FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 10, 2022) – With just two games remaining in the season, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks head out of town for their final road game of the year this weekend.
Set to face the Northern Colorado Bears (2-7, 1-5 Big Sky) in Greeley, Colo. for the second consecutive season on Saturday at 12 p.m., it'll be another test for Northern Arizona (3-6, 2-4 Big Sky) as it looks to snap a stretch of misfortune at Nottingham Field.
"We need to go out and play like we are capable of playing," said Lumberjacks head coach
Chris Ball. "We played really well on Saturday; we fought for 12 rounds and lost a decision. We have got to play like that every weekend. Eliminate some of the penalties and turnovers, and create some turnovers defensively, but we have got to learn to play back-to-back weeks at a high level. We haven't done that here."
Despite coming off the 41-38 loss to No. 2/3 Montana State at Findlay Toyota Field last Saturday on Homecoming, Northern Arizona played one of its strongest games of the season, especially over the final 48 minutes of the game. Outscoring Montana State 38-24 during that stretch to erase an early 17-0 deficit, Northern Arizona nearly knocked off the Big Sky's co-leader and possible FCS National Championship contender.
"You don't have time to pout or feel sorry for yourself, we've got to get ready to go beat Northern Colorado," Ball said.
Dropping last year's 17-10 overtime loss in Greeley, the Lumberjacks extended their losing streak to four games on the road against the Bears. With Northern Arizona also currently holding a four-game win streak in Flagstaff against Northern Colorado, the road team has won eight consecutive games in the all-time series and 14 of the 21 meetings in total. And while Northern Arizona has won nine straight in Flagstaff for a 9-1 all-time home record in the series, it is just 6-5 all-time in Greeley.
During their four-game win streak in Flagstaff, the Lumberjacks have won by an average of 26.25 points per game compared to an 11.25 margin of defeat in the four road losses.
Now ranked 23rd in passing offense in the FCS after a career-high 452 yards for
RJ Martinez against Montana State, Northern Arizona's
aerial attack includes Martinez's ranking of fifth in completions per game (26.22), 17th in passing yards (2,377), 18th in passing yards per game (264.1) and 35th in completion percentage (64.0%).
Coleman Owen's 6.4 receptions per game is 16th in the FCS, with his 71.7 receiving yards per game seventh in the Big Sky.
Hendrix Johnson's 501 total receiving yards ranks 11th in the Big Sky while
Jamal Glaspie's 62.1 yards per game is ninth in the conference.
"We want to win as many games as we can," Ball said. "We've got an opportunity to end the season with two victories, so this is one of the two. We talked about having a four-game season starting a couple weeks ago against Idaho State. Now we are 1-1 with two games left."
Saturday's game will be available on
ESPN+, as well as
Hulu with a subscription to the Disney Bundle, with Blake Olson and Aaron Rath on the call for the stream. Mitch Strohman and Kevin Stephens will handle the radio call on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network with coverage beginning at 11 a.m. MST.
A LOOK AT NORTHERN COLORADO
Voted to finish 12th by the media and tied for 11th by the coaches in the Big Sky Conference Preseason Polls released in July, the Bears currently sit tied for ninth in the conference with Idaho State and Eastern Washington while sitting a game back of the Lumberjacks for eighth.
Since defeating Idaho State 35-14 to open Big Sky play on Sept. 24, the Bears have dropped five consecutive games to Idaho, Sacramento State, Montana State, UC Davis and Portland State. Three of the group currently rank among the Top 15 in the FCS while UC Davis has received votes in the Top 25 Poll. Northern Colorado's lone non-conference victory at Lamar on Sept. 17 came against a Cardinals team sitting 1-8 this season with its lone victory coming against Nicholls State.
Second-year Bears head coach Ed McCaffrey is 5-15 through his first 20 games with the Bears, including a 3-11 mark within the Big Sky. Last season McCaffrey led the Bears to a 3-8 record with wins over Houston Baptist, Southern Utah and an overtime victory against Northern Arizona in Greeley.
The Bears enter the weekend near the bottom of the Big Sky Conference in multiple statistical categories, including Total Offense (355.7, 11th), Rushing Offense (106.8, 10th), Total Defense (464.6, 10th), Rushing Defense (219.8, 11th), Scoring Offense (20.8, 10th) and Scoring Defense (38.6, 10th). The Bears have struggled with turnovers in 2022, with their 23 giveaways ranking 12th in the Big Sky and 119th in the FCS. Holding a turnover margin of -1.22 per game, Northern Colorado is 12th in the Big Sky and 117th in the FCS.
Last season, quarterback Dylan McCaffrey finished 25-for-40 passing with 199 yards and a pair of touchdowns while adding 14 yards on the ground on five carries.
"He's a really good quarterback, he's smart, he runs the offense and takes care of the football," Ball said. "He knows where the ball needs to go. He's going to sit in the pocket, he's not a scrambler like we have seen the last couple weeks but he can get out of trouble."
This season, McCaffrey's completions per game (17.22) and completion percentage (61.8 percent) rank seventh in the Big Sky, but his passing efficiency rating (119.7) sits 12th.
Behind McCaffrey, running back Elijah Dotson ranks third in the Big Sky with 138.78 all-purpose yards per game and averages 80.8 rushing yards per game, 4.4 receptions per game and has nine total touchdowns to all rank among the Top 10 of the Big Sky in their respective categories. Quarterback
Ball said he considers Dotson, a former member of the Sacramento State Hornets, as one of the best runners in the league.
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