← Matchups

Northern Arizona

· 2-1 (1-0) · power +0.2 · #171
Our numberSUU -1.3 no book has priced this game

Southern Utah

· 1-2 · power -2.6 · #211
Our side
MoneylineSUU to win ours 53%
Projected score 31–32 NAU – SUU
2026-10-31 · 3:00 PM Eccles Coliseum · Cedar City, UT Early season

The books

No book has priced this game. Nothing to compare, and no ticket to build.

Series Northern Arizona lead 10–6 · 16 meetings since 2005
2025 unit ranks — last completed season, from games actually played
Run game edge Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 124 ranks
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks #129 rush offense Southern Utah Thunderbirds #253 run defense
Pass game edge Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 47 ranks
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks #76 pass offense Southern Utah Thunderbirds #123 pass defense
Run game edge Southern Utah Thunderbirds 215 ranks
Southern Utah Thunderbirds #37 rush offense Northern Arizona Lumberjacks #252 run defense
Pass game edge Southern Utah Thunderbirds 114 ranks
Southern Utah Thunderbirds #67 pass offense Northern Arizona Lumberjacks #181 pass defense
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Balanced · 53% run Avg pace Southern Utah Thunderbirds Run-heavy · 59% run Avg pace

Ranked by team-unit strength (rush & pass offense vs. run & pass defense) across all 265 D1 teams, not by individual players. Identity, tempo and unit strength are measured from the 2025 season.

The evidence 2025 production and power ratings · supporting the number above

Who carried each team in 2025
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
DB Deliyon Freeman 23 tkl · 1 PD · 1 INT #33 DB
DB Jahaad Fort 16 tkl · 2 PD · 2 INT #43 DB
DB Shoes Brinkley 27 tkl · 1 PD #60 DB
LB Jaiden Letua 25 tkl · 1.0 TFL #43 LB
Southern Utah Thunderbirds
DB Parker Vance 18 tkl · 4 PD · 3 INT #4 DB
TE Joshua Acord 11 rec · 128 yds · 3 TD #3 TE
RB Floyd Chalk 427 rush yds · 6 TD · 4 rec #6 RB
DL Myles Amey 9 tkl · 2.5 sacks · 3.5 TFL #103 DL

Top-rated players from last season, ranked within their position across D1. A grade measures what a player produced, and no 2026 game has been played yet — so this is who produced for these programs in 2025, not a claim about who is on the field this year.

Power breakdown
TeamPowerOffDefRank
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks +0.2 +1.8 -1.6 #171
Southern Utah Thunderbirds -2.6 +4.0 -6.5 #211

Def is higher = better. The projection assumes a 2.4-pt home edge (0 at neutral sites).

Where the number comes from
Northern Arizona offense vs Southern Utah defense+8.3 pts
Southern Utah offense vs Northern Arizona defense+5.6 pts
Efficiency adjustment · EPA, success rate, explosiveness+1.2 pts
Power projection before adjustment+0.1
Altitude · context only342 m lower than the visitor's home elevation
Rest · context onlyAway team on 7 more days rest

The projection carries an efficiency adjustment — a residual from season-to-date EPA, success rate and explosiveness, which earned its place by walk-forward test (margin error 12.90 → 12.72 across seven held-out seasons).

Situational spots are shown for context, not baked in: travel, altitude and rest were tested against 6,000+ games and the power and efficiency ratings already account for them. Adding them again would double-count.