FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 29, 2025) – No tricks, only treats as No. 19/21 Northern Arizona returns to Findlay Toyota Field at the Walkup Skydome on Friday and the Lumberjacks will have a prime opportunity to showcase their program in front of a national television audience. NAU and Idaho squares off Halloween night at 7:30 p.m. MST in a critical conference matchup.
The game between two FCS Playoff teams from a year ago will be televised live across the country on ESPN2 and streamed online on ESPN+.
Mitch Strohman, Kevin Stephens and
James Malamas will have radio call on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network starting with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m. MST. Tickets are available to purchase at this
link.
"We're excited for the opportunity this week to play a good Idaho team at home Friday night on ESPN2," said head coach
Brian Wright. "We have a mature team who understands that it comes down to the things that really matter in order to win football games. Whether you're on ESPN2 or not, or playing Friday or Saturday, those things don't matter in the grand scheme of things on the field. It's a short week as well so we have a lot of preparation to put in."
This Friday's game will be the first on linear national television from the Walkup Skydome since the Lumberjacks hosted Northern Iowa on Nov. 3, 1988. In front of an audience on ESPN, NAU defeated Northern Iowa, 25-12. It will be the third time that NAU plays on ESPN's linear television. In addition to the 1988 game, ESPN televised NAU's 38-13 win over Idaho State from the Walkup Skydome on Oct. 4, 1980.
The Lumberjacks last played at home on Oct. 4, falling to No. 5/5 Montana State. Since then, NAU has played two road games and had its bye week. This week's game is the first of three consecutive home games for the Lumberjacks and NAU looks to start a new winning streak in Flagstaff as its loss to Montana State snapped a nine-game winning streak in the Walkup Skydome going back to Oct. 14, 2023.
NAU (5-3, 2-2 Big Sky) and Idaho (3-5, 1-3 Big Sky) both got back in the win column last week. The Lumberjacks went on the road and picked up a 31-18 win over Idaho State, halting a two-game skid, and Idaho rolled past Portland State, 45-6, to snap a four-game losing streak. NAU's win moved the Lumberjacks up a spot in both the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 (No. 19) and AFCA FCS Coaches Poll (No. 21).
In last week's win against Idaho State, NAU ran for 200 yards, reaching the 200-yard mark on the ground for the second time this season. Four Lumberjacks ran for at least 40 yards, paced by
Darvon Hubbard's season-high 66 yards. Hubbard,
Seth Cromwell and
Quran Gossett each ran for a touchdown, marking the fourth game this season that NAU ran for at least three touchdowns.
Since the start of conference play, NAU is averaging 176.0 yards per game and 4.4 yards per carry, compared to 127.3 yards per game and 3.7 yards per carry in its four non-conference games. The Lumberjacks are fourth in the Big Sky in rushing yards per game in conference play.
Ty Pennington is the 10th-leading passer in the FCS with 1,973 yards. With four regular season games remaining, Pennington is closing in on his season total from a year ago (2,288). Pennington has thrown for 11 touchdowns, which ranks fourth in the Big Sky, with five of his scoring tosses to
Kolbe Katsis.
Katsis tied his career-high of eight receptions against Idaho State last week. Katsis leads the team in receptions (38), receiving yards (599) and touchdowns (5).
Brandon Wong set a new career-high in tackles for the second straight week. Wong had 12 stops at Idaho State, pacing the team in tackles for the third time in the last four games. With his second interception of the season last week,
Quentin Moten tied
Jaylan Wesley for the team-lead.
NAU's defense did an exceptional job getting Idaho State off the field as the Bengals were only 3-of-11 on third down. The Lumberjacks also forced multiple turnovers for the first time since the second game of the season.
"We took the mistakes we made (against Montana State and UC Davis) to heart and things that were exposed against a couple really good football teams," Wright said. "We utilized the bye week to improve and our guys were focused in the preparation last week. They went out and executed at a much higher level than I thought we did the previous two weeks."
Idaho's dominating 45-6 home win over Portland State last week coincided with the return of Joshua Wood at quarterback. Wood missed the two previous games with an injury.
Wood, a Fresno State transfer, is a true dual threat quarterback, throwing for 1,186 yards with 10 touchdowns and only one interception to go along with 370 yards rushing. Wood is averaging 7.6 yards per carry and has scored six touchdowns on the ground. He is 11th in the FCS in points responsible per game (17.3). Wood leads the 33rd-best rushing offense in the FCS as one of four Vandals with 200-plus yards rushing. As a team, Idaho averages 179.1 yards per game on the ground.
The Vandals' defensive unit is one of the best in the Big Sky, ranking second in the conference in total defense (358.4) and third in scoring defense (24.6). In particular, Idaho is stout in defending the run with only 136.5 yards per game allowed, which is 37th in the FCS.
While Dylan Layne (54) and Isiah King (53) are the team's top two tacklers, Matyus McLain is often in the backfield, ranking second in the Big Sky with 10.0 tackles-for-loss. McLain also leads the team with 3.0 sacks.
Idaho leads the all-time series, 19-6, and have won the last two matchups. Last season, Idaho handed NAU a narrow 23-17 loss in Moscow. The Lumberjacks last defeated the Vandals almost three years ago to the date, earning a 38-31 victory on the road on Oct. 30, 2021.
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