FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 25, 2021) – There's likely no better way to show just how unique the Spring 2021 season is than simply taking a look back through Northern Arizona's history books.
With the schedule reduced to just six games, all against Big Sky teams, the Lumberjacks will face a conference opponent in its season opener for the first time since 1950 against West Texas State. Go back another 10 years and you'll find the first time NAU faced a conference opponent at home to start a season, UTEP in 1940.
Both instances came while the Lumberjacks played in the Border Conference, where NAU also last played an opponent twice in a season. Saturday's opener with the Southern Utah Thunderbirds will be the first off two meetings, bookending the season, since the Lumberjacks faced Arizona State twice in 1936 as Border Conference rivals.
"The guys have been practicing really hard," NAU head coach
Chris Ball said, with the Lumberjacks more than 460 days removed from their last game. "We've had, somebody said, over 50 practices since this whole thing started. We are definitely tired of practicing and ready to play."
Southern Utah and Northern Arizona faced off just two games ago, with the two playing in the penultimate game of the 2019 season in Cedar City. While both programs will have a new starter at quarterback, the leading rushers from the game will likely lead their respective backfields in the Spring 2021 season opener.
Senior Thomas Duckett rushed for a career-high 130 yards in the victory, scoring a pair of touchdowns on the ground and another one through the air with his 81 yards receiving. Jay Green Jr. missed the 2019 meeting with NAU, but also has seen success in his career against the Lumberjacks.
Rushing for 94 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries in Southern Utah's 31-23 loss in Flagstaff during the 2018 season, Green led the way in 2017's 48-20 victory as he scored three touchdowns on 25 carries and 134 yards.
The two, along with Southern Utah's returning receiver corps of Landen Measom and Lance Lawson, offer a strong supporting cast for the Thunderbirds yet to be announced starter at quarterback. Redshirt sophomores Justin Miller and Tyler Skidmore are listed as co-starters on Southern Utah's depth chart, with the former throwing seven passes a year ago and the latter 27.
Whoever starts at quarterback will face off against a relatively unknown NAU defense, with five of NAU's 11 listed starters new to the program. Freshman
Kamdan Hightower and
Devontae Ingram should see time at cornerback, as will sophomore transfer
Johnathan Phenix from Houston, while safety
Brenndan Johnson also enters the lineup after arriving from Louisiana.
On the defensive line,
Cosmas Kwete joins his twin brother Eloi after transferring from Washington State, while fellow transfers
Kukea Emmsley,
Shomari Hayes,
Malik Johnson and
Josh Marsh also appear on NAU's two-deep.
Freshmen
Nehemiah Magalei and AJ Maluia will also factor into the rotation on the defensive line for the Lumberjacks.
"We put our rotation down on paper," Ball said. "We've been rotating that defensive front quite a bit, because we are awfully young. And the rep part of it, you never know who you are going to end up with, with this COVID testing."
On the other side, Southern Utah's defense returns a few crucial pieces from 2019 as juniors AJ Stanley, Bishop Jones and Francis Bemiy will look to slow down
Keondre Wudtee in his first start for NAU.
Wudtee will be joined in the backfield by
George Robinson, who rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown against Southern Utah last season, as NAU's offense looks to establish more of a ground attack than it had last year.
"We need to run the ball better in order for us to be successful. We led the conference and country in passing offense, but we went 4-8," Ball said. "You've got to be able to run the football. There's going to be a time during the game that you've got to run it to help your defense and take some time off the clock. If you can run the football and they can't stop you, it's really degrading."
NAU and Southern Utah kick off the season at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the Walkup Skydome. The game available on Pluto TV Channel 1058, as well as the Lumberjack Radio Network. Fans can also tune into NAU's exclusive look "Inside the Dome" by joining the
Zoom link with the password JACKS an hour before kickoff.
