2021 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

The 2021 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team represented Northern Arizona University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Chris Ball and played their home games at the Walkup Skydome.

2021 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Record5–6 (4–4 Big Sky)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorAaron Pflugrad (4th season)
Defensive coordinatorJerry Partridge (3rd season)
Home stadiumWalkup Skydome
Seasons
← 2020
2022 →
2021 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 10 Sacramento State $^   8 0     9 3  
No. 2 Montana State ^   7 1     11 3  
No. 7 Eastern Washington ^   6 2     10 3  
No. 6 Montana ^   6 2     10 3  
No. 17 UC Davis ^   5 3     8 4  
Weber State   5 3     6 5  
Northern Arizona   4 4     5 6  
Portland State   4 4     5 6  
Idaho   3 5     4 7  
Northern Colorado   2 6     3 8  
Cal Poly   1 7     2 9  
Idaho State   1 7     1 10  
Southern Utah   0 8     1 10  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

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Polls

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On July 26, 2021, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Lumberjacks were predicted to finish seventh in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.[1]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Weber State (7)
2 Montana (3)
3 Eastern Washington (2)
4 Montana State (1)
5 Sacramento State (1)
6 UC Davis
7 Northern Arizona
8 Idaho
9 Idaho State
10 Portland State
11 Southern Utah
12 Cal Poly
13 Northern Colorado
Media poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Weber State (14)
2 Montana (4)
3 Eastern Washington (3)
4 Montana State (3)
5 Sacramento State
6 UC Davis
7 Northern Arizona
8 Idaho
9 Idaho State
10 Portland State
11 Southern Utah
12 Northern Colorado
13 Cal Poly

Preseason All–Big Sky team

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The Lumberjacks had two players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 26:00 p.m.No. 1 Sam Houston*ESPN+L 16–428,564
September 1111:00 a.m.at South Dakota*ESPN+L 7–345,247
September 187:00 p.m.at Arizona*P12NW 21–1933,481  
September 2512:00 p.m.at Northern ColoradoESPN+L 10–17 OT5,769
October 21:00 p.m.Idaho State
  • Walkup Skydome
  • Flagstaff, AZ
ESPN+W 48–179,713
October 161:00 p.m.Southern Utah 
ESPN+W 59–357,511
October 236:00 p.m.at No. 19 Sacramento StateESPN+L 0–448,210
October 301:00 p.m.at IdahoESPN+W 38–310
November 61:00 p.m.No. 8 UC Davis
  • Walkup Skydome
  • Flagstaff, AZ
ESPN+L 24–406,088
November 131:00 p.m.No. 9 Montana
  • Walkup Skydome
  • Flagstaff, AZ
ESPN+L 3–306,225
November 206:05 p.m.at Cal PolyESPN+W 45-216,371

[2]

Game summaries

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No. 1 Sam Houston

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 1 Bearkats 7 14 14 7 42
Lumberjacks 0 7 9 0 16

At South Dakota

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1 2 3 4 Total
Lumberjacks 0 0 7 0 7
Coyotes 17 10 7 0 34

At Arizona

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1 2 3 4 Total
Lumberjacks 0 7 7 7 21
Wildcats 10 3 0 6 19

At Northern Colorado

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1 2 3 4OT Total
Lumberjacks 0 7 0 30 10
Bears 0 3 7 07 17

Idaho State

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1 2 3 4 Total
Bengals 7 0 3 7 17
Lumberjacks 3 20 15 10 48

Southern Utah

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1 2 3 4 Total
Thunderbirds 0 14 14 7 35
Lumberjacks 17 14 14 14 59

At No. 19 Sacramento State

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1 2 3 4 Total
Lumberjacks 0 0 0 0 0
No. 19 Hornets 3 34 0 7 44

At Idaho

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1 2 3 4 Total
Lumberjacks 14 3 14 7 38
Vandals 7 14 0 10 31

No. 8 UC Davis

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 8 Aggies 8 12 17 3 40
Lumberjacks 14 3 0 7 24

No. 9 Montana

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1 2 3 4 Total
No. 9 Grizzlies 0 13 7 10 30
Lumberjacks 0 0 3 0 3

At Cal Poly

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1 2 3 4 Total
Lumberjacks 7 31 7 0 45
Mustangs 7 7 0 7 21

References

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  1. ^ "Aguilar, Vest Named Preseason All-Big Sky, Lumberjacks Voted to Finish Seventh". July 23, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  2. ^ "2021 Northern Arizona Football Schedule". nauathletics.com. Retrieved August 6, 2021.