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
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	5–6 (4–4 Big Sky)
Head coach	Chris Ball (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Aaron Pflugrad (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Partridge (3rd season)
Home stadium	Walkup Skydome
Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

2021 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	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

Polls

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

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

Defense Morgan Vest – S

Special teams Luis Aguilar – K

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	No. 1 Sam Houston*	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	ESPN+	L 16–42	8,564
September 11	11:00 a.m.	at South Dakota*	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN+	L 7–34	5,247
September 18	7:00 p.m.	at Arizona*	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	P12N	W 21–19	33,481
September 25	12:00 p.m.	at Northern Colorado	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	L 10–17 OT	5,769
October 2	1:00 p.m.	Idaho State	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	ESPN+	W 48–17	9,713
October 16	1:00 p.m.	Southern Utah	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ (Grand Canyon Rivalry)	ESPN+	W 59–35	7,511
October 23	6:00 p.m.	at No. 19 Sacramento State	Hornet Stadium Sacarmento, CA	ESPN+	L 0–44	8,210
October 30	1:00 p.m.	at Idaho	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	ESPN+	W 38–31	0
November 6	1:00 p.m.	No. 8 UC Davis	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	ESPN+	L 24–40	6,088
November 13	1:00 p.m.	No. 9 Montana	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	ESPN+	L 3–30	6,225
November 20	6:05 p.m.	at Cal Poly	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	ESPN+	W 45-21	6,371
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[2]

Game summaries

No. 1 Sam Houston

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

See also: 2021 Sam Houston Bearkats football team

At South Dakota

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

See also: 2021 South Dakota Coyotes football team

At Arizona

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

See also: 2021 Arizona Wildcats football team

At Northern Colorado

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

See also: 2021 Northern Colorado Bears football team

Idaho State

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

See also: 2021 Idaho State Bengals football team

Southern Utah

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

See also: 2021 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team and Grand Canyon Rivalry

At No. 19 Sacramento State

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

See also: 2021 Sacramento State Hornets football team

At Idaho

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

See also: 2021 Idaho Vandals football team

No. 8 UC Davis

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

See also: 2021 UC Davis Aggies football team

No. 9 Montana

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

See also: 2021 Montana Grizzlies football team

At Cal Poly

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

See also: 2021 Cal Poly Mustangs football team

References

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.