FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Case Cookus thew for 353 yards and four touchdowns as Northern Arizona held off Weber St. 52-36 on Saturday.
Cookus led three scoring drives in the first quarter with passes of 6, 27 and 27 yards to Dejzon Walker, Elijah Marks and Kendyl Taylor respectively.
Cookus entered the contest leading the nation in yards per pass attempt and passing efficiency. By halftime he was 22-27-325 yards and the four touchdowns.
"It was the tale of two halves," NAU coach Jerome Souers said. "Offensively we started sharp and executed with a high efficiency rate. The third quarter we got out of rhythm. We can't start with negative plays on first downs. It was more of an executional let down rather than an emotional letdown for us."
Northern Arizona (4-3, 2-2 Big Sky Conference) led 42-9 early in the third quarter when Eddie Horn picked off Jadrian Clark and returned the ball 28 yards to score.
Weber State (4-4, 3-2) rallied as Clark threw two touchdowns, Eric Wilkes rushed for two more and the Wildcats defense slowed Cookus to cut the lead to 42-36 with 10:19 left in the game.
The Lumberjacks put together a 16-play, 73-yard drive that ended with Ryan Hawkins' 19-yard field goal to put the game out of reach.
