Northern Arizona pulls away late to beat Portland State 38-25

Joey Stout racked up 163 receiving yards and Jon Wilson ran for two touchdowns as the No. 8 Lumberjacks overcame an early 14-point deficit on homecoming.

Oct 17, 2026 at 10:36 pm ET • 1 min read

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) Ty Pennington threw for 277 yards, including two touchdowns, and Northern Arizona broke loose in the fourth quarter to defeat Portland State 38-25 on Saturday night in the Lumberjacks' homecoming game.

Held to nine first downs and 179 total yards through three quarters, the Lumberjacks were tied at 17 heading to the fourth quarter. They then had touchdown drives of 65, 90 and 80 yards to build a 38-17 lead with about two minutes remaining. NAU finished with 495 yards of total offense.

Ranked in the top 10 for the first time in 13 years, Northern Arizona (6-2, 4-1 Big Sky and No. 8 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25) outlasted a Portland State (2-5, 2-2) team that took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter and got 127 rushing yards from Delon Thompson.

Jon Wilson led NAU's 203-yard rushing attack with 84 yards that included two touchdowns and Joey Stout caught nine passes for 163 yards with one touchdown.

Portland State: at Idaho State next Saturday.

Northern Arizona: at Southern Utah on Oct. 31.

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