FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Oct. 26, 2023) – Following a bye week, the Northern Arizona University football team resumes action this Saturday against No.25/25 UC Davis for Homecoming inside the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome on Findlay Toyota Field in Flagstaff. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Mountain Standard time.
Tickets for the Homecoming game and Native American Heritage Day can be purchased
here. For fans not able to attend, Mitch Strohman, Kevin Stephens and Ava Nichols will have the call on ESPN+ and on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network.
The Lumberjacks (2-5, 2-2 Big Sky Conference) are coming off a 45-21 loss to Portland State on Oct. 14. UC Davis (4-3, 2-2) comes to town ranked No. 25 in both the Stats Perform FCS Media Poll and the AFCA Coaches poll, marking the fifth ranked opponent NAU has faced in seven games so far this year.
Against ranked opponents so far this season, the Lumberjacks lost on the road to North Dakota and Sacramento State, with the loss against the Hornets coming by a point. Northern Arizona beat ranked Montana at home and Weber State on the road.
The series against UC Davis is tied 4-4 dating back to the first meeting in 2012. Northern Arizona won the first three contests, but dropped four of the next five. The Lumberjacks have lost three-straight to the Aggies, with the last win coming on Oct. 21, 2017 at home. In Flagstaff, Northern Arizona owns a 3-1 record. Last season on the road, UC Davis beat NAU 56-27, putting up 688 yards of total offense compared to 472 for the Lumberjacks.
Northern Arizona and UC Davis have two like opponents so far this season in Montana and Weber State. Both squads beat the Wildcats, but the Aggies lost to Montana by a score of 31-23.
The two teams are comparable with UC Davis averaging 376.86 yards of total offense compared to 375.29 for the Lumberjacks. While on the bye week, the squads each had a pair of defensive backs earn national recognition with Rex Conners being named Midseason All-American by Phil Steele and NAU's
Alex McLaughlin was named to the Jerry Rice Award Watchlist.
A pair of NAU seniors have a chance to make history this week, as
Eloi Kwete is one sack away from tying Northern Arizona's all-time sack record with 23.5 in his career. Additionally,
Hendrix Johnson needs 11 more catches to break NAU's all-time reception record with 201. Fellow wide receiver
Coleman Owen is also one receiving touchdown away from cracking Northern Arizona's top-ten.
Devon Starling leads the Lumberjacks with 483 rushing yards on 103 carries. He is averaging 4.7 yards per carry and 69.0 rushing yards per game. He is the only Lumberjack to record a 100+ plus rushing yard game this season, going for 110 yards against Utah Tech and 117 at Sacramento State. Against Weber State, he racked up 94 rushing yards. Starling leads NAU with four rushing touchdowns and he has scored a touchdown in three out of the last five games. Against Sacramento State, he had two rushing touchdowns for the first multi-touchdown game of his career. Starling is tied for first in the Big Sky in carries, third in rushing yards and fourth in rushing yards per game.
McLaughlin leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference with 57 total tackles, 28 of which are solo which is also a team-high. McLaughlin has done it all, as he also has two of the team's four interceptions and five breakups which also leads the team. He has played in and started all seven games. McLaughlin is one of three Lumberjacks to record double digit tackles this season, coming away with 10 at Arizona and a career-high 11 against Portland State.
In four games and three starts, true freshman
Adam Damante has completed 70% (112-160-8) of his pass attempts. He has thrown for 1,104 yards and six touchdown passes to four different players. Damante has thrown for over 200 yards in three games and 196 in the other.
Seven different players have scored a rushing touchdown for NAU this season, while four different players have thrown a touchdown pass and five different players have caught a touchdown pass. Sixteen different players have caught at least one pass.
Following this week, Northern Arizona heads to Montana State, who is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation., on Nov. 4. The Lumberjacks return to Flagstaff for the final time on Nov. 11 to host Northern Colorado on Nov. 11.
