# 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.

## 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.
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.

## Schedule

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

## 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 |

### At South Dakota

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

### At Arizona

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

### At Northern Colorado

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

### Idaho State

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

### Southern Utah

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

### At No. 19 Sacramento State

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

### At Idaho

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

### No. 8 UC Davis

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

### No. 9 Montana

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

### At Cal Poly

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