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

## 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.
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.
Emmanuel Butler – Sr. WR
Khalil Dorsey – Jr. CB
Wes Sutton – Sr. S

### Award watch lists

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Walter Payton Award | Case Cookus | QB | JR |

## Schedule

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

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | RV | 18 | 20 | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Coaches | RV | 20 | 22 | RV | RV | — | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — | |

## 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 |