense.
McGhee finished 14 of 30 passing for 107 yards and one touchdown. As a team, MSU rushed for 16 yards.
Both are season lows - by quite a bit.
"Montana State has so much talent," Lumberjacks head coach Jerome Souers. "They're not putting up points on accident. Our defense was phenomenal today."
Souers went home happy. Zach Minter did not.
Playing in his home state for the first time, the sophomore defensive tackle put it simply.
"That sucked."
Will Holden can be reached at wholden@dailychronicle.com and 582-2690.
petit_singe posted at 2:46 pm on Tue, Oct 19, 2010.
goldstd: have you been keeping track of the Cats this year? This is only the 2nd game we've lost. Our offense has done very well so far.
Frodo posted at 9:27 am on Tue, Oct 19, 2010.
Oh my goodness people, it was their first bad loss of the season. They only lost by one point against a team in a higher division. So they had a bad week, it happens. Get over it. Don't root for them and don't pay attention to them if you don't feel like supporting through and through.
The Boz posted at 11:53 am on Mon, Oct 18, 2010.
USD is 3-4
UND is 2-4
SDSU is 2-4
NDSU is 4-3
Maybe they shouldn't worry about the Big Sky and consider moving down to NAIA.
goldstd posted at 1:49 pm on Sun, Oct 17, 2010.
offensive line? did someone say the cats had an offensive line? where...i didnt see it
same for the fake d line...have they had a single sack all year????
goldstd posted at 1:48 pm on Sun, Oct 17, 2010.
just another mismatch for the cats who really belong in DII
its that simple
it was over before it started and i felt bad for the fans of NAU who paid good money to watch what was hoped to be a good game...the crowd was so quiet and likely stunned to see how bad the cats are...this happens year after year...now they will bounce back against N Colorado and Idaho state..two other DII programs
now we know why NDSU and UND were never invited into the big sky