FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 15, 2026) – No. 20/19 Northern Arizona begins a stretch of three consecutive road games this Saturday with Utah Tech at Greater Zion Stadium in St. George, Utah. The Lumberjacks' final non-conference game kicks off at 5 p.m. MST.
The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network. The radio pregame show with
James Malamas and Kevin Stephens on the call starts at 4 p.m. MST.
Following this week, NAU will travel to Montana State and Idaho State, respectively, over the next two weeks. Both Montana State and Idaho State are currently ranked in the top 25, while Montana State is the unanimous No. 1 team in the country. Furthermore, NAU will then return home to host Montana on Oct. 10, giving the 'Jacks three consecutive nationally-ranked opponents after Utah Tech this week.
"In this conference, you have to be ready to play your best football, week in and week out," said head coach
Brian Wright. "We're focused on the moment and we can't even let our thoughts go to what is next, what could be next. We have to get better as a football team and we want to be playing better football than we are playing right now. When you throw on the film and watch Utah Tech make big plays on offense, hit the quarterback like they have and disrupt the run game, they have our full attention and focus."
NAU and Utah Tech are meeting for the fourth consecutive season with NAU winning the last two meetings. After Utah Tech handed NAU a 50-36 loss in Flagstaff in 2023, the Lumberjacks have won each of the last two seasons, 45-17 on the road in 2024 and 38-31 last season at Findlay Toyota Field at the Walkup Skydome. The Lumberjacks lead the all-time series, 3-1, dating back to the first meeting in 2006.
Although Utah Tech is in its debut season as a Big Sky Conference member, this week's game is a non-conference contest for both teams and will not count towards the league standings.
NAU (2-1) jumped four spots in both the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and AFCA Coaches Poll, earning its highest national ranking of the season thus far this week. The Lumberjacks are coming off a 38-28 victory over UIW last week.
In last week's win, NAU recorded six turnovers, boosting its season total to an FCS leading 11 on the season.
Deliyon Freeman, the reigning Big Sky Co-Defensive Player of the Week, forced a fumble and had an interception in the victory, in addition to setting a new career-high with 13 tackles. The 'Jacks have been able to turn turnovers into points, also tying for the national lead with two defensive touchdowns. NAU posted its second consecutive game with a defensive touchdown when
Jordan Pigram returned a fumble for a score against UIW.
"It's been a main goal of ours to lead the nation in the turnover battle," Wright said. "We believe if we can do that, it'll set us up for success and give us a chance to win every game. Our staff does an outstanding job of coaching it and our players have done an outstanding job executing on Saturdays in that regard. To see the hard work pay off for everyone in our program has been really good and it's something we need to continue to do."
Offensively, the Lumberjacks are still trying to find their groove, although the rushing attack rebounded last week. A week after netting -7 yards on the ground, NAU churned out 180 rushing yards versus UIW, led by
Quran Gossett's 105. It was Gossett's second 100-yard game of the season, doubling his total from a year ago, and Gossett ranks 26th nationally with 228 rushing yards this season.
Kenveon Stone complemented the ground game last week, rushing for career-highs of 48 yards and two touchdowns.
Through the air,
Joey Stout led the Lumberjacks with a career-high 84 receiving yards on five receptions. Stout paces the team with 12 receptions on the season and is tied for the team-lead, with
Jeter Purdy, with 126 yards.
Utah Tech hosts NAU on Saturday looking for its first win of the season and coming off a 35-14 road loss to No. 2/3 Montana. Although the Trailblazers are 0-3, they have played the hardest strength of schedule in the FCS through the first three weeks. NAU will be the fourth consecutive ranked team Utah Tech faces to start the season. Utah Tech's three losses have been to No. 1/1 Montana State, Montana and FBS foe No. 14/15 BYU by a combined score of 152-21.
The Trailblazers have allowed 7.0 yards per play on defense and 476.7 yards per game, the latter of which ranks ninth in the Big Sky. They are coming off their best offensive game of the season last week in Missoula, Mont., totaling 405 yards of offense. Bronson Barben threw for a career-high 301 yards last week versus Montana and sits at 494 yards passing on the season with a touchdown and three interceptions.
Defensively, Quincy Lejay leads the team with 22 tackles and a forced fumble, while Will Alovao is tied for third in the Big Sky with 2.0 sacks.
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