#18 Northern Arizona
at Arizona
Friday, Aug. 30, 7:05 p.m.
Tucson, Ariz.
Arizona Stadium
(56,037, FieldTurf)
TV: Pac-12 Network
Series History: Arizona leads 11-1.
Last Meeting: Arizona beat the Lumberjacks 41-10 in 2011. Arizona led 14-10 at the half, but outscored the Lumberjacks 27-0 in the second half.
The Coaches: Northern Arizona’s Jerome Souers is 84-85 entering his 16th season. Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez is 8-5 entering his second season with the Wildcats. Rodriguez is 134-93-2 entering his 20th season as a head coach. He spent seven seasons at West Virginia and three at Michigan.
Notes: The teams first met in 1931…NAU beat Arizona 7-6 in 1932…Arizona State is picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 South behind UCLA, Arizona State and USC…NAU senior RB Zach Bauman enters his senior season with 3,676 career rushing yards. He ranks 11th on the Big Sky’s all-time rushing list. He needs 34 yards to move into 10th place, and 73 to move into ninth place...With a win, Souers will move into a tie for second on the Big Sky’s all-time victories list with former Montana coach Don Read...NAU was second the Big Sky in total defense, allowing 342.5 yards per game in 2012...Arizona won the New Mexico Bowl last season.