2018 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

The 2018 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team represented Northern Arizona University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 21st-year head coach Jerome Souers and played their home games at the Walkup Skydome. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 4–6, 3–4 in Big Sky play to finish in eighth place.

2018 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
2018 record	4–6 (3–4 Big Sky)
Head coach	Jerome Souers (21st season)
Offensive coordinator	Aaron Pflugrad (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Andy Thompson (10th season)
Home stadium	Walkup Skydome (Capacity: 10,000)

2018 Big Sky Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Weber State +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 2 Eastern Washington +^		7	–	1					12	–	3
No. 7 UC Davis +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 17 Montana State ^		5	–	3					8	–	5
Idaho State		5	–	3					6	–	5
Montana		4	–	4					6	–	5
Cal Poly		4	–	4					5	–	6
Northern Arizona		3	–	4					4	–	6
Portland State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho		3	–	5					4	–	7
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					2	–	9
Southern Utah		1	–	7					1	–	10
Sacramento State		0	–	7					2	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Although North Dakota was classified as an independent, games against them still counted as Big Sky Conference games. Rankings from STATS Poll

On November 19, Jerome Souers announced his retirement. He finished with a 21 year record of 123–114.

Previous season

The Lumberjacks finished the 2017 season 7–5, 6–2 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They received an at-large bid into the FCS Playoffs where they were lost to San Diego in the first round.

Roster

2018 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks roster
Quarterbacks 3 Geno Campiotti, Freshman 10 Daniel Bridge-Gadd, Sophomore 15 Case Cookus, Junior 17 Connor Leavens, Freshman Running Backs 2 Nate Stinson, Sophomore 6 Cory Young, Senior 9 Jacob Mpungi, Freshman 22 Joe Logan, Junior 31 Aramis Aldredge, Sophomore Wide Receivers 1 Emmanuel Butler, Senior 7 Chancellor Brewington, Sophomore 8 Stacy Chukwumezie, Junior 16 Cam Denson, Graduate Student 18 Brandon Porter, Freshman 23 Malik Lovette, Junior 36 DJ Young, Senior 46 Tommie Dorsey, Junior 48 Riley Langton, Freshman 81 Justis Stokes, Sophomore 83 Terrell Brown, Sophomore 84 Anthony Brown, Junior 86 Luke Nguyen, Junior 87 Gino Mastrandrea, Junior 88 Joey Gatewood, Junior		Tight Ends 40 Bric Parmley, Freshman 43 Jarek Schultz, Freshman 44 Max Michalczik, Freshman 82 Jacob Ayala, Freshman 85 Matthew Kempton, Sophomore 89 Jonathan Baldwin, Senior Offensive Lineman 52 Luke Rudolph, Sophomore 53 Jasean Harrison, Sophomore 58 Trevor Reinwald, Junior 61 Cole Habib, Senior 62 Jamison Pruitt, Junior 63 Alim Benbrahim, Freshman 65 Malik Noshi, Junior 66 Chase Laurita, Sophomore 68 Mitchell Kay, Junior 69 Jonas Leader, Freshman 70 Chris Rodgers, Freshman 71 Jason Lindon, Junior 73 Keenan Norris, Sophomore 74 Josh Sparks, Senior 77 James Bain, Graduate Student 79 Jalen Hooper, Freshman		Defensive Line 45 Hamilton To'o, Senior 50 Chris Jules, Junior 51 Seth Long, Freshman 54 Brandon Boyce, Senior 56 Brandon Lawless, Junior 76 Seth Clem, Freshman 77 John Clark, Freshman 78 Travis Seideman, Sophomore 90 Aaron Andrews, Junior 91 Sione Talakai, Senior 92 Adonis Battle, Junior 93 Chauntez Thomas, Sophomore 94 Jackson Vaught, Freshman 95 Jalen Goss, Junior 96 Dylon Hessenflow, Freshman 97 Jalen Knox, Freshman 98 Gregory Jordan, Sophomore 99 Carson Taylor, Sophomore Linebackers 4 Taylor Powell, Junior 11 Jake Casteel, Senior 24 Larry Davis III, Freshman 33 Tristen Vance, Junior 34 Derek Edwards, Freshman 42 Marcus Carrasco, Freshman 46 Cameron Richards, Freshman 48 Jason Pasano, Freshman 49 Ed Obeh, Junior 55 Keenan Mitchell, Sophomore 57 Markquise Simmons, Senior 59 Owen Dickens, Freshman Defensive Backs 3 Kam'ron Johnson, Senior 5 Jamarri Jackson, Sophomore 10 Elijah Orr, Sophomore 12 Anthony Sweeney, Sophomore 13 Marcus Myers, Junior 19 Heath Beemiller, Freshman 20 Maurice Davison, Senior 21 Sherrod Paige, Junior 25 Ricky Manning, Freshman 26 Nate Perkins Freshman 27 Myles Dumas, Sophomore 28 Wes Sutton, Senior 29 Khalil Dorsey, Junior 30 Jalen Cook, Junior 32 Jalen Swanigan, Junior 35 Curtiss Wilson, Sophomore 36 Jayden Wooden, Freshman 37 Jovon Sewell, Freshman 38 Cejai Parrish, Freshman 47 Dyvine Wallace, Sophomore Fullback 20 Jacinto Castillo, Freshman Place Kickers 41 Luis Aguilar, Sophomore Punters 17 Cameron Horsting, Junior 19 DJ Arnson, Sophomore Long Snappers 64 Justin Hathoot, Sophomore 80 Harrison Goebel, Junior

Preseason

Polls

On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Lumberjacks were predicted to finish in third place by both the coaches and media.[1]

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	134 (6)
2	Weber State	124 (3)
3	Northern Arizona	121 (3)
4	Idaho	101 (1)
5	Sacramento State	94
6	Southern Utah	91
7	Montana	82
8	Montana State	76
9	UC Davis	64
10	Cal Poly	40
11	Northern Colorado	30
12	Idaho State	29
13	Portland State	21

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	651 (27)
2	Weber State	636 (19)
3	Northern Arizona	535 (1)
4	Montana	496 (2)
5	Idaho	483 (3)
6	Southern Utah	449 (1)
7	Sacramento State	415
8	Montana State	391 (1)
9	UC Davis	331 (1)
10	Idaho State	170
11	Cal Poly	169
12	Northern Colorado	166
13	Portland State	103

Preseason All-Conference Team

The Lumberjacks had three players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.[2]

Emmanuel Butler – Sr. WR

Khalil Dorsey – Jr. CB

Wes Sutton – Sr. S

Award watch lists

Award	Player	Position	Year
Walter Payton Award[3]	Case Cookus	QB	JR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	4:30 p.m.	at UTEP*		Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	ESPN3	W 30–10	17,271
September 8	4:00 p.m.	No. 6 Eastern Washington*	No. 18	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	KASW NAU-TV	L 26–31	8,938
September 15	12:00 p.m.	at Missouri State*	No. 20	Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO	ESPN3	L 8–40	7,217
September 22	4:00 p.m.	Southern Utah		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ (Grand Canyon Rivalry)	KASW NAU-TV	W 31–23	5,832
September 29	2:30 p.m.	at Idaho State		Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	Pluto TV 243	L 42–56	9,129
October 6	2:30 p.m.	No. 6 Weber State		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	ELVN	W 28–24	10,000
October 20	11:00 a.m.	at Northern Colorado		Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ELVN	L 14–42	3,522
October 27	4:00 p.m.	Cal Poly		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	KASW NAU-TV	L 28–38	6,102
November 3	1:00 p.m.	at No. 6 UC Davis		Aggie Stadium Davis, CA	Pluto TV 245	L 20–42	7,890
November 10	7:00 p.m.	at Sacramento State		Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	KASW NAU-TV	Cancelled[lower-alpha 1]	–
November 17	2:30 p.m.	North Dakota		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	KASW NAU-TV	W 31–16	4,306
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

1. The game against Sacramento State on November 10 was cancelled due to unhealthy air quality as a result of the Camp Fire in Northern California.[4]

• Source: Official Schedule

Despite also being a member of the Big Sky, the game vs. Eastern Washington will be a non-conference game and will have no effect on the Big Sky standings.

Game summaries

at UTEP

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	10	7	13	0	30
Miners	0	10	0	0	10

Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Eagles	14	7	7	3	31
No. 18 Lumberjacks	0	10	3	13	26

at Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Lumberjacks	0	6	0	2	8
Bears	10	13	10	7	40

Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	0	7	16	0	23
Lumberjacks	7	7	10	7	31

at Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	7	7	14	14	42
Bengals	7	28	14	7	56

Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Wildcats	0	8	13	3	24
Lumberjacks	7	0	14	7	28

at Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	7	7	0	0	14
Bears	12	0	16	14	42

Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	28	10	0	38
Lumberjacks	7	0	7	14	28

at UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	0	6	0	14	20
No. 6 Aggies	21	0	7	14	42

North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Hawks	0	10	3	3	16
Lumberjacks	14	3	7	7	31

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	18	20	RV	RV	NR	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Coaches	RV	20	22	RV	RV	NR	NR	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

References

1. "Eastern Washington Picked to Win the Big Sky".
2. "Doss, Buss Headline Big Sky Football Preseason All-Conference Team".
3. "FCS football: 2018 Walter Payton Award watch list". August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
4. "NAU Football Game at Sacramento State Officially Canceled". www.nauathletics.com. Northern Arizona University Official Athletics Website. November 13, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.