SAUL LOEB/Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior wide receiver Bobby Wade breaks a tackle after catching a pass from quarterback Jason Johnson in the second quarter of Saturday's game. The 52-yard completion for a touchdown was part of 27 points UA put up in the first half as the Wildcats went on to beat NAU 37-3. It was the 14th time in 15 years UA has won its home opener.

Johnson throws for 381 yards, defense shuts down NAU in 37-3 season-opening victory

Northern Arizona University came into Tucson looking to make a big point, but ÷ unfortunately for them ÷ only scored three.

The Lumberjacks managed only three points Saturday night and could not stop Wildcat senior quarterback Jason Johnson, who had 318 yards passing by halftime, in a 37-3 loss in front of 48,446 people in Arizona Stadium.

The senior quarterback threw for a career-high 381 yards and three touchdowns on 20-36 passing, the fourth-best yardage total in school history.

"Jason was sharp tonight," UA head coach John Mackovic said. "He was on target with a lot of throws. It really was better a deep game throwing than anytime he had last year."

The Wildcats won their home opener for the 14th time in 15 seasons.

NAU's game plan on defense was to key on last season's Pacific 10 Conference rushing leader junior Clarence Farmer giving the Wildcats single coverage on the wide receivers. The Lumberjack strategy did work containing Farmer but Johnson was able to take advantage of it in the passing game connecting with 10 different receivers in less than three quarters.

UA senior wide receiver Bobby Wade benefited the most catching eight passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns. He and Johnson connected on a 52-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the second quarter to give the Wildcats a 20-3 lead.

"We wanted to start throwing early and often," Wade said. "I talked to Jason about that. Not only about him and me connecting, but just this offense ticking. We have to start fast, especially when we get into Pac-10 play."

Johnson found Wade again in the second half for a 24-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone to take a 34-3 lead.

"We thought (Johnson) was a good player coming in, but he may have left a great player," NAU head coach Jerome Souers said. "He was very crisp. He is a good one."

Farmer gained only 29 yards on 16 carries, but caught three balls for 29 yards. He had only four total receptions in 11 games last season.

"We had high expectations about Farmer," NAU senior linebacker Kaaina Keawe said. "He showed us a lot on film. We just tried to play sound defense and it worked pretty well against him."

UA redshirt-freshman Mike Bell led the Wildcats on the ground rushing for 59 yards on 13 carries.

As inconsistent as the UA ground game was the Lumberjack offense was worse. Unable to get a consistent flow throughout the game, and except for a 60-yard run by junior running back Brian Bingham, NAU managed just 55 yards on the ground for the rest of the game.

"Our objective was to keep them under 100 yards rushing and they got that big play on us," UA junior cornerback Michael Jolivette said. "It didn't happen, but we only gave up 16 yards in the second half ÷ so that was really good."

The Wildcat defense held NAU starting quarterback Clint Womack to 11 of 25 passing for 87 yards and an interception. He was also sacked four times.

Jolivette blocked two punts, which set up two Wildcat scores, a two-yard touchdown by Farmer and a 26-yard field goal by junior kicker Bobby Gill.

Playing opposite of Jolivette throughout the night was redshirt-freshman cornerback Darrell Brooks, who received praise from Mackovic after the game. Brooks tied for the team lead in tackles with pre-season All-American senior linebacker Lance Briggs in with six.

Another redshirt-freshman also with significant playing time was quarterback Nic Costa. Costa, who looked shaky at times, came in the game with 2:35 to play in the third with Arizona already comfortably ahead.

"I did a few things wrong and I did a few things right," Costa said.

"Coach (Mackovic) told me that I was going to play so I knew I would get in sometime. It's definitely nice to get the first game out of the way."

Extra points: The Lumberjcaks were paid $350,000 one year ago to play this game · Arizona played with four of its key offensive lineman injured ÷ three starters ÷ in left tackle Darren Safranek (knee), left guard Makoa Freitas (hand) and Keoki Fraser (ankle) · The crowd of 48,446 is the largest to ever see a Lumberjacks' game · The Wildcats' first play on offense in 2002 was a run for a loss of two yards by Farmer · Wade has finished with over 100 yards in four straight games · Bingham left the game in the second half with a sprained left knee · Mackovic reported there were no significant injuries sustained on Saturday · The Arizona captains were seniors Briggs, Johnson, tight end James Hugo and safety Jarvie Worcester.