| Northern Arizona at North Dakota |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Sept. 4, 2023) – With week two preparations underway, the Northern Arizona University football team will continue non-conference play at the University of North Dakota this week.
Kickoff on Sept. 9 from Grand Forks, N.D., at the Alerus Center is set for 1:05 p.m. Mountain Standard time and will be broadcast on the Midco Sports Two network along with ESPN+. Mitchell Strohman and Kevin Stephens will also have the call on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network starting at noon for pregame.
The AFCA FCS Coaches Poll along with the FCS Stats Perform national rankings have yet to be announced at the time of this release, but the Fighting Hawks were ranked No. 17/18 in the preseason versions. North Dakota backed that up with a 55-7 victory at home over Drake to open the season 1-0.
Northern Arizona opened its season this past Saturday as well on the road against Arizona where it lost 38-3. The lone score for NAU came from the foot of
Marcus Lye who made his first career field goal attempt from 49-yards out. The field goal made it a 14-3 game in favor of the Wildcats at the half. Lye and the Lumberjacks lined up to try a 26-yard attempt to make it a one-score game in the first drive of the second half, but the attempt was blocked and returned 85-yards for the touchdown. The Wildcats scored two more touchdowns during the third quarter but were held to just one field goal in the fourth.
While three Lumberjack quarterbacks made appearances in the contest, it was
Kai Millner who earned the starting nod. Millner would complete 14 of his 22 pass attempts for 166 yards with no interceptions. His favorite target of the day was
Coleman Owen who hauled in 90 yards on five catches, while
TJ McDaniel was the team's leading rusher with 56 yards on 14 carries. True freshman
Alex McLaughlin led the defensive front in his debut, totaling 10 tackles, two pass breakups and a sack.
The Lumberjacks were outgained 478-to-264 in total offense, but they did win the turnover battle thanks to a fumble forced by
David Spruiells and recovered by
Tommy Ellis and an interception by
Colby Humphrey. NAU also held the Wildcats to 1-of-5 on third down and 0-of-2 on fourth down.
North Dakota used to be a member of the Big Sky Conference but have since departed for the Missouri Valley. The Fighting Hawks lead the all-time series, 5-3. Northern Arizona won the first four contests but dropped three out of the next four including a narrow 27-24 loss last season on Sept. 17 in Flagstaff.
That contest was one of three losses by three points or less to ranked opponents last year for the Lumberjacks. NAU and No. 22 North Dakota traded leads three times in the final six minutes of the game. Owen scored a receiving touchdown, his second of the game, to go up by four points with 1:42 remaining, but the Fighting Hawks scored 49 seconds later to win.
Northern Arizona has dropped 13-straight games to ranked opponents. Its last victory over a ranked foe came on Nov. 17, 2018 against No. 25 North Dakota in a 31-16 routing.
The Fighting Hawks are led by Bubba Schweigert who just picked up his 55
th career victory at North Dakota. In that victory, North Dakota racked up 652 total yards of offense and scored eight touchdowns. Much like Northern Arizona, multiple quarterbacks were used in the contest as Tommy Schuster completed 22 of 26 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns and Trey Feeney went 4-for-5 for 102 yards and a touchdown as well. Additionally, Easton Kilty earned MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week for his performance.
North Dakota finished 7-5 last year and advanced to the first round of the FCS Playoffs where it lost to No. 9 Weber State on the road.
Following Saturday's game, Northern Arizona hosts Utah Tech for its season-opener on Saturday, Sept. 16 at Findlay Toyota Field inside the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome at 1 p.m. MST. Tickets are available HERE and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
