University of Northern Colorado Athletics
University of Northern Colorado
2-4 , 1-2
Sacramento State
4-3 , 1-2
Northern Colorado Falls in Shootout Against Sacramento State, 43-38.
10/12/2014 9:34:00 PM | Football
The Bears dropped their first game at home on Saturday, but it wasn't from the lack of effort. UNC put up 471 yards of total offense as sophomore quarterback, Sean Rubalcaba returned to the field for the first time in two weeks.
GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado (2-4, 1-2 Big Sky) dropped its first game at Nottingham Field in a high scoring affair to Sacramento State, (4-3, 1-2 Big Sky) 43-38 on Saturday. A late fourth quarter touchdown reception by sophomore wide out, Stephen Miller cut the Hornets' lead to six, but the Bears special team unit couldn't capitalize on the onside kick to give themselves one final attempt to win the game.
After missing the last two weeks of action sophomore quarterback Sean Rubalcaba returned to the field in a big way, going 25-35-0 for 301-yards and three touchdown passes. Rubalcaba also added 48-yards on the ground and rushing TD in the loss.
Miller led UNC in the receiving game, hauling in nine balls for 142-yards and a visit to the end zone. Senior wide receiver, Dimitri Stimphil ended his day with seven catches for 95-yards.
Senior running back, Robert Holland was the premiere back for the Bears, breaking loose for 122-yards on 13 carries and a touchdown.
Northern Colorado's offense saw the field briefly in the opening drive of the game. A quick three and out by the Bears brought on freshman punter, Bailey Landwehr for his first action of the day. Landwehr's punt traveled 29-yards and Sacramento State would start the drive on their own 48-yard line.
The Hornets made quick work of their field position, traveling 52-yards in five plays for the game's first touchdown. SSU's quarterback Garrett Safron did the majority of the heavy lifting, busting loose for a 51-yard run on the read option, setting up the Hornets deep inside Bears' territory. Safron capped off the drive with a 4-yard TD pass to running back, Jordan Robinson to take the early, 7-0 lead.
Unfazed by the quick score, the offense went back on to the field and created a four play, 74-yard drive of their own to knot the score back up at, 7-7 with 10:02 remaining in the first quarter. Rubalcaba connected with Stimphil for a 15-yards and a first down on the opening play, and then Holland gave UNC 14 more yards on back-to-back rushing attempts. Rubalcaba did the rest as the sophomore took it to 45-yards to the house after spotting a huge hole in the defense.
After a botched field goal attempt by the Hornets, Northern Colorado took its first and only lead of the game off freshman kicker, Seth Czapenski's 38-yard attempt that sailed through the uprights. Holland set up the field goal, crashing through the defensive line and pounding it 66-yards down the field into Hornets' territory. UNC couldn't get anything going on the next three plays, bringing on Czapenski to give the Bears a, 10-7 lead midway through the quarter.
The first quarter would come to a close with Northern Colorado on top, 10-7.
"The first half was a little different for me," Rubalcaba said. "I had to adjust to the speed and I felt like I was a little hesitant to throw the ball, but in the second half we made some adjustments and I talked with the receivers and knew we had good matchups with their corners and safeties and let the playmakers make plays."
The Bears defense, who has been stout all year against the pass, struggled to contain Safon in the second quarter and again the quarterback led a pass-heavy 78-yard drive to pay dirt. Safron took it himself on two seperate occasions to keep the Hornets' drive alive, and then passed for the final three plays, topping it off with a 12-yard TD throw to Nnaamdi Agude to retake the lead.
Sophomore defensive back, Taylor Risner came up big for UNC's special teams unit, blocking the PAT and nearly setting up two points for the Bears.
After a series of laterals by numerous players, the ball wound up in senior linebacker Dominick Sierra's hands near the Hornets' 15-yard line. Sierra closed in on the goal line, but his diving effort came up just short and the score remained, 13-10, in favor of Sacramento State.
UNC had no answer for the touchdown and again was forced to bring on the punting unit. SSU once again drove the ball down the field and added on to their lead. De'Jon Coleman finished the 60-yard drive with a 12-yard run to the end zone to give the Hornets a, 20-10 lead with 7:18 to go in the half.
Special teams came up big for Northern Colorado once more. On the ensuing kick-off, redshirt freshman, Ellis Onic II returned the ball on his own goal line and bounced through a small hole in Sacramento State's return defense and found nothing but grass between him and the end zone. Onic's 100-yard return made him the fifth player in program history to return a kick-off for 100-yards or more and the first player since 2012 to return one for a touchdown. The Bears cut the deficit to three, 20-17.
"It was the special teams coach call to bring it out of the end zone," Onic said. "He saw something in the way they lined up and it paid off. I gave them a false look on the return and saw the hole and went through it."
The UNC defense finally found its rhythm coming up with two timely stops before the end of the half. Redshirt freshman linebacker, Isaiah Williams who started in place of an injured JaQueal Walker, came up with a big interception on the Bears' 4-yard line to deny the Hornets another touchdown pass on the day. The second turnover came in the final minute of the half, when Sierra hit Safron in the back field and jarred the ball loose, allowing junior defensive end, Chris Urbaniak to jump on it for his second fumble recovery of the year.
Northern Colorado was unable to make good on the turnovers and headed into the locker room down by three, 20-17 to Sacramento State.
The Hornets started off the third quarter with yet another scoring drive. After a big return from De'Jon Coleman, good for 48-yards, Sacramento State took it 21-yards on six plays to set up their second field goal of the day, and a 23-17 lead.
With UNC's offense on a roll, it took just 1:36 to tie the game up. After two huge receptions from Stimphil and Miller, Holland produced another gainer of 24-yards to put the Bears in scoring position. Rubalcaba connected with redshirt freshman running back, Brandon Cartagena for a 17-yard pass to pay dirt. Northern Colorado elected to go for two after the TD, failing to convert, leaving the game tied at 23-23 with 10:23 left to play in the third quarter.
SSU quickly posted back-to-back scores after the touchdown, digging a 14-point hole for UNC. Safron threw his third TD pass of the day to Agude and Landwehr's punt from the Bears' 21-yard line on the next possession was blocked by Jonathan Bade and gathered up Coleman who took it in for the score. Suddenly Northern Colorado found themselves down, 37-23 midway through the third.
UNC refused to roll over, producing a 79-yard drive that took up 5:51, ending with Rubalcaba tossing his second TD pass of the afternoon to junior tight end, Derek Vander Velde. Northern Colorado trailed by seven, 37-30 heading into the final quarter.
"We regained some momentum after the touchdown," Rubalcaba said. "It kind of takes the wind out of your sails when they score like that, but you can't hang your head too low, you just have to get back out there and make plays."
As the Hornets had done all day, they bounced back from the touchdown and again answered with one of their own. Coleman found pay dirt for the second time in the game on offense, taking it in from 3-yards out. The PAT attempt was no good as SSU was unable to handle the snap, but still maintained the lead, 43-30.
The two teams traded possessions as the clock continued winding down. Northern Colorado looked to be guaranteed six points with three minutes to play in regulation. Rubalcaba drove the Bears' 69-yard to the Sacramento State goal line, but UNC couldn't punch it in on four tries and turned it over on downs.
"That was two things. One we couldn't punch it in and two, for me, I mismanaged the situation," said Collins. "I called the timeout earlier in the quarter to try to give us more time to get the ball down the field, but when you get stopped four times, it kind of messes with the overall plan."
After the turnover, Risner delivered again for Northern Colorado defense, tackling SSU's running back, Robinson in the end zone for the safety, two points, and the ball back with 1:34 to play.
The offense delivered one more time, scoring on Rubalcaba's 27-yard laser to Miller for his first touchdown catch of the season. UNC looked to make it a three-point game, going for two, but Rubalcaba's pass intended for junior wide out, Sean Leslie was off the mark, making it 43-38 with 1:07 to go.
It came down to one final play, an onside kick. Czapenski's ball had perfect placement, but took an unlucky bounce, hitting Sacramento State's Joey DePalma and going out of bounds, cutting the Bears' comeback short.
Defensively, sophomore cornerback, Brandon Lenoir and redshirt freshman linebacker, James Riddle led the team in tackles, collecting 12 stops each. Northern Colorado continues its streak of at least one interception in each game, giving the team a total of 14 on the year. This was also the Bears best offensive outing of the season, tallying 471-yards in the loss.
The Bears have a tough road ahead of them next Saturday, heading to Cheney, Washington to take on the #2 ranked Eastern Washington Eagles. Kickoff from Roos field is set for 2:05 p.m. (MT).
Team Stats
SAC 7, UNCO 0
SAC - Jordan Robinson 4 yd pass from Garrett Safron (Brad Cornish kick) 5 plays, 52 yards, TOP 1:51
SAC 7, UNCO 7
UNCO - Sean Rubalcaba 45 yd run (Seth Czapenski kick), 4 plays, 74 yards, TOP 1:52
SAC 7, UNCO 10
UNCO - Seth Czapenski 38 yd field goal 5 plays, 60 yards, TOP 2:07
SAC 13, UNCO 10
SAC - Nnamdi Agude 12 yd pass from Garrett Safron (Brad Cornish kickblocked) 10 plays, 78 yards, TOP 4:03
SAC 20, UNCO 10
SAC - De'Jon Coleman 11 yd run (Brad Cornish kick), 8 plays, 60 yards, TOP 3:09
SAC 20, UNCO 17
UNCO - Ellis Onic 100 yd kickoff return (Seth Czapenski kick)
SAC 23, UNCO 17
SAC - Brad Cornish 38 yd field goal 6 plays, 21 yards, TOP 2:20
SAC 23, UNCO 23
UNCO - B. Cartagena 17 yd pass from Sean Rubalcaba (T. Singleton rushfailed) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:36
SAC 30, UNCO 23
SAC - Nnamdi Agude 25 yd pass from Garrett Safron (Brad Cornish kick) 5 plays, 57 yards, TOP 1:29
SAC 37, UNCO 23
SAC - De'Jon Coleman 8 yd blocked punt return (Brad Cornish kick)
SAC 37, UNCO 30
UNCO - D. Vander Velde 12 yd pass from Sean Rubalcaba (Seth Czapenski kick) 12 plays, 79 yards, TOP 5:51
SAC 43, UNCO 30
SAC - De'Jon Coleman 2 yd run (Daniel Kniffin rushfumbled), 8 plays, 65 yards, TOP 3:46
SAC 43, UNCO 32
UNCO - Taylor Risner 1 yd safety
SAC 43, UNCO 38
UNCO - Stephen Miller 27 yd pass from Sean Rubalcaba (Sean Rubalcaba passfailed) 3 plays, 44 yards, TOP 0:19
