FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 21, 2021) – Past the midway point of their season, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks face the first of three ranked Big Sky opponents across their final five games.
First up is the Sacramento State Hornets, ranked No. 19 in the Stats Perform FCS Poll following a 28-21 victory in Missoula against the No. 11 Montana Grizzlies. Ranked No. 5 at the time, Montana struggled to contain the two-quarterback system of Sacramento State.
Jake Dunniway, finishing with 227 passing yards and three touchdowns, and Asher O'Hara, who completed 8-of-9 passes for 75 yards while adding 72 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground, led the team to 456 yards of total offense.
Due to a cancelation in 2018 caused by wildfires in the area, it will be Northern Arizona's first game at Sacramento State since 2013. Naturally, no current Lumberjack was on the roster at the time and nine different quarterbacks have made their first career start since that game.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. MST at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento and will be available on
ESPN+ or
Hulu with a subscription to the Disney Bundle. The game will also be available on the Lumberjack Radio Network and at NAUAthletics.com/listen, with coverage beginning at 5 p.m.
"The kids can start seeing we are in control of our own destiny right now," said Lumberjacks head coach
Chris Ball. "We've got five games left. It's nice to have this opportunity and we have to take advantage of it."
Entering Saturday at 4-2 overall, the Hornets are 3-0 in the Big Sky with wins over Idaho State and Southern Utah in addition to Montana. Northern Arizona has defeated the same two opponents in the past three weeks, and now takes on one of the three remaining teams undefeated in Big Sky play.
The Hornets offense averages 440.8 yards per game, third in the Big Sky and 15th in the nation, behind Dunniway and O'Hara, who leads the team in rushing at 365 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Pierre Williams and Marshel Martin are the team's leading receivers, with 573 yards and 271 yards respectively. Two years ago, the pair combined for three touchdown receptions in the last meeting between the teams, a 38-34 victory in the Walkup Skydome for the Hornets.
Northern Arizona's defense is still 25th nationally in third-down defense at 33.0 percent and 21st in the FCS by averaging 7.0 tackles for loss per game. Sacramento State turned the ball over three times in its victory last week, something Northern Arizona will look to replicate as the Lumberjacks have forced six turnovers in their past two games combined.
Five different Lumberjacks have picked off a pass and 10 different players have either forced or recovered a fumble.
IMPRESSING ON OFFENSE
Due to injuries at wide receiver,
Hendrix Johnson,
Coleman Owen and
Jamal Glaspie have found themselves playing a significant number of snaps over the past few weeks. While the bye week presented a natural break after the victory against Idaho State, the road trip to Sacramento immediately follows last week's Homecoming victory against Southern Utah for the Grand Canyon Trophy.
"We try to manage it during the week because they are playing 70 snaps a game. Coach Taylor does a good job of managing the reps during the week and this time of year those guys don't need a ton of reps."
Though the receivers have seen a hit to their depth in recent weeks, Northern Arizona's offensive line remains steady since the return of freshman
Blake Gamez a few weeks into the season. A true freshman during the spring season, Gamez slid into a starting spot out of necessity early on in his career and has maintained a high level of play given his age and experience.
Taking over as the team's starting center, Gamez has given the team some flexibility in front of freshman
RJ Martinez.
"Absolutely phenomenal. He's extremely, extremely tough and extremely smart," Ball said of the freshman this week. "Very levelheaded and makes all the checks for our line. Just a pleasant surprise. He got some reps in the spring and he was really good. He took it, ran with it and beat everybody out. It allowed us to move some people to other places which we needed. Those guys don't get enough credit because most people don't watch them."
FAN REMINDER
Due to policies and guidelines put in place by the Sacramento County Department of Public Health, all guests, staff and media age 12 and older must show a completed CDC vaccination card or a negative COVID-19 test result within 72 hours prior to kickoff for Sacramento State home football games.
The change, set forth for outdoor events with an attendance of 10,000 or more fans, goes into effect for this Saturday's contest between the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks and the Sacramento State Hornets. Negative test results will need to have the name of the tester on the negative result and official tests through medical personnel are recommended over at-home tests. Digital copies of vaccination cards are also accepted.
Attendees will need to visit kiosk checkpoints in the parking lots to receive a wristband prior to entering Hornet Stadium. Kiosks open three hours before kickoff.
Stay up-to-date on all NAU Football news this season by visiting NAUAthletics.com and following NAU Football on
Twitter,
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Facebook for updates throughout the fall season.
