The NAU Lumberjacks are in Texas to face 15 seed Abilene Christian at Anthony Field in Abilene Texas with a 1 p.m. MST kickoff and ESPN streaming. 

Under first year head coach Brian Wright and a brand-new support staff, the Lumberjacks finished the regular season 8-4 overall and 6-2 in the conference. 

NAU remained undefeated at home this season. 

The Lumberjack’s have played Abilene Christian in three matches and is 3-0. 

Their most recent matchup in 2014, Lumberjacks defeated Abilene 27-21. 

QB Ty Pennington, who came to NAU from Pittsburg State along with Wright has had an outstanding season, throwing for just one interception—received the Big Sky Conference “Newcomer of the Year” award. 

Between the strong quarterback play and NAU’s improved defense ranking second in the Big Sky Conference, the committee gave NAU a playoff spot. 

“We’re extremely excited, certainly kind of nerve wracking going through that process and not knowing if the committee had thought we’d done enough or not—just so much fun to watch our guys celebrate that moment,” said head coach Wright. 

“It was a great feeling, obviously something NAU hasn’t done in a while so to get that and to have that accomplishment is big, but the jobs not over yet,” said Pennington. 

Pennington told Northeast Valley News this week in practice, he has been focusing on what his intent is when throwing the ball and said, “The later the year goes, the harder it is to come out here and give it your all, but this is when it really matters the most, so I have to come out to practice with full intent in everything you do, whether it’s warmups or team reps.”

Prior to this matchup, Pennington shared what his expectations are for the game. 

“Just to keep seeing improvement within our whole team. Each week we’ve just consistently gotten better, and my number one goal is just to see that transfer to this week and if we do that, we’ll have a great game,” Pennington said. 

Wright addressed the media, “This is what we train for, this is what we work so hard for throughout the course of the year to have an opportunity in post season play and as I just got done telling the guys, the goal is not just to make it, the goal is to get in and go 1-0 each week.”

The winner of the NAU vs. Abilene matchup will advance to the second round to play No. 2 North Dakota State on Dec. 7.