University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Saturday, September 26
Greeley, Colo.
1:35 p.m.
University of Northern Colorado
2-2 , 0-2
17
vs
38
Weber State University
2-2 , 1-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Weber State
7
10
14
7
38
Northern Colorado
0
0
14
3
17
Team Stats
WSU
UNCO
Total Yards
435
326
Pass Yards
181
231
Rushing Yards
254
95
Penalty Yards
31
41
1st Downs
24
19
3rd Downs
7
8
4th Downs
1
2
TOP
32:00
28:00
1st Quarter
WSU 7, UNCO 0
WSU - Tui Satuala 7 yd pass from Jadrian Clark (Josh Kealamakia kick) 10 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:44
2nd Quarter
WSU 10, UNCO 0
WSU - Josh Kealamakia 34 yd field goal 8 plays, 35 yards, TOP 3:39
WSU 17, UNCO 0
WSU - T. Garrett 1 yd run (Josh Kealamakia kick), 13 plays, 89 yards, TOP 5:30
3rd Quarter
WSU 24, UNCO 0
WSU - Justin Shaw 5 yd run (Josh Kealamakia kick), 12 plays, 63 yards, TOP 6:22
WSU 31, UNCO 0
WSU - TyJuan Prince 46 yd pass from Justin Shaw (Josh Kealamakia kick) 1 plays, 46 yards, TOP 0:08
WSU 31, UNCO 7
UNCO - Theron Verna 28 yd pass from Jacob Knipp (Jamie Falloon kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:44
WSU 31, UNCO 14
UNCO - Sean Leslie 40 yd pass from Jacob Knipp (Jamie Falloon kick) 8 plays, 65 yards, TOP 2:25
4th Quarter
WSU 31, UNCO 17
UNCO - Jamie Falloon 25 yd field goal 10 plays, 20 yards, TOP 4:12
WSU 38, UNCO 17
WSU - Emmanuel Pooler 17 yd run (Josh Kealamakia kick), 12 plays, 73 yards, TOP 5:39
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
17
TD
2
YDS
231
INT
0
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
LB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
TE
/ FootballPhoto by: Rob Trubia
Weber State Ground Game Too Much For @UNCBearsFB
9/26/2015 8:14:00 PM | Football
The Wildcats run game proved to be too much for UNC to handle as they helped themselves to 254 yard as a team, handing the Bears their first loss at home, 38-17.
Though the score doesn't show it, Northern Colorado moved the ball well on offense through the pass game behind redshirt freshman Jacob Knipp.
In his first collegiate start Knipp finished the afternoon 17-of-32 with 228 yards and two touchdown tosses.
"We just have to stay together – what we're doing is working, we're just beating ourselves," Knipp said about the loss. "We just can't wait until halftime to put something
together. We have to remain confident in our abilities. What we were doing in the first half was working, we just stopped ourselves."
The run game started off strong with the return of redshirt freshman Trae Riek back, but it was short lived as he was forced to leave the game early in the second quarter as a precaution. He finished with 48 yards off nine carries.
Junior Darius Graham filled the void and took the majority of the snaps the remainder of the game. He netted 61 yards off of 18 touches and did a solid job in turning nothing into something on a handful of carries.
Once again the receiving game was pretty spread out. Senior wide out Sean Leslie racked up 62 yards on four catches and added a TD. Redshirt freshman tight end, Theron Verna, caught the other TD pass of the day. He finished with two receptions and 40 yards receiving.
Weber State jumped out to an early 17-0 lead in the first half and never looked back, adding another 21 points in the latter half of the game.
"Until we are able to stop the run, teams are going to continue to run on us," said head coach Earnest Collins Jr. "We had a few series in the second half where we were able to shut it down, so as coaches, we have to go back and look at those and figure out why it worked this time and that time, but not the other times."
After intermission, UNC came out and got the offense rolling posting two scores in the third quarter.
On the first drive Knipp led the team 75 yards in eight plays, connecting with Verna on a 27-yard pass for six, cutting into the Weber State lead, 24-7.
The Wildcats answered with a score of their own two drives later, taking their lead back to three possessions, 31-7.
The Bears found the end zone again as time expired in the third quarter.
This time, Knipp threw a 40-yard strike to Leslie down the left side line, giving UNC some momentum heading into the final quarter, 31-14.
The defense finally got the turnover they had been looking for all game, as freshman linebacker Denzel Hatcher recorded his first career interception to begin the fourth quarter, giving the offense the ball back in Weber State territory.
Starting on the WSU 28 yard line, UNC drove down inside the Wildcat 5 yard line, but the visiting team's defense put up a goal line stand, forcing the Bears to settle for a field goal, making it 31-17, with 7:28 remaining in the contest.
Weber State killed all hopes of a late game comeback, chewing up 5:39 on the clock on a 12-play 73-yard drive for six, sealing UNC's fate, 38-17.
"We just have to stay the course," Collins added. "We have to figure out what our kids do well and stick to that. It's a process, we're facing some adversity now and we need to figure out how to overcome that adversity. I believe the kids started to figure it out in the second half when we came out and got the offense moving. It's all there, we just have to piece it all together next week to get the win."
Junior safety Taylor Risner led the team in tackles with 11, his second game of the season reaching double digit numbers. He also added two pass breakups, bringing his season total to five.
Redshirt sophomore linebacker James Riddle had another solid game in the middle for UNC finishing with nine tackles and a touchdown-saving PBU. He currently leads the team in tackles with 39 on the year.
Northern Colorado is back on the road next weekend, heading to Sacramento, California to take on Sacramento State in more Big Sky action. Kickoff is set for 5:05 p.m. (MT).
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