TEMPE -- Once again, the NAU football team proved it was capable of playing with a bigger school.

The Lumberjacks trailed just 27-20 entering the fourth quarter, but Arizona State scored two unanswered touchdowns to pull away with a 41-20 victory on Saturday night in Tempe.

"We flew around and played hard," senior linebacker Reid Worthington said. "We were in it the whole game and the score doesn't always reflect that -- people are going to see the score and make their own judgments on that. We're a solid team, we're a fast team, we can score and hold people on fourth downs and we showed that tonight."

The Jacks (1-1) only managed 238 yards on offense, but the defense carried them for most the night after intercepting ASU quarterback Steven Threet twice and holding the Sun Devils (2-0) to 56 rushing yards on 29 carries.

"I thought the defense played great," NAU quarterback Michael Herrick said. "They were flying around and running with the receivers the whole time. You know they got tired in the end but that's part of the game."

Herrick finished the night with 131 passing yards, including a touchdown and interception, while completing 13-of-26 throws.

The game couldn't have started much better for NAU. After ASU lost 25 yards on its opening possession to start the game, the Jacks marched down the field and got as far as the 1-yard line before settling for a field goal to take an early 3-0 lead.

The Sun Devils didn't take long to answer, running nine plays to move the ball 52 yards as quarterback Steven Threet found Jamal Miles open in the flat and the sophomore running back strolled into the end zone.

The Jacks held the Sun Devils to a three-and-out on their next drive and started to get tricky on offense. On second and six, the Jacks fed the ball to Austin Shanks on an end-around sweep. Just as the ASU defense was about to nail Shanks for a big loss, the diminutive wide receiver lofted a pass to backup quarterback Chasen Stangel, who was wide open on the right side and followed his blockers 34 yards down the field before the defense caught up with him.

The Jacks weren't able to capitalize, though, and punted the ball into the end zone. The Sun Devils took over and immediately marched 80 yards down the field. Threet connected with Kerry Taylor for a 17-yard touchdown reception and ASU appeared ready to pull away.

NAU didn't let it happen. The defense clamped down, holding ASU to another three-and-out on its next possession before Reid Worthington intercepted Threet on the following Sun Devil drive, setting up a first and goal.

"I knew that by film study (wide receiver) Aaron Pflugrad was going to curl up around 10 yards and I just jumped it," Worthington said. "Once I caught it, I wasn't even worried about scoring, I was just trying to protect the ball and give our offense a chance."

Three carries by freshman Zach Bauman led to a 1-yard touchdown run, and an extra point later, the Jacks trailed by only four.

The Sun Devils managed a field goal on good field position near the end of the first half to go up 17-10.

The NAU defense held ASU to 11 yards on 14 carries before halftime, but the Sun Devils managed to move the ball through the air as Threet threw for 200 yards.

Not much changed in the second half. The Jacks struck first after Taylor Malefant intercepted Threet to set up a 36-yard field goal by Matt Myers.

ASU responded with a field goal of their own on the next drive, making the score 20-13.

NAU followed with three-and-out and the Sun Devils needed two plays, highlighted by a 62-yard bomb to T.J. Simpson, to go up by two touchdowns.

The Sun Devils started to get sloppy, though, and committed three penalties on the Jacks' next drive before Herrick connected with Khalil Paden on a deep pass for a 35-yard touchdown, bringing NAU back to a one score deficit at 27-20. But that was as close as the Lumberjacks would get.

Threet, who finished with 391 yards and three touchdowns, continued his aerial assault by connecting on a 6-yard touchdown pass with Mike Willie to put the Sun Devils up by 14, and ASU added another rushing TD after a bad punt by NAU.

Flagstaff High alum James Brooks, a defensive lineman, was the first and only Sun Devil to get to Herrick, sacking him for a 9-yard loss in the fourth quarter to end one of NAU's last drives.

NAU coach Jerome Souers was proud of the way his team played and believes it should set them up well for the rest of the season, knowing they're capable of playing at the Football Bowl Series-level, at least for three quarters.

"I think this has the makings of a good team at our level," Souers said. "I thought we played up. We played a lot of kids today and I think we'll learn a lot from it."

The Jacks have a bye next week before beginning Big Sky Conference play at Idaho State on Sept. 25.

Jacob May can be reached at 556-2257 or jmay@azdailysun.com.