No. 15 ASU too much
for Lumberjacks
By DANIEL BERK
Sun Sports
Staff
Sunday,
August 31, 2008
TEMPE -- If one play
could wrap up NAU's
opening game of the
2008 season against
Arizona State, it
was the first play
of the second half.
Jacks quarterback
Lance Kriesien
fumbled a shotgun
snap, picked it up
frantically and
scrambled for a
one-yard gain.
Seconds later,
punter Robbie Dehaze
started warming up
his leg on the
sidelines. That
about sums it up.
The Jacks struggled
all game to keep up
with the 15th-ranked
Sun Devils and lost
30-13 in the season
opener for both
teams.
"You have to credit
ASU. They are ranked
15th in the country
and they should
maybe be even higher
than that," Kriesien
said. "At the same
time, I didn't think
we did what we're
capable of. We had a
lot of effort
tonight, but for the
most part, it seemed
like 10 guys were
doing their job and
one wasn't and you
can't play football
with 10 people."
Trailing 27-0 at
halftime, NAU
managed to outscore
ASU 17-3 in the
second half to close
the gap, however,
ASU lifted most of
their starters on
both sides of the
ball midway through
the third quarter.
In the first half,
ASU quarterback Rudy
Carpenter had his
way with the NAU
defense and showed
why he's a Heisman
Trophy candidate,
throwing for 388
yards and one
touchdown in the
rout.
The Westlake,
Calif., native
didn't waste any
time getting to work
either. On ASU's
first drive of the
game, Carpenter
found sophomore
Kerry Taylor for a
52-yard touchdown to
give the Sun Devils
a 7-0 lead just 2:06
into the game.
"He's a great
player. He just
picked our defense
apart," tight end
Shaun Fitzpatrick
said. "He just got
the job done today."
After holding the
Sun Devils to two
punts and a field on
goal on their next
three possessions,
Carpenter got back
to work in the
second quarter and
started to put the
game out of reach.
On ASU's first drive
of the second
quarter, Carpenter,
who went 3-for-3 for
46 yards and added
23 more yards on the
ground on the drive,
marched his team 99
yards down the field
for a score. Running
back Dimitri Nance
capped off the drive
with a 3- yard
touchdown run to
make it 17-0.
After forcing Dehaze
to punt, Carpenter
and the ASU offense
decided to speed it
up and the senior
quarterback led his
team on another
touchdown drive,
this time, needing
just four plays to
march 80 yards and
again going 3-for-3
for 74 yards.
"We saw Rudy two
years ago and that's
not even the same
guy," NAU coach
Jerome Souers said.
"He bought time and
made some plays.
That overwhelmed us,
particularly in the
second quarter."
While Carpenter
flourished on one
side, the NAU
quarterbacks and the
rest of the offense
struggled on the
other side,
especially in the
first half.
As expected, senior
Lance Kriesien got
the start for the
Lumberjacks and
played the entire
first quarter. The
Houston native
frequently was
flushed out of the
pocket and forced to
throw on the run,
courtesy of the
Arizona State pass
rush.
He went 5-for-9 in
the first quarter
for 34 yards and led
his team to three
first downs. With
the Jacks trailing
17-0 and struggling
to get much going on
offense, University
of Mississippi
transfer Michael
Herrick got his
shot.
Herrick played three
series' and ended up
going 2-for-5 for 17
yards. He also was
on the receiving end
of a vicious sack by
ASU defensive end
Dexter Davis.
Herrick's three
series' closed out
the first half and
Kriesien re- entered
for the second half
and played the
remainder of the
game.
With Kriesien under
center, NAU managed
to get the offense
going in the fourth
quarter against
ASU's second team
defense and cut the
deficit down to 17
points.
After Dehaze
connected on a
21-yard field goal,
Kriesien found
redshirt freshman
Brian Riley in the
end zone for a
three- yard
touchdown pass.
After ASU punted,
Dehaze added another
field goal, this one
from 25 yards out to
make the score 30-13
and holding up for
the final.
"Obviously we're
disappointed in the
outcome of the game.
When we look at our
own performance, we
practiced better
than we played
today," Souers said.
"I was pleased with
the way the guys
bounced back in the
second half. At
halftime, we said we
were going to ignore
the score and play
like it was
zero-zero and try to
come out and
re-establish some
things that we can
do well and I
thought we did a
better job of that
in the second half."
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