| Northern Arizona at Eastern Washington |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Nov. 13, 2023) – The final week of the regular season has arrived as the Northern Arizona University football team will travel to Roos Field in Cheney, Wash., to take on Eastern Washington this Saturday (Nov. 18).
Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Mountain Standard time and will be broadcast on ESPN+ as well as regionally on SWX. Mitch Strohman and Kevin Stephens will have the call on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network.
There is still plenty to play for for the Lumberjacks, who currently sit at 4-6 overall and 4-3 in Big Sky Conference play, as they have a chance to finish with a winning conference record for the first time since 2017. Coming off a win against Northern Colorado last Saturday, NAU has an opportunity to win back-to-back games for the first time since 2021. Five overall wins would be the most since the 2021 season as well.
The Eagles currently sit at 4-6 overall and 3-4 in Big Sky play and are coming off a 57-14 loss at No. 5 Montana State on Saturday. The Lumberjacks played the Bobcats in Bozeman the week before and lost 48-21. In fact, EWU and NAU have nearly identical resumes against common opponents, both topping a ranked UC Davis and Weber State team while both falling to Portland State and Montana State.
Eastern Washington is 3-1 at home this season on the infamous red turf, a place Northern Arizona has not won at since 2015. The 2015 victory was a 52-30 routing over the No. 4 Eagles and up until NAU beat No. 13/14 Weber State on the road this season, it was the last ranked road victory for the Lumberjack program.
Since that win, NAU has lost four-straight to Eastern Washington with the last three happening in Cheney. Overall, the Eagles lead the all-time series, 23-12. The last time the two teams met was in the Spring of 2021 with the Lumberjacks dropping a 45-13 decision on March 6. A win over the Eagles would be the first for head coach
Chris Ball.
Three of NAU's victories this season have come over ranked conference opponents, beating No.11/13 Montana at home 28-14, then No. 13/14 Weber State on the road 27-10, plus a win over No. 25 UC Davis at home. The Lumberjacks also fell to No. 8/9 Sacramento State on the road by one point. The Eagles have three ranked victories, two at home over Southeastern Louisiana and Weber State, plus on the road at UC Davis.
Devon Starling is NAU's leading rusher with 601 yards on 123 carries which ranks sixth in the Big Sky. He has five rushing touchdowns, plus one receiving, with two multi-touchdown games. Starling transferred in from Tennessee State who played at EWU in the 2022 season where he rushed for 207 yards plus a touchdown and hauled in 23 receiving yards on five catches in the season opener.
Coleman Owen ranks fifth in the Big Sky with 59.3 receiving yards per game, hauling in 593 receiving yards on 51 catches plus two touchdowns. Owen currently ranks ninth all-time in NAU history in career receiving yards (2,643), tied for ninth in touchdown receptions (17) and sixth in career receptions (174).
Owen's teammate and fellow wide receiver
Hendrix Johnson just made it to the top of NAU's all-time career receptions list against Northern Colorado with his 202
nd career catch. Johnson is average 36.2 receiving yards per game with two touchdowns on the year.
Joining Johnson in the record books is
Eloi Kwete who is NAU's all-time career sack leader with 24.5. Kwete has 8.5 sacks on the season which ranks second in the Big Sky and 10
th nationally, and his three forced fumbles rank tied for first.
Freshman
Alex McLaughlin, who was added to the Jerry Rice Award Watchlist that's given to the best freshman in the FCS, is seventh in the Big Sky with a team-high 65 tackles while also ranking eighth with nine pass breakups and third with three interceptions.
Seven different players have thrown a pass for the Lumberjacks, with six of them throwing a touchdown reception. Three different quarterbacks have started for NAU this season in
Kai Millner,
Adam Damante and
Angel Flores. Flores has started the last two games and has completed 38 of his 51 pass attempts for 372 yards, adding three touchdowns and two interceptions. He has also rushed for 223 yards on 60 carries with five rushing touchdowns.
Daniel Britt, a transfer from Montana, has came off the bench three times, rushing for 72 yards on 15 carries plus completing 3-of-4 passes for 57 yards and two touchdowns.
Eastern Washington puts up 416.4 yards of total offense per game which is third in the Big Sky. They are led by quarterback Kekoa Visperas who has thrown 15 touchdown passes, completing 226 of his 339 pass attempts for 2,471 yards. Fellow quarterback Michael Wortham has played in all 10 games, completing 4-of-7 pass attempts, but is a threat on the ground with 265 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. Justice Jackson leads the team with 472 rushing yards and five scores, adding 52.44 yards per game. Efton Chism III is EWU's top target with 76 catches for 829 yards and two touchdowns. Ben Allen leads the team with 65 total tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss.
