FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 7, 2025) – With its bye week approaching, No. 14/16 Northern Arizona looks to get back in the win column in a big way on Saturday at 4 p.m. MST when the Lumberjacks travel to UC Davis Health Stadium to face No. 6/6 UC Davis.
Mitch Strohman and Kevin Stephens will kick off the day with the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network pregame show at 3 p.m. MST. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
NAU (4-2, 1-1 Big Sky) had its four-game winning streak snapped last week with a 34-10 loss to No. 5/5 Montana State. The loss dropped the Lumberjacks a spot to No. 14 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25. The Lumberjacks are ranked No. 16 in this week's AFCA FCS Coaches Poll.
"I want to see us be more mentally tough when it gets difficult," said head coach
Brian Wright. "It got difficult last Saturday and when we lost momentum, we never bounced back. We're going to have to do that when you're playing good teams in this conference. You have to be able to survive those momentum shifts and dig yourself out of a hole. We played a really good football team who controlled the line scrimmage and made plays, and we have to learn how to do that in big moments."
The challenge this week is a UC Davis team on a three-game winning streak into this week's matchup. The Aggies (4-1, 2-0 Big Sky) are one of three remaining undefeated teams, along with Montana and Montana State, in Big Sky play at 2-0 following a 34-27 road win at Cal Poly last week.
NAU and UC Davis meet for the first time since the Lumberjacks' 38-21 win in Flagstaff in 2023. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak to UC Davis. NAU has dropped three consecutive meetings to UC Davis on the road following its only win, 21-10, in Davis in 2013.
After scoring 30-plus points in four consecutive games, the Lumberjacks were held to a season-low 10 points in last week's loss to Montana State. NAU is 4-0 this season when scoring at least 30 points and winless in two games with less than 30 points.
Despite throwing for 210 yards, his lowest total since Week 1,
Ty Pennington remains third in the country in passing with 1,557 yards. He has nine passing touchdowns to only two interceptions. Pennington's 4.5:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio is third in the Big Sky behind Idaho's Joshua Wood and UC Davis' Caden Pinnick.
Seth Cromwell and
Kolbe Katsis are on the cusp of career milestones this week. Cromwell needs 18 yards to reach 1,000 yards rushing as a Lumberjack, while Katsis needs 16 yards to reach 1,000 receiving yards as a Lumberjack. Cromwell leads the team in rushing with 301 yards on the ground and six rushing touchdowns, which rank him 12th in the FCS, and Katsis is the team's leading receiver with 486 yards and four touchdowns, which rank 10th and 21st respectively.
NAU's defense led by
Travis Arena (team-high 47 tackles, 5.0 sacks) and
Jaylan Wesley (team-high two interceptions, five pass breakups) faces a UC Davis offense that is tied with NAU for fewest turnovers (4) in the Big Sky this season.
In fact, the Lumberjacks and Aggies have similar profiles with both teams averaging more than 30 points per game on offense, but also allow more than 30 points per game on defense.
Pinnick, the Big Sky's Offensive Player of the Week each of the last two weeks, leads UC Davis' high-powered offense. Pinnick leads the Big Sky with 11 touchdowns thrown and a passing efficiency of 166.0. In addition to 1,066 passing yards this season, Pinnick also is a threat with his legs, averaging 48.3 yards rushing in the last three games.
Jacob Psyk has been a disruptive defensive force this season, totaling 7.5 tackles-for-loss and 4.5 sacks, which rank second and fourth respectively in the Big Sky.
After traveling to UC Davis, an FCS quarterfinalist last season, NAU will have its bye week before returning to the road at Idaho State in two weeks.
"This week means a lot," Wright said. "Anytime you can go on the road in this conference and get a win is big, especially against a ranked team. That's the way we want to try and bounce back."
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