FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 1, 2026) – Coming off a thrilling 34-27 comeback win last Saturday against Eastern Washington, No. 22/20 Northern Arizona carries momentum into its lone FBS game of the season on Saturday at Casino Del Sol Stadium in Tucson, Ariz. The Lumberjacks will face Arizona at 6:30 p.m. MST.
James Malamas and Kevin Stephens will have the call on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network starting at 5:30 p.m. MST. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The Lumberjacks trailed the Eagles, 24-3, with just under three minutes to play before halftime when
Lindsey Graves returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. Graves' kickoff return score was the first of 24 unanswered points by the 'Jacks. After Eastern Washington briefly tied the game at 27-27,
Ty Pennington found
Nassim Isaac for the eventual game-winning 2-yard touchdown with 3:54 remaining the game.
NAU rose three spots to No. 22 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and three spots to No. 20 in the AFCA Coaches Poll following its first comeback win from a halftime deficit in nearly five years. The 'Jacks had previously lost 20 consecutive games when trailing at halftime.
"We had to pass the test and we did it in live action when the lights were on, so that was really good to see," said head coach
Brian Wright. "It's a younger, newer group that showed some resiliency that was a real positive. It took us a little time to settle in and get into the flow of the game, but our guys did a good job of that."
NAU is seeking its first 2-0 start to a season in 11 years after completing a 34-27 comeback victory over Eastern Washington last week at home. To do so, the Lumberjacks will need to defeat a Wildcats team for only the third time in 20 all-time meetings. However, the Lumberjacks do have a recent victory over the Wildcats, notching a 21-19 upset in 2021. The win five years ago snapped a 14-game losing streak to Arizona and was NAU's first over its in-state opponent from Tucson since 1932.
They will face an Arizona team that will be making its season debut this week, coming off a 9-4 record a year ago. The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 17-2.
"You'd like to think that we'll make a lot of improvements from Week 1 to Week 2," Wright said. "It's difficult playing a team that hasn't played yet and not knowing what to expect. Maybe there are some things that are different schematically for them in all three phases from a year ago. Some of those things we'll have to gather information as we go through the ball game."
NAU had a number of individual standouts last week in a complete team victory, starting with Graves, a true freshman, was named the Big Sky Co-Special Teams Player of the Week and he leads the FCS with a kickoff return average of 58.0 yards.
NAU was led offensive by
Quran Gossett on the ground and
Jeter Purdy in the air as both players recorded more than 100 yards of offense. Gossett rushed for 103 yards on a career-high 21 carries, while Purdy set career-highs with seven receptions and 105 yards. Both Gossett and Purdy accounted for touchdowns.
Six newcomers earned the start on defense in NAU's season opener and accounted for four of the Lumberjacks' top five tackle totals against Eastern Washington.
Bryson Torrie and
Shoes Brinkley tied for the team-lead with nine tackles each.
Ty Pennington threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns, but also posted his best single-game rushing total in nearly two years. Pennington scampered for 61 yards on eight carries as part of NAU's total rushing attack of 201 yards on the ground.
Arizona opens its season on Saturday of a five-win turnaround from 2024 to 2025 and coming off an appearance in the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl. The Wildcats are reserving votes in both the AP and AFCA Coaches Polls to begin the fall. Arizona posted a significant improvement from its 4-8 campaign the year prior, and was 6-3 in the Big 12 Conference.
Arizona was one of the top toughest FBS defenses to throw on last season, with the Wildcats ranking seventh in the country with only 165.3 passing yards allowed per game. Furthermore, Arizona was first in the FBS in passing efficiency defense (97.20), second in interceptions (22) and total takeaways (31).
The Wildcats are led by fifth-year quarterback Noah Fifita, who enters the season as the nation's active career leader with 73 passing touchdowns. Fifita, on the preseason watch lists for the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, Johnny Unitas Award and Davey O'Brien Award, threw for 3,228 yards and 29 touchdowns last season. They also return their leading rusher in Ismail Mahdi, who led the team with 859 yards on the ground and ranked eighth in the FBS with 6.4 yards per carry.
Taye Brown anchors the defense and recorded 93 tackles and 8.5 tackles-for-loss last season. He is listed on the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Butkus Award and Chuck Bednark Award preseason watch lists.
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