FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Nov. 7, 2024) – Winners of two-straight, the Northern Arizona football team is heading out on its final regular season road stretch, beginning with Cal Poly on Saturday, Nov. 9. Kickoff from Mustang Memorial Field in San Luis Obispo, Calif., is slated for 6 p.m. Mountain Standard time on ESPN+ and the Northern Arizona Healthcare Lumberjack Radio Network.
The Lumberjacks are 5-4 on the year and 3-2 in Big Sky Conference play. Northern Arizona is coming off three weeks at home separated by the bye week and picked up wins over Idaho State and Weber State to remaining undefeated in Flagstaff this year. With a win, NAU will have won six games and won three-straight for the first time since 2017 – the last time the program made the FCS playoffs.
With three regular season games remaining, NAU is still in playoff contention and are receiving votes in both the AFCA and the Stats Perform Top 25 polls.
The Mustangs are 2-6 on the year and 1-4 in Big Sky play, losing four-straight entering Saturday's game.
Northern Arizona leads the all-time series, 13-2 and have won two-straight. It's the first time the two teams have met since Oct. 8, 2022, when NAU hit a game-winning field goal to win 31-29 in Flagstaff. NAU is undefeated in San Luis Obispo, winning seven-straight. The Mustang's two wins have come in Flagstaff in 2012 and 2018, their last win over the Lumberjacks.
Against Weber State, Northern Arizona rattled off 21 unanswered points and grabbed two interceptions in the first six minutes of play in the 27-6 win. It marked the first time NAU had not allowed a touchdown in 28 games dating back to 2022.
In the win, quarterback
Ty Pennington accounted for all four Northern Arizona scores. He kicked the game off with a 75-yard rushing touchdown on the first play of the game, added a two-yard score, and found Fou Ho Ching and
Ta'ir Brooks for passing touchdowns. In eight games played, Pennington has yet to throw an interception and has completed 119 of his 180 pass attempts for 1,434 yards and nine touchdowns. On the ground, he's the team leader in rushing scores with five and ranks second with 326 net rushing yards on 70 carries.
Seventeen Lumberjacks have caught a pass this season, but Pennington's top targets have been
Bryzai White,
Kolbe Katsis and
Ta'ir Brooks. White has hauled in 407 receiving yards on 25 catches with three touchdowns and Brooks has caught four touchdown passes. Katsis has caught 26 passes for 286 yards.
On the ground,
Darvon Hubbard has 396 net rushing yards on the year and four touchdowns.
Northern Arizona's defense ranks second in the conference in points allowed with just 20.6 per game and leads the league in passing defense, allowing opponents just 171.6 passing yards per contest. The defense is stingy on first down, allowing foe to convert 28.6 percent of the time to lead the league.
DJ VanHook leads the league in interceptions with three and has a pick in two-straight games, including the game-winning interception against Idaho State. He is also fifth in the league with six pass breakups.
Alex McLaughlin leads the team with 64 total tackles, 5.5 sacks and two forced fumbles that were recovered for touchdowns.
Tommy Ellis follows with 62 tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack and an interception.
On the special teams front,
Isaiah Eastman leads the Big Sky Conference in punt returns with 13.8 yards per return while
Ben D'Aquila leads the way in net punting with 46.8 yards per punt.
Next week, NAU hits the road again for its seventh and final regular season road game at Northern Colorado on Saturday, Nov. 17. Senior day against Eastern Washington is set for Nov. 23 in Flagstaff.
