August 24, 2012

Football Preview: Game 1 at Utah

Game 1	Northern Colorado (0-0) at Utah (0-0)
Date	Thursday, August 30 | 5:15 pm (MT)
Location	Salt Lake City, Utah | Rice-Eccles Stadium
Fan Info	Gameday Information
Stadium	Seating Chart | Stadium Policies
Parking	Parking Map
Television	Pac-12 Network
Radio	KFKA 1310 (Greeley)
Live Coverage	Live Stats
Twitter	@unc_bears | @uncofootball
Game Notes	Northern Colorado | Utah | Big Sky Conference

Quick Hits

• The last time Northern Colorado faced a team currently in the Pac-12 was 1941 against Arizona State.

• Senior return specialist Dominic Gunn already holds the school single season and career kickoff return yardage records. He needs just 101 punt return yards to tie current wide receivers coach Keith Grable (1996-99) for sixth on that career chart.

• Junior linebacker Clarence Bumpas ended the 2011 season ranked fourth in the nation with 13.2 tackles per game in the FCS. He is on the 2012 Buck Buchanan Award Watch List and has been named to several Preseason All-America Teams.

• The season opener marks just the third-ever game the Bears have played on a Thursday. In both 2005 (at Western Illinois, L, 28-23) and 2006 (at Weber State, L 26-21), Northern Colorado competed on Thursday.

• The Northern Colorado roster has 13 states and one Canadian province represented (Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawai'i, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Quebec, Canada).

• Northern Colorado has three alumni on the 2012 coaching staff (Head Coach Earnest Collins Jr., Offensive Coordinator Jon Boyer and Wide Receivers Coach Keith Grable).

• A season ago, junior quarterback Seth Lobato threw for 2,448 yards, which was the seventh-best total in school history. It is also the highest total by a sophomore in Northern Colorado history.

• The Bears return eight starters on offense, plus a starter from the 2010 season, five defensive starters and one specialist from last year's team.