FARMINGTON, Utah (January 25, 2020) – Now on its third iteration, Northern Arizona University's football schedule appears to be finalized a month before the season kicks off.
With five Big Sky Conference schools electing to opt out of the 2021 Spring season, the remaining eight will play a six-game schedule against five opponents. Bookending the season with the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, the Lumberjacks kick off the year in Flagstaff on Feb. 27 for the first of two games in the Grand Canyon Rivalry. The changes were necessitated by the recent opt outs of Montana, Montana State, Portland State and Northern Colorado.
Among its other four opponents this season, NAU will go up against the two remaining favorites in the Big Sky. Originally voted fourth in July, the Eastern Washington Eagles now stand as the second-highest remaining team in the two preseason polls.
The Lumberjacks will face the Eagles in Cheney, Wash. on March 6, the third straight season the schools will meet. Last season, NAU fell 66-38 on the road against Eastern Washington, but won the 2015 meeting between the schools on the red turf.
A rematch in Flagstaff with Idaho follows on March 13, as the Lumberjacks and Vandals reunite following their 60-53 overtime game to cap off the 2019 season. It was the first meeting between the teams since 1995 after Idaho returned to the conference in football beginning in the 2018 season.
The Big Sky continued to include a pair of bye weeks in its spring schedule, with the first coming on March 20 following the first three games of the year and the second coming on April 17. With all eight teams in the conference scheduled for the same off weeks, the byes will allow for flexibility in making up delayed or canceled contests.
Coming off its bye week, NAU will face off with conference favorite Weber State on March 27 in Ogden, Utah. Winners in four of the past five meetings, the Lumberjacks have faced the Wildcats in five of the past six seasons. Weber State enters the year coming off of an appearance in the FCS semifinals and ranks inside the top six of most preseason polls.
NAU's home schedule will come to a close on April 3 against Cal Poly. The Mustangs return to Flagstaff after facing the Lumberjacks in the Walkup Skydome in 2018, with the two schools splitting their past two contests. The Lumberjacks then head up to Cedar City, Utah for their return game against the Thunderbirds in the regular-season finale.
Voted 12th of 13 teams in both preseason polls, Southern Utah is the lowest-ranked Big Sky team set to play this fall. Cal Poly landed 10th in both polls, now sixth of the eight remaining schools, and Idaho originally stood at eighth and ninth between the media and coaches respectively.
Game times and potential attendance capacities for the Walkup Skydome will be announced at a later date. Stay tuned to NAUAthletics.com and follow NAU Football on
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Facebook for updates on the Lumberjacks throughout the fall.
