FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 18, 2021) – It's been a series of refamiliarizing themselves with a few Big Sky Conference rivals down the final stretch of the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks' regular season.
For the third straight week, the Lumberjacks face an opponent they have not seen since at least 2018 with a trip to San Luis Obispo, Calif. concluding the 2021 fall season as Northern Arizona (4-6, 3-4 Big Sky) takes on the Cal Poly Mustangs (2-8, 1-6 Big Sky). It'll mark 16 games in the calendar year for the Lumberjacks after playing in five in the spring season spanning late February to mid April, but it's the first for Lumberjacks head coach
Chris Ball against the Mustangs.
Kickoff from Alex G. Spanos Stadium is set for 6:05 p.m. MST and 5:05 p.m. PT. A stream of the game 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. MST.
Originally scheduled to play in early April, the game was canceled as Cal Poly opted out of the remainder of its spring season. As a result, the two programs last played in 2018 when the Mustangs left Flagstaff with a 38-28 victory.
The story remains the same as the past two against UC Davis and Montana, with few Lumberjacks remaining from the last meeting. Just one projected starter for Northern Arizona played in the contest, linebacker
Tristen Vance, with less than 10 current Lumberjacks appearing in the game.
Cal Poly's situation is similar, with head coach Beau Baldwin facing Northern Arizona for the first time with the Mustangs after holding a 5-2 record against the Lumberjacks while coaching Eastern Washington from 2008 to 2016.
Baldwin's arrival also ushered in a whole new look for the Mustangs, with the triple option offense replaced by Baldwin's wide-open attack that led Eastern Washington to a national title in 2010. After Cal Poly averaged 61.8 run plays and just 14.2 passes in its five meetings with the Lumberjacks between 2012 and 2018, Baldwin's Mustangs are at a much more balanced 36.3 passes to 3.25 runs this season.
Like many Big Sky Conference programs this season, Cal Poly has used a variety of quarterbacks with Spencer Brasch currently the primary option after returning from an injury.
Entering the season finale completing 127 of 224 passes for 1,564 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions, Brasch is also second on the team with 50 rushes this season. After opening the season as Cal Poly's starter against San Diego and Fresno State, Brasch missed four weeks with a wrist injury.
Kahliq Paulette and Conor Bruce handled quarterback duties through the first few weeks of Brasch's injury, with Jackson Pavitt and Jaden Jones later taking snaps under center due to a few additional injuries. Brasch, the quarterback at Higley High School and teammate of Lumberjacks
Draycen Hall and
Coleman Owen, returned against UC Davis on Oct. 23 and has thrown at least 26 passes in each game since.
STRUGGLES ON BOTH SIDES
Allowing 38.6 points per game, the Mustangs rank 113th nationally with only Southern Utah behind them in the 13-team Big Sky. Scoring 14.8 points per game, Cal Poly is also 114th nationally on offense, ahead of only Northern Colorado in the conference.
While the team's rushing offense ranks 117th in the FCS at just 78.5 yards per game, Cal Poly's passing offense has improved as the season has worn on thanks to the return of Brasch. Ranked 50th in the FCS at 220.8 yards per game, the Mustangs' pass attack accounts for 73.8% of the team's offense this season.
Defensively, Cal Poly's rush defense allows 205.6 yards per game, 111th in the FCS, and has allowed 25 touchdowns on the ground this season. While linebacker Matt Shotwell ranks second in the FCS with 7.0 solo tackles per game and third nationally with 11.3 total tackles, the Mustangs' defense is 83rd with just 13 takeaways in 10 games while allowing opponents to convert 48.3 percent of the time, 116th in the FCS.
ONE LAST TIME
After Northern Arizona celebrated its seniors at home last week, Saturday will be the final time many mainstays on the roster suit up for the Lumberjacks.
Northern Arizona's special teams unit comprised of kicker
Luis Aguilar, punter and holder
DJ Arnson and long snapper
Justin Hathoot have spent their careers playing alongside one another while ranking as one of the best all-around specialist groups in the nation.
Similarly, linebackers
Harrison Beemiller and
Tristen Vance have provided a steady presence in the middle of Northern Arizona's defense while playing at an All-Big Sky Conference level.
Aguilar, Arnson and Vance enter the final week of the season tied at 48 for the most games played in program history and will likely leave with the record set at 49 following Saturday's game.
THE RUN TO 1K
Rushing for 42 yards last week against one of the best defenses in the FCS, freshman
Kevin Daniels enters Saturday needing 134 to reach 1,000 for the season. Northern Arizona has not had a 1,000-yard rusher since 2015 when Casey Jahn finished with 1,035. There's been only 16 1,000-yard rushing seasons in program history, with just 11 running backs in total achieving the feat.
Zach Bauman accounted for four of the seasons while playing for the Lumberjacks, with Archie Amerson and Marcus King doing so twice. Bauman owns the freshman record at 1,059 and is the only freshman to break 1,000 yards.
Averaging 96.2 yards per game, Daniels is 13th in the FCS and 20th overall with 866 yards on the ground after missing one game due to an injury. Both marks are second in the Big Sky to only Montana State's Isaiah Ifanse who enters his regular season finale against Montana at 1,208 yards through his 10 games this season.
