The Official Division I-AA Football Quarterfinals Thread: NAU vs. FAU....

[HuckleB]

...and all the others, too!

Quarterfinals
Saturday, Dec. 6
All times Eastern

Western Illinois (9-3) at Colgate (13-0), Noon

Northern Iowa (10-2) at Delaware (12-1), Noon

Western Kentucky (9-3) at Wofford (11-1), 4 p.m.

Florida Atlantic (10-2) at Northern Arizona (9-3), 8 p.m.

GO 'JACKS!

Jacks already winners on eve of big game

http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=78056
12/04/2003

Who says everything is gloom and doom at Northern Arizona University?

This Saturday likely will see the Walkup Skydome packed to the rafters for the first time in more than a half-decade. ESPN is in town and even the entire Legislature has been invited.

The reason? A Lumberjacks football team that refused to live down to predictions it would finish seventh among eight teams in the Big Sky Conference.

Refused to give in to the negative vibes from DUI arrests and other past mistakes by players and coaches.

Refused to give up its playoff dreams after tough, late-season losses to its two Montana nemeses.

And finally, refused to stop believing it could win its first playoff game ever, despite drawing No. 1 seed McNeese State and their rabid fans in Louisiana.

The result? A second-round playoff game at home on Saturday that has re-galvanized community interest in the football team and propped up sagging school spirits.

Football fans have known for some time that the Lumberjacks can play exciting football. They've made the national playoffs involving the top 16 I-AA teams four times in the past eight years, so something must be going right.

But it's fair to say that the Jacks can be inconsistent, and unfortunately they've had some off days in the Skydome -- such as the Montana game last month -- just as fan momentum was starting to build.

But against McNeese State, the Jacks, under freshman quarterback Jason Murrietta, were clicking on offense to the tune of 35 points, while the defense was holding one of the country's most explosive teams to just three points. If that kind of intensity carries over to Saturday, Florida Atlantic will be gasping for breath -- and not just because of the altitude.

Regardless of the final score, though, the Jacks have already come out winners in a season that no one had a right to expect would even break even. It's a testimony to the leadership of coach Jerome Souers, who has built a coaching career around helping young men realize their athletic dreams, even if their jerseys don't read Sun Devils or Wildcats.

Ironically, it's the Lumberjacks this year that is the only team still playing in December for Arizona bragging rights. They're winners in our books, and we hope they continue to win more student and community support not just this season but in the years ahead.

[HuckleB]

1. Ya gotta have some controversy: Shchnellie Whines!

Coach: Florida Atlantic should be at home

Mark Shaffer
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 6, 2003 12:00 AM
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/colleges/1206naufoot1206.html

FLAGSTAFF - Legendary coach Howard Schnellenberger says he just doesn't get it with the politics of Division I-AA football.

He noted that his school, Florida Atlantic (10-2), offered more money to host a playoff game, has a better record and is ranked higher in the final polls than Northern Arizona (9-3).

So, why has he flown nearly all the way across the country for tonight's kickoff at 6 at the Walkup Skydome against the Lumberjacks in a quarterfinal game of the I-AA playoffs?

"I think there are two things in play here," Schnellenberger said of his third-year program. "We have an upstart team and nobody can believe we have any quality and it's known that we are leaving Division I-AA after this season."

NAU couldn't care less about the postseason ways of its parent organization. There's such a high surrounding the team now following its first-ever I-AA playoff win, a 35-3 pummeling of top-ranked McNeese State last week, that any football field would have sufficed.

The Lumberjacks received even more motivation on Friday. School officials received word that Flagstaff will be the site of the national championship semifinal game against the winner of the Western Illinois-Colgate game at 11 a.m. next Saturday if NAU beats Florida Atlantic, said Steve Shaff, NAU's sports information director. The national championship game is Dec. 19 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

But first things first.

NAU coach Jerome Souers said his team is facing probably its fastest opponent of the season.

"They've got a defensive line that is exceedingly fast and a spread attack offense that takes advantage of their speed," Souers said. "They've also got great balance with 3,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing. They've also got that swagger that looks so familiar to those great Miami teams of the past."

Schnellenberger, who coached the Hurricanes to the national championship in 1983, is equally complimentary of NAU.

"This is the finest football team we'll play this year. They annihilated a would-be champion (McNeese State) at their place," Schnellenberger said.

[terryg11]

2. UNI !!!

GO PANTHERS!!!!!
we are back and we are bad. going to take it all this year I'm afraid

[HuckleB]

4. Don't be afraid.

;)

My dream final is NAU vs. UNI.

Hey, a man can have a dream, can't he?

[terryg11]

5. just as long as the panthers make it to the finals

I'm happy. When I was going to school at UNI we came so close a few times only to lose close ones in the quarter or semis.
In '92(?) Kurt Warner almost got us there with Kenny Shedd and company.

In '94 possibly it was Stovall and Dedric Ward helping out.

Now it's Freeny and Sapp (cousin to Warren I've read) leading the charge

[HuckleB]

6. I gotta admit...

I'm happy already. The 'Jacks seldom make it to the postseason, and, until this year, they've always been summarily dumped in the first round when they did get a berth. It's just awesome to have a game in December in Flagstaff.

[terryg11]

9. that is a fun time

gotta like the div. 1-AA playoff format. I think it's awesome

[YNGW]

3. Watch Out For Wofford

They got a good team. Beat Ga. Southern, Furman, and Appy State handily this year.

[HuckleB]

7. You an alum?

[YNGW]

8. No

I went to Western Carolina, but Wofford is in the Southern Conference and only about an hour from where I live, so I've kept up with them some this year. They got a good team.

[HuckleB]

10. Sweet!

Good luck to 'em...

Cheers!

[HuckleB]

16. You sure had that one pegged, YNGW.

[HuckleB]

11. Clarence Moore Rules!

NAU receiver big-time talent on small stage

Mark Shaffer
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 5, 2003 12:00 AM
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/colleges/1205naufoot1205.html

FLAGSTAFF - The long list of NFL scouts who have visited the Northern Arizona campus this fall to analyze senior wide receiver Clarence Moore all seem to have the same question.

Why is a 6-foot-5 wideout with exceptional hands and breakaway speed, who toys weekly with defensive backs a head shorter, playing on the Division I-AA level?

Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger, whose team plays NAU in Flagstaff on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the I-AA playoffs, said he was stunned when he started reviewing tapes of the Lumberjacks and saw Moore in action.

"Talk about a man among boys," Schnellenberger said.

The soft-spoken Moore, whose twin brother, Terrance, is a standout wide receiver on an even smaller stage, Division II Midwestern State University in Texas, said it was a case of never really looking the part.

Coaches at Cypress High School in Buena Park, Calif., where Moore spent most of his formative years near the gates of Knott's Berry Farm, thought that his exceedingly slender frame would be best suited for track. He finished third in the state in the triple jump and also excelled in the long jump and the 200-meter dash.

Then he missed an entire football season because he fractured two vertebrae in a bad landing on a triple jump.

"There wasn't even any film of me on the football field until midway through my senior year," Moore said. "I'd already committed to NAU by then. Schools like UCLA and Oregon wanted me for track, but I wanted to play football, too."

What a find he has been during his four-year career with the Lumberjacks.

Moore holds the school career records for most receiving yards (2,985) and touchdowns (27) and is only 7 yards short of breaking NAU's single-season receiving yardage record of 1,134, set by Charlie Brown in 1969.

Moore also has saved his biggest games for the biggest stages.

He burned Arizona State for 157 yards and a touchdown on nine catches early this season, torched Big Sky Conference powerhouse Montana for 155 yards on nine receptions last year and served notice of what was to come by catching two long touchdown passes against New Mexico his freshman season.

Moore's mother, Denea Aguilar, credits her twins' development to a crucial decision she made in 1990.

Aguilar, who became a mother at 18, had raised her boys in their early years at the home of her parents, in Compton, Calif. She finally saved enough money affixing wings to military aircraft for the Boeing Corp. to buy a home in Orange County.

"I sent Clarence to private schools and kept him away from bad influences," Aguilar said.

"It's a joy for all of us that he's turned out so well."

[YNGW]

12. Games on TV

I don't know if you have or have access to DSS satellite, but I'm getting both the Colgate-W. Ill & Deleware-N. Iowa games on ESPN alternate.

[YNGW]

13. Update

Colgate beat W. Ill 28-27

Deleware over N. Iowa 37-7

[HuckleB]

14. Gracias.

Bummer, though. I was rooting for UNI. Delaware must be awfully tough.

[HuckleB]

15. Wofford 34, Western Kentucky 17

Come on, Now! GO JACKS!

[HuckleB]

17. It's all over: Florida Atlantic 48, Northern Arizona 25

:(

Congrats to the Owls!

[HuckleB]

18. Colgate, Delaware, Swofford and Florida Atlantic advance to the semis

Any fans of those teams ready to give a shout out?

Congrats.

[HuckleB]

19. One last Sunday morning kick...

just in case there are any I-AA fans with something to say.

[JanMichael]

20. HOOT! FAU grad here.

1990...No football then but plenty of beer.

Good to see them getting so good so fast.

[HuckleB]

21. Congrats!

Looks like they'll be jumping to play with the big boys next year. Schnellengberger's done a heck of a job, that's for sure.