The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks' offense ran all over the Idaho State Bengals and the NAU defense shut down what was the best passing offense in the nation en route to a 20-3 Big Sky Conference win Saturday at the Walkup Skydome.

NAU sophomore Zach Bauman and junior Giovannie Dixon saw huge holes in the Bengals' defensive line and turned them into big rushes -- the two combined for 302 yards on the ground -- as the Lumberjacks were able to sustain drives to keep the ISU offense on the sideline.

"All week we've been stressing the run game, and for my performance today, I have to thank God, my offensive line and my coaches for trusting me with the ball," said Bauman, who had 32 carries for 219 yards. "The offensive line had a great push and had some great backside blocks, and without them I wouldn't have had the game I did."

With a long gain of 59 yards and Dixon ripping off a run for 60, NAU's rushing game did exactly the job it needed to do in both grinding time off the clock and putting points on the board. Bauman's 59-yard run was good for a touchdown in the first quarter, and Dixon's scamper gave the Jacks a 17-0 lead in the second.

"The toughness of our offensive line and the guts of our running backs really made the difference," NAU head coach Jerome Souers said. He added he was pleased to get a victory in conference play, and a big part of the win was how his defense played.

"The defense came up huge," he said. "We kept them out of the end zone today and that's a huge accomplishment against a good offense."

NAU's defense held the Bengals to 214 total yards -- 171 in the air and just 43 on the ground.

The Lumberjacks were also able to put a lot of pressure on ISU quarterback Kevin Yost, who was sacked 10 times.

Senior defensive end Isaac Bond said the team knew the Bengals were going to throw the ball and knew they had to rush the passer.

"We've been a little dry on sacks," Bond said, "and when you hit the quarterback like we did, it affects his throwing line and his follow through. We wanted to show we're a good defense, and I think that's what we did (Saturday)."

Doing its part by keeping the Bengals' offense off the field -- NAU controlled the time of possession with just under a 15-minute advantage -- the Jacks' defense was able to overcome the pace the Bengals tried to set.

"They get the ball off in a hurry and that slows down the pass rush, but (defensive coordinator) Andy Thompson called a great game," Souers said. "We were patient early, we threw a couple changeups in there they hadn't seen to try to make (Yost) hold the ball. We maintained better discipline with our coverage than we've had and the defensive line wore them out in the second half and did a great job of making plays."

Souers said the defense had to give up some things in the run defense to cover the Bengals' receivers, and added the Jacks saw a "very smart offense but were able to cinch things down so they didn't have anywhere to go."

Bond added that the defense moved to a four-lineman front, which was set to stop the pass.

"We wanted to contain the quarterback and we did that," Bond said. "We got a lot of three-and-outs and that wears down an offense."

The Lumberjacks' offense didn't have any trouble pounding the ball on the ground to the final whistle, and that was the team's gameplan, according to Bauman.

"Our gameplan was to run, and even when we were pinned back inside our own 20, we were still able to do that," he said.

A big surprise was the ability of NAU junior quarterback Cary Grossart to run the ball. Though he didn't put up the best passing numbers -- Grossart was 11-for-20 for 149 yards -- he showed off his wheels on a couple of runs and also took some hits. Instead of sliding, Grossart put his shoulder down and took on Bengals' defenders on multiple runs.

"Cary's a tough competitor and he's early in the developmental stage of his career, so you hate to criticize anything he's doing when he's making a play," Souers said. "We'll work on a hook slide a little bit, but he showed a different element with his ability to run that will force opponents to evaluate his pocket presence more."

Grossart said he wanted to show off the running side of his game.

"I feel good. Some of those holes opened up and I just took off. I need to learn how to hook slide but I wanted to go out and get a feel for taking some hits and I'm still learning," Grossart said.

He said as much as he likes to hang in the pocket and throw the ball, he also likes to run.

"It was good for the guys to see if things break down, I can get out and get some first downs and gain some yards," he said.

The way that Grossart ran the ball made an impact on his image with the team.

"I knew Cary was a running quarterback, and most quarterbacks will slide, but as long as he doesn't get hurt I love having a quarterback who runs like that," Bauman said. "When you see your quarterback putting his shoulder down, you can't do anything but get hyped."

The other NAU points came from Matt Meyers, who hit field goals from 34 and 41 yards. He also missed a 50-yard attempt.

The Lumberjacks will host defending national champion Eastern Washington after a bye week, and Souers said the team has plenty to work on.

"There are some things technique-wise we need to clean up, so we'll use the bye to clean some of those things up," he said. "We have plenty to work on, but it's good to go into a bye with a win."

Grossart added the bye is a great chance to rest as the team prepares for Eastern Washington.

"We were hungry for a win and it's big to get back on track with this win and we'll have some momentum after the bye," he said.

Bill Harris can be reached at bharris@azdailysun.com or 556-2251.