| Northern Arizona vs. Idaho State |
CLICK ON THE TEAM'S NAME FOR THIS WEEK'S GAME NOTES FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA AND IDAHO STATE.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 30, 2021) – After three consecutive weeks on the road, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (1-3, 0-1 Big Sky) return to the Walkup Skydome on Saturday for a Family Weekend faceoff with the Idaho State Bengals (0-3, 0-1 Big Sky).
In six of the past seven years, Family Weekend had brought a crowd of 10,000 or more fans into the Skydome and the Lumberjacks have won 12 of the past 13 games during the occasion. After playing at South Dakota, Arizona and Northern Colorado since the season opener against Sam Houston in Flagstaff, NAU head coach
Chris Ball said he is encouraged at the prospect of another large crowd this weekend.
"It would be awesome," Ball said. "If we can pack that house, it would be great. I keep saying it since I have been here, it would be the best home-field advantage in the country if we can get that thing filled up."
Kickoff from the Walkup Skydome is scheduled for 1 p.m. MST and will be available on
ESPN+, as well as
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 12 p.m.
The Family Weekend crowd may be treated to a low-scoring battle, with Northern Arizona's defense coming off a pair of impressive performances.
Ranked No. 25 in third-down defense in the FCS at 32.2 percent, the Lumberjacks have held their last two opponents under 30 percent. In their 21-19 victory at Arizona, the Wildcats converted just 3-of-14 third down attempts (21.4 percent) and last week's game in Greeley, Colo., the Northern Colorado Bears went 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) on third down.
"That's amazing. That's a hard goal to reach, to be 70% on third down," Ball said. "If you get in the high 60s that's good. We are doing good on first and second down to create these third and long situations."
The rise in third-down defense has correlated with Northern Arizona's increase in tackles for loss. Finishing with 10 tackles for loss in each of the past two games, the Lumberjacks enter Saturday with 32 this season to rank in a tie for 12th among FCS teams. Unsurprisingly, the team's defense has allowed just 36 points in the past 10 quarters and a drive in overtime.
"I think our defensive coaches have done a great job of putting our players in a position to make a play, to do what they are capable of doing and keeping them out of situations where they are not very good," Ball said. "They have a really good handle on what our players can do and can't do. I think they have gotten better each week. They are playing really good as a unit, Coach (Jerry) Partridge has a good feel of what we can do."
Through three games, Idaho State has averaged just 15.0 points per game, with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Benjamin Omayebu helping the Bengals to their highest scoring game of the year last week against Sacramento State.
A HISTORY LESSON
Saturday's game between the Lumberjacks and Bengals will be the 54th all-time, with Idaho State tying Weber State as Northern Arizona's most common opponent in history. Entering the day with a 34-18-1 record, the Lumberjacks have never beaten an opponent as often as they have the Bengals.
While a 10-game win streak against the Bengals was snapped with a loss in Pocatello, Idaho in 2018, the Lumberjacks have won 15 straight in the series in Flagstaff dating back to 1986. Northern Arizona is 21-3-1 against Idaho State in Flagstaff, with the first meeting coming back in 1959 after a pair of meetings in Idaho to get the series started.
GAMEDAY INFO
Tickets for Saturday and the rest of the team's home games this fall can be purchased online at
www.nauathletics.com/buy and questions can be directed to the Lumberjack Ticket Office at LumberjackTicketOffice@nau.edu or 928-523-0639.
Northern Arizona has introduced mobile ticketing at both the Walkup Skydome and Rolle Activity Center this season. For step-by step instructions and resources, click
here. Students will need to claim their tickets online this season with step-by-step instructions available
here.
Lots will open to tailgating at 9 a.m. while the Ponderosa will open at 10 a.m. ahead of the 1 p.m. kickoff. Shuttle services also begin at 10 a.m. with pick up locations at P62 and at the campus bookstore.
