2023 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

American college football season

2023 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football

Conference| Big Sky Conference
Record| 5–6 (5–3 Big Sky)
Head coach|

* Chris Ball (5th season)

Offensive coordinator| Aaron Pflugrad (6th season)
Defensive coordinator| Kevin Clune (1st season)
Home stadium| Walkup Skydome

Seasons

<- 2022

2024 ->

2023 Big Sky Conference football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

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Team |  | W |  | L |  |  |  |  | W |  | L |
No. 2 Montana $^  |  | 7  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 13  | - | 2  |
No. 8 Idaho ^  |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 9  | - | 4  |
No. 9 Montana State ^  |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 4  |
Northern Arizona |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 5  | - | 6  |
No. 24 UC Davis |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 4  |
No. 13 Sacramento State ^  |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 5  |
Portland State |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 5  | - | 6  |
Weber State |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 6  | - | 5  |
Eastern Washington |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 7  |
Idaho State |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 8  |
Cal Poly |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 8  |
Northern Colorado |  | 0  | - | 8  |  |  |  |  | 0  | - | 11  |

* $ - Conference champion
* ^ - FCS playoff participant

Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2023 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team represented Northern Arizona University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Lumberjacks were led by fifth-year head coach Chris Ball and played home games at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Arizona.

## Preseason

[edit]

### Polls

[edit]

On July 23, 2023, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Lumberjacks were predicted to finish ninth in the Big Sky by the coaches and eight by the media.[1]

Coaches poll  Predicted finish  | Team  | Votes (1st place)

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1  | Montana State  | 120 (10)
2  | UC Davis  | 96 (1)
3  | Sacramento State  | 94 (1)
4  | Weber State  | 91
5  | Idaho  | 89
6  | Montana  | 84
7  | Eastern Washington  | 52
8  | Portland State  | 45
9  | Northern Arizona | 44
10  | Northern Colorado  | 37
11  | Cal Poly  | 25
12  | Idaho State  | 15
Media poll  Predicted finish  | Team  | Votes (1st place)

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1  | Montana State  | 447 (26)
2  | Idaho  | 410 (8)
3  | Montana  | 359 (2)
4  | Sacramento State  | 334 (3)
5  | UC Davis  | 330
6  | Weber State  | 320
7  | Eastern Washington  | 216
8  | Northern Arizona | 178
9  | Portland State  | 167
10  | Northern Colorado  | 109
11  | Cal Poly  | 103
12  | Idaho State  | 69

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Time| Opponent| Site| TV| Result| Attendance

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September 2| 7:00 p.m.| at Arizona*|

* Arizona Stadium
* Tucson, AZ

| P12N| L 3–38| 48,159
September 9| 1:00 p.m.| at No. 17 North Dakota*|

* Alerus Center
* Grand Forks, ND

| ESPN+| L 22–37| 10,009
September 16| 1:00 p.m.| Utah Tech*|

* Walkup Skydome
* Flagstaff, AZ

| ESPN+| L 36–50| 7,102
September 23| 1:00 p.m.| No. 13 Montana|

* Walkup Skydome
* Flagstaff, AZ

| ESPN+| W 28–14| 6,428
September 30| 6:00 p.m.| at No. 8 Sacramento State|

* Hornet Stadium
* Sacramento, CA

| ESPN+| L 30–31| 12,549
October 7| 6:00 p.m.| at No. 13 Weber State|

* Stewart Stadium
* Ogden, UT

| ESPN+| W 27–10| 7,694
October 14| 1:00 p.m.| Portland State|

* Walkup Skydome
* Flagstaff, AZ

| ESPN+| L 21–45| 9,713
October 28| 1:00 p.m.| No. 25 UC Davis|

* Walkup Skydome
* Flagstaff, AZ

| ESPN+| W 38–21| 6,931
November 4| 12:00 p.m.| at No. 6 Montana State|

* Bobcat Stadium
* Bozeman, MT

| ESPN+| L 21–45| 21,297
November 11| 1:00 p.m.| Northern Colorado|

* Walkup, Skydome
* Flagstaff, AZ

| ESPN+| W 28–7| 6,003
November 18| 2:00 p.m.| at Eastern Washington|

* Roos Field
* Cheney, WA

| ESPN+| W 49–42| 4,078

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
* All times are in Mountain time

[2]

## Game summaries

[edit]

### at Arizona

[edit]

See also: 2023 Arizona Wildcats football team

Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (0–0) vs Arizona Wildcats (0–0) – Game summary

Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3| 4| Total

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Lumberjacks | 0 | 3 | 0| 0| 3
Wildcats | 7 | 7 | 21| 3| 38

at Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ

* Date: September 2, 2023
* Game time: 7:00 p.m.
* Game weather: Sunny, 88 °F (31 °C)
* Game attendance: 48,159
* Referee: Cravonne Barrett
* TV announcers (Pac-12 Network): J. B. Long (play-by-play), Max Browne (analyst)

Game information

First quarter

* (11:13) ARIZ – Jacob Cowing 4-yard pass from Jayden de Laura, Tyler Loop kick (Drive: 7 plays, 65 yards, 3:47; Arizona 7–0)

Second quarter

* (13:24) ARIZ – Jonah Coleman 7-yard pass from Jayden de Laura, Tyler Loop kick (Drive: 7 plays, 78 yards, 3:04; Arizona 14–0)
* (0:00) NAU – Marcus Lye 49-yard field goal (Drive: 16 plays, 49 yards, 7:43; Arizona 14–3)

Third quarter

* (11:26) ARIZ – Tacario Davis 85-yard blocked field goal return, Tyler Loop kick (Drive: 9 plays, 66 yards, 3:34; Arizona 21–3)
* (4:34) ARIZ – Tetairoa McMillan 5-yard pass from Jayden de Laura, Tyler Loop kick (Drive: 4 plays, 37 yards, 2:04; Arizona 28–3)
* (2:02) ARIZ – Jayden de Laura 53-yard run, Tyler Loop kick (Drive: 3 plays, 63 yards, 1:07; Arizona 35–3)

Fourth quarter

* (10:46) ARIZ – Tyler Loop 35-yard field goal (Drive: 7 plays, 64 yards, 2:32; Arizona 38–3)

Statistics | NAU | ARIZ

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First downs | 17 | 22
Total yards | 264 | 478
Rushing yards | 41–78 | 27–186
Passing yards | 186 | 292
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 18–29–0 | 20–26–1
Time of possession | 35:04 | 24:56
Team | Category | Player | Statistics

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Northern Arizona | Passing | Kai Millner | 14/22, 166 yards
Rushing | T. J. McDaniel | 14 carries, 56 yards
Receiving | Coleman Owen | 5 receptions, 90 yards
Arizona | Passing | Jayden de Laura | 18/24, 285 yards, 3 TD, INT
Rushing | Michael Wiley | 10 carries, 54 yards
Receiving | Michael Wiley | 6 receptions, 57 yards

### at No. 8 Sacramento State

[edit]

See also: 2023 Sacramento State Hornets football team

Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (1–3) at No. 8 Sacramento State Hornets (3–1) – Game summary

Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3| 4| Total

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Lumberjacks | 7 | 14 | 7| 2| 30
No. 8 Hornets | 14 | 10 | 0| 7| 31

at Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, CA

* Date: September 30, 2023
* Game time: 6:00 p.m. PST
* Game weather: 67 °F (19 °C) • 0 mph • Cloudy
* Game attendance: 12,549
* Referee: Gregg Wilson
* TV announcers (KMAX-TV/ESPN+): Play-by-Play: Jason Ross • Analysis: Darren Arbet

Game information

First Quarter

* (11:54) NAU – Chase Belcher 3-yard run (Marcus Lye kick) (Drive: 4 plays, 81 yards, 1:37; Northern Arizona 7–0)
* (8:36) SAC – Carlos Hill 16-yard pass from Kaiden Bennett (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 3:18; Tied 7–7)
* (1:32) SAC – Elijah Tau-Tolliver 3-yard run (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 12 plays, 58 yards, 4:58; Sacramento State 14–7)

Second Quarter

* (14:29) NAU – Devon Starling 8-yard run (Marcus Lye kick failed) (Drive: 6 plays, 81 yards, 1:58; Sacramento State 14–13)
* (8:08) NAU – Coleman Owen 19-yard pass from Adam Damante (Adam Damante pass to Devon Starling for two-point conversion) (Drive: 8 plays, 98 yards, 4:05; Northern Arizona 21–14)
* (5:25) SAC – Zeke Burnett 7-yard run (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 7 plays, 72 yards, 2:38; Tied 21–21)
* (1:22) SAC – Zach Schreiner 31-yard field goal (Drive: 9 plays, 32 yards, 3:09; Sacramento State 24–21)

Third Quarter

* (7:55) NAU – Devon Starling 8-yard run (Szymon Gawlick kick) (Drive: 16 plays, 99 yards, 6:54; Northern Arizona 28–24)

Fourth Quarter

* (8:31) SAC – Coleman Kuntz 2-yard run (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 18 plays, 81 yards, 6:54; Sacramento State 31–28)
* (0:02) NAU – Team Safety (Drive: 4 plays, -13 yards, 1:34; Sacramento State 31–30)

Line

* SAC –20.0

Over/Under

* 59.5

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Statistics | NAU | SAC

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First downs | 21 | 25
Total yards | 450 | 418
Rushing yards | 195 | 161
Passing yards | 255 | 257
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 24–34–1 | 18–27–0
Time of possession | 30:13 | 29:47
Team | Category | Player | Statistics

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Northern Arizona | Passing | Adam Damante | 23/33, 196 yards, TD, INT
Rushing | Devon Starling | 21 carries, 117 yards, 2 TD
Receiving | Elijah Taylor | 2 receptions, 73 yards
Sacramento State | Passing | Kaiden Bennett | 18/27, 257 yards, TD
Rushing | 22 carries, 76 yards
Receiving | Jared Gipson | 5 receptions, 108 yards

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Montana State Tabbed Preseason Football Favorites". July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
2. ^ "2023 Northern Arizona Football Schedule". FBSchedules. Retrieved March 7, 2023.

* v
* t
* e

Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football

Venues|

* Skidmore Field (1915 –1957)
* Lumberjack Stadium (1958–1977)
* Walkup Skydome (1977–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Southern Utah: Grand Canyon Rivalry

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees

Seasons|

* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
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*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses