| No. 25 Northern Arizona at Northern Colorado |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Nov. 14, 2024) – For the seventh time this year, the No. 25 Northern Arizona football team is gearing up for another road test. The final regular season game of the year takes the Lumberjacks to Greeley, Colo., to face Northern Colorado on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 12 p.m. Mountain Standard time at Nottingham Field.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ along with the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network with Mitch Strohman and Kevin Stephens on the call.
Northern Arizona is still playing meaningful football in November, sitting at 6-4 overall and 4-2 in Big Sky Conference play. With two regular season games remaining, NAU is still in FCS Playoff contention. The Bears have lost three-straight and are 1-9 overall and 1-5 in league play.
On Monday, the Lumberjacks re-entered the FCS Stats Perform Top 25 poll for the third time this season, checking in at No. 25. Earlier this year, on Oct. 1 after beating then No. 10/10 Sacramento State, NAU earned its first national ranking since Sept. 10, 2018 - which was 316 weeks ago at the time.
NAU will be taking a three-game winning streak with it to Greeley, beating Idaho State and Weber State at home before most-recently topping Cal Poly on the road, 31-14, last weekend. It's the first time the Lumberjacks have won three-straight games since 2017, which is also the last time Northern Arizona made the FCS Playoffs.
The Lumberjacks are fifth in the league standings and has a chance to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2017, with the exception of the abbreviated season in the Spring of 2021 (3-2). The last time the Lumberjacks won seven games and won two-straight on the road was also in 2017.
Under the new Big Sky scheduling format, the Lumberjacks and Bears are set to square off every year alternating home and away. Saturday marks the 23rd all-time meeting with NAU leading 16-7. In the series, the road team has not won a game 2012. Northern Arizona hasn't won in Greeley since 2012, losing five-straight, with the series tied 6-6.
Last season, Northern Arizona cruised to a 28-7 victory in Flagstaff. NAU last played in Greeley in 2022, falling 21-20. The Bears are 0-4 at home this season while the Lumberjacks are 2-4 on the road, with all four losses coming to ranked opponents for NAU.
Northern Arizona picked up its second road victory of the season last week against Cal Poly.
Seth Cromwell rushed for 132 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start. The Lumberjacks also won the turnover battle with two interceptions by
Zach Lewis and
Mikale Greer. Lewis also had seven tackles, a tackle for loss, and a forced fumble.
Northern Arizona put up 477 yards of total offense and held the Mustangs to just 59 on the ground while rushing for 293 themselves.
Quarterback
Ty Pennington completed 20 of his 27 pass attempts for 184 yards, one touchdown pass to
Tay Lanier, and no interceptions. Nine receivers caught a pass, led by
Kolbe Katsis with four catches for 63 yards. True freshman
Samuel Hunsaker also connected on a career-long 47-yard field goal and was a perfect 4-for-4 on extra point attempts.
Pennington has handled most of the signal calling duties for NAU so far this season, completing 139 of 207 pass attempts without an interception while throwing for 10 touchdowns and 1,618 yards. On the ground, he's Northern Arizona's third-leading rusher with 380 net yards and five touchdowns.
Seventeen 'Jacks have caught a pass this year, but Pennington's top targets have been
Bryzai White,
Kolbe Katsis and
Ta'ir Brooks. White leads NAU with 449 receiving yards on 29 catches and three touchdowns. Katsis, who transferred in from Pittsburg State with Pennington, has caught 30 passes for 349 yards. Brooks has caught four touchdown passes to go with 298 receiving yards on 17 catches.
Cromwell leads NAU with seven rushing touchdowns and has 395 net rushing yards on 80 carries, averaging 4.9 yards per attempt.
Darvon Hubbard has found the endzone four times, racking up 396 rushing yards on 93 carries this season.
NAU's special teams game has also been strong, as
Isaiah Eastman is averaging 12.63 yards per punt return to rank 10th in the FCS. As a team, the Lumberjacks are second nationally in net punting (42.62) and 23
rd in punt returns (11.56).
Four Lumberjacks have over 50 tackles this year, let by
Tommy Ellis with 70 and
Alex McLaughlin with 68.
Zach Lewis has tallied 50 tackles and two interceptions. Lewis is one of five Lumberjacks who have caught an interception this season, led by
DJ VanHook and
Mikale Greer who each have three. McLaughlin also leads the team with 5.5 sacks and two forced fumbles that have been recovered for touchdowns.
As a team, NAU is sixth nationally in third down defense, only allowing opponents to convert 29.9 percent of the time. NAU only allows 19.9 points per game which is 18
th nationally and the 10 interceptions ranks 21
st.
Pennington is 15
th in the country in completion percentage, helping the Lumberjacks rank 37
th nationally in total offense with 389.3 yards per game.
Northern Colorado is last in the league with 12.0 points per game and 141.6 yards of total offense. It allows opponents to average 225.5 yards of total offense per game. Hunter Green leads the conference in net punting, averaging 46.4 yards per punt just ahead of NAU's
Ben D'Aquila who is second with 46.1.
The Lumberjacks return to Flagstaff for their final regular season home game on Saturday, Nov. 23 when it hosts Eastern Washington for Senior Day and Native American Heritage Day. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Findlay Toyota Field inside the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome.
Northern Arizona has won six-straight at home dating back to 2023 when it won its two final regular season home games. Sitting at a perfect 4-0 in Flagstaff this year, NAU is looking to finish 5-0 in the Skydome for the first time since 2015 and the third time in program history (1978). Northern Arizona has won five games inside the Skydome on three other occasions: 2017, 2015 and 2013. The record for consecutive wins is eight.
Tickets are available
HERE.
