For the second time in three years, the Northern Arizona football team will open its season on the road at Arizona on Friday night.
Kickoff at the newly renovated Arizona Stadium is slated for 7 p.m., with
the game being televised nationally on the Pac-12 Network.
The Lumberjacks enter the season ranked 18th in the Football Championship Subdivision under coach Jerome Souers, who begins his 16th season at the helm of the program. NAU finished 2012 with an 8-3 overall record but saw its playoff hopes slip away after losses in the final two games of the season. The Lumberjacks finished fourth in the league despite recording an eight-game win streak.
NAU has a chance to be even better this year, returning 18 starters from last season's team. Leading the way on offense is senior running back and Walter Payton Award candidate Zach Bauman. All eyes will be on Bauman, who is 119 yards shy of breaking the school's career rushing record. Bauman enters the season as the only player in NAU history to rush for 1,000-plus yards in three consecutive seasons.
The Lumberjacks will see a new face at quarterback, though, as sophomore Kyren Poe has taken over the starting job. Poe solidified his hold on the starting job in the spring game and then through a competition in fall camp.
On defense, Northern Arizona has a pair of preseason All-Americans -- Anders Battle and Lucky Dozier -- who will man the secondary, and preseason All-Big Sky pick Tim Wilkinson will anchor the line from his spot at defensive tackle.
Senior punter/kicker Andy Wilder has earned a plethora of preseason honors. Wilder led the nation in yards per punt last year with a 46.3-yard average and had a total of 25 punts go for 50 yards or longer. He also connected on 38 of 39 PATs and had a total of 68 points to lead the Lumberjacks in scoring.
The last time Northern Arizona and Arizona played was on Sept. 3, 2011, when the Wildcats defeated the Lumberjacks 41-10.
