| Northern Arizona vs. No. 11/13 Montana |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Sept. 20, 2023) – A brand new season begins this Saturday, Sept. 23 when the Northern Arizona University football team hosts No. 11/13 ranked Montana at Findlay Toyota Field at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz., to open Big Sky Conference play.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Mountain Standard time and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the Northern Arizona Healthcare Lumberjack Radio Network. The Lumberjacks are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Day, and tickets can be purchased HERE. Additionally, the first 2,500 fans in attendance receive a Hispanic Heritage Day themed rally towel.
Northern Arizona is looking to get into the win column after finishing the non-conference slate 0-3. The Lumberjacks opened the season with road losses at Arizona and No. 15 North Dakota before dropping its home opener to Utah Tech on Saturday by a score of 50-36. NAU turned the ball over five times in the loss and trailed 37-7 at the half. However, the Lumberjacks continued to show fight and outscored the Trailblazers 29-13 in the second half.
In the loss,
Devon Starling rushed for 110 yards and scored the first touchdown of his career with NAU. It was the first 100-plus rushing game from a Lumberjack this season.
Kai Millner started his third consecutive game, but
Adam Damante took the majority of the snaps, throwing for 247 yards and two touchdowns. He completed 22 of his 31 pass attempts with two interceptions. Late in the game,
Chase Belcher recovered two consecutive onside kicks and scored on both of the ensuing drives for the first touchdowns of his career.
The Lumberjacks limited UTU's run-game, holding the Trailblazers to just 72 rushing yards. NAU also outgained Utah Tech in total offense, 441 to 390.
Saturday's opponent is the second ranked opponent the Lumberjacks have faced this season. Northern Arizona has dropped 14-straight games to ranked opponents since last beating No. 25 North Dakota in 2018. After playing Montana, there are four more future opponents that are currently ranked in the Stats Perform FCS Top-25 in Sacramento State, Weber State, UC Davis and Montana State. Three of those games will be played on the road.
Montana exited non-conference play unscathed with a 3-0 record with two home games and a road contest. The Grizzlies and the Lumberjacks shared a non-conference opponent in Utah Tech, which they topped 43-13. The Griz also beat Butler and squeaked out a 17-10 win over Division II Ferris State to conclude the out-of-conference slate.
The Grizzlies were picked to finish third in the preseason Big Sky media poll and sixth by the coaches, while the Lumberjacks were eighth in the media and ninth by the coaches.
The history between the Griz and the Lumberjacks, two of the league's longest-serving members, dates back to 1966. Montana holds the all-time series lead 37-14 and have won two-straight. In Flagstaff, the Grizzlies are 17-9 and the Lumberjacks have not beat Montana on their own home turf since Oct. 22, 2016 in a 45-34 victory, which also marked NAU's last win over the Griz.
Northern Arizona head coach
Chris Ball is 0-1 all-time against Montana, compared to the Griz head coach Bobby Hauck who is an unblemished 8-0 against NAU in his career. Hauck coached the linebackers at Northern Arizona in the early days of his career during the 1993-94 seasons.
Montana ran away with a 30-3 victory in Flagstaff the last time the teams met on Nov. 13, 2021. The Griz held the Lumberjacks to 154 yards of total offense while putting up 427 of their own and were 4-for-19 on third downs.
The very first game played in the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome took place between Northern Arizona and Montana on Sept. 15, 1977, where the Lumberjacks came out with a 25-24 victory. The Lumberjacks own a 167-89 all-time record in the Skydome.
Coleman Owen is the Big Sky's leading receiver with 261 yards on 18 catches, averaging 87 receiving yards per game, which is 17
th in the nation. Owen is also 13
th nationally in receiving yards and 19
th in receptions per game with six.
Devon Starling ranks ninth with 185 rushing yards, and
Kai Millner is seventh with 458 total passing yards. In the national rankings, Starling is 52
nd with 4.87 rushing yards per carry and 73
rd in rushing yards per game.
On the defensive side, true freshman
Alex McLaughlin has led NAU in tackles in two out of three games so far this year and ranks sixth in the league with 23 total tackles.
Eemil Herranen is averaging 40.3 yards per punt.
For the Griz, Eli Gillman posts 91.7 rushing yards per game to rank second in the league. Braxton Hill, who earned an honorable mention nod for FCS Stats Perform Defensive Player of the Week after 15 tackles and two sacks for a loss of 20 yards against Ferris State, has 25 total tackles on the year to rank fourth in the Big Sky.
Montana also boasts the league leader in interceptions in Trevin Gradney who has three on the year in three games played to go with two pass breakups. He also has a forced fumble.
The Griz are one of the best in the nation in the red zone, as they have only allowed opponents past their 20-yard line seven times and have allowed scores only four of those times. Montana also ranks 12
th in the nation in third-down conversion defense, allowing opponents to convert only 26 percent of the time. Additionally, the Griz only allow 14.33 points per game and 92 rushing yards per game.
The Lumberjacks rank in the top-40 nationally in third down conversions (21
st, 45.7%), 27
th in passing offense (247.0), 33
rd in competition percentage (63.1%) and 37
th in rushing defense (136.0). Northern Arizona is also outscoring its opponents 34-13 in the fourth quarter.
Northern Arizona gets back out onto the road next week for another ranked matchup at Sacramento State on Saturday, Sept. 30. The Hornets are 3-0 and are coming off a win over Stanford and are currently ranked No. 4 in the FCS Stats Perform Top-25. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Mountain Standard time.
