McNeese State’s Cowboy Stadium is also known as “The Hole.’’
It was a fitting nickname for Big Sky Conference teams, who found the place to be an abyss come the postseason. Five Sky teams had gone to McNeese State prior to 2003, and all faced long, depressing plane rides home.
Idaho, Montana, and Montana State all lost at least once in the playoffs at McNeese from 1994-2002. The Cowboys were likely pleased to see Northern Arizona coming to town in the first round of the 2003 Division I-AA Playoffs.
McNeese State was ranked No. 1 in the nation, riding a nine-game winning streak. The Cowboys’ lone loss in the regular season came to then-10th-ranked Kansas State.
The Lumberjacks were selected to finish seventh by the media in the preseason poll. But guided by freshman quarterback Jason Murrietta, Northern Arizona tied for the league regular-season title and went to Lake Charles, La., with an 8-3 record.
The Lumberjacks left Lake Charles having not only beaten the top-ranked team in the nation, but downright dominating the Cowboys 35-3. The upset ranks 39th on the list of the Big Sky Conference’s “50 Greatest Men’s Moments.’’
“That was a unique experience, because coaching at the other place in the Big Sky I coached at (Montana), we had been to McNeese a couple of times and it’s a hard place to play down there,’’ said Northern Arizona coach Jerome Souers. “There was no way our guys knew going in what they were up against.’’
The victory was Northern Arizona’s first postseason victory since 1958 when the Lumberjacks advanced to the NAIA National Championship. The loss for McNeese State was its worst at home since falling to Louisiana Tech 51-3 in 1990. It ended McNeese State’s 13-game home winning streak.
Murietta, the 2003 Big Sky MVP, played just as he had his entire freshman campaign. The 6-foot-1 signal caller from Glendale, Ariz., completed 24-of-34 passes for 285 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Nine different receivers caught passes, and four hauled in TD catches.
“Jason acted like it was any other game,’’ Souers said. “He went off that day. He threw a bunch of touchdowns and escaped the pocket. To his credit, he didn’t lock in on one receiver. That would have been easy for a freshman to do in that game. He went through his read progression, made great reads and great throws.’’
The Lumberjacks featured a very talented duo of receivers in the 6-foot-6 Clarence Moore and speedster Johnny Marshall. Both were 1,000-yard receivers that season with a combined 144 catches. But it was senior Chris Nash, who stole the spotlight. Nash caught a team-high seven passes for 66 yards with two touchdowns.
Nash put Northern Arizona on the board late in the first quarter with a 9-yard TD pass. He capped the scoring with a 4-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter.
“Every game our offensive coordinator would hand out this wooden stick to the player that needed to have a standout game in order for us to have a chance to win,’’ Nash recently told Northern Arizona’s media relations department. “I was given that stick and ended up having one of the best statistical games of my career.”
During the regular season, Nash caught 26 passes with two touchdowns.
“They had a good plan to slow down Clarence and keep Johnny from being impact guys,’’ Souers said. “We also had Roger Robinson, who was productive at running back. Chris found some of the seams and exploited his matchups when left one-on-one.’’
Moore, who was drafted in 2004 by the Baltimore Ravens, caught a 7-yard TD pass to put the Lumberjacks up 21-3 at halftime. Marshall had a 6-yard TD catch in the third quarter as NAU built a 28-3 lead, and many of the 14,300 fans began to exit.
Northern Arizona’s defense was dominant, too. McNeese State committed just one turnover, so it wasn’t miscues that did in the Cowboys. The NAU unit combined for four sacks and 13 tackles for loss.
McNeese State running back Vick King was held to 81 yards on 19 carries. As a team, the Cowboys finished with just 58 rushing yards. Quarterbacks Scott Pendarvis and Ryan Corcoran combined to go 11-for-28 for just 132 yards.
McNeese State mustered just one first down on its first four drives. Finally, the Cowboys put together a 12-play, 70-yard drive that culminated in a 28-yard John Marino field goal in the second half. The Cowboys didn’t score again.
The Cowboys were held to just 11 first downs, had the ball for only 20 minutes and 37 seconds, and went 4-of-14 on third-down conversions. NAU’s defensive back Jason Jacobs had five tackles and an interception. Four Lumberjacks each had two tackles for loss.
“I don’t think any of us thought that was going to happen,’’ Souers said of the blowout. “They had a bunch of drop-down kids from LSU. They were talented, loaded and ranked No. 1. They hadn’t lost at home forever. We had a special group that year. On that day, during that moment, it was as great of an effort by a bunch of young men that I can remember. To overcome the speed and athleticism, and the matchups, and come out and play and execute like we did for four quarters was a great experience.’’
Unfortunately for Northern Arizona, the momentum didn’t carry over a week later when Florida Atlantic came to the Walkup Skydome for the quarterfinals. Coached by the legendary Howard Schnellenbeger, Florida Atlantic’s speed was too much to overcome. The Owls beat Northern Arizona 48-25.