University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Saturday, October 17
Greeley, Colo.
1:05 p.m.
University of Northern Colorado
4-2 , 2-2
56
vs
27
University of California Davis
1-6 , 1-3
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
UC Davis
0
3
10
14
27
Northern Colorado
21
21
14
0
56
Team Stats
UCD
UNCO
Total Yards
353
484
Pass Yards
223
186
Rushing Yards
130
298
Penalty Yards
27
81
1st Downs
24
21
3rd Downs
10
2
4th Downs
1
1
TOP
42:45
17:15
1st Quarter
UCD 0, UNCO 7
UNCO - Jacob Knipp 9 yd run (Jamie Falloon kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:05
UCD 0, UNCO 14
UNCO - B. Cartagena 33 yd pass from Jacob Knipp (Jamie Falloon kick) 2 plays, 50 yards, TOP 0:29
UCD 0, UNCO 21
UNCO - B. Cartagena 57 yd run (Jamie Falloon kick), 3 plays, 69 yards, TOP 0:49
2nd Quarter
UCD 0, UNCO 28
UNCO - Jacob Knipp 3 yd run (Jamie Falloon kick), 3 plays, 50 yards, TOP 0:51
UCD 0, UNCO 35
UNCO - Jacob Knipp 4 yd run (Jamie Falloon kick), 9 plays, 55 yards, TOP 3:37
UCD 0, UNCO 42
UNCO - B. Cartagena 1 yd run (Jamie Falloon kick), 6 plays, 53 yards, TOP 2:08
UCD 3, UNCO 42
UCD - Brady Stuart 19 yd field goal 10 plays, 38 yards, TOP 3:04
3rd Quarter
UCD 6, UNCO 42
UCD - Brady Stuart 21 yd field goal 11 plays, 49 yards, TOP 5:48
UCD 6, UNCO 49
UNCO - Hakeem Deggs 75 yd run (Jamie Falloon kick), 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:14
UCD 13, UNCO 49
UCD - D. Alexander 9 yd interception (Brady Stuart kick)
UCD 13, UNCO 56
UNCO - Darius Graham 1 yd run (Jamie Falloon kick), 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:35
4th Quarter
UCD 20, UNCO 56
UCD - Manusamoa Luuga 1 yd run (Brady Stuart kick), 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 6:11
UCD 27, UNCO 56
UCD - Alex Cannon 12 yd pass from C.J. Spencer (Brady Stuart kick) 13 plays, 62 yards, TOP 7:33
Game Leaders
CMP
10
TD
1
YDS
186
INT
1
CMP
0
TD
0
YDS
0
INT
0
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DB
/ Football
RB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
LB
/ FootballPhoto by: Rob Trubia
@UNCBEARSFB Has Record Setting Day in Win Over UC Davis, 56-27
10/17/2015 6:12:00 PM | Football
GREELEY, Colo. – It certainly was a Saturday afternoon worth celebrating as the Northern Colorado (4-2, 2-2 Big Sky) football team scored a Division I program record 56 points to defeat the UC Davis (1-6, 1-3 Big Sky) Aggies on homecoming, 56-27.
The last time UNC put up 50+ points came in 2012, beating Idaho State 52-14. This is also the second consecutive homecoming victory the Bears have strung together under head coach Earnest Collins Jr.
The team scored eight touchdowns (7 rush, 1 pass), also a D1 program record, breaking the previous record of seven, also set in the Idaho State game of 2012.
Both Redshirt freshman QB Jacob Knipp and redshirt sophomore RB Brandon Cartagena had breakthrough performances.
Though it was an average day through the air for the young QB (10-15-1, 186 yards, 1 TD), what was most impressive was his 43 yards rushing on five carries to go with three TDs on the ground. After it was all said and done, Knipp had his hand in four of the eight scores on the day.
Cartagena accounted for three trips to pay dirt himself, rushing for a career-high 112 yards on nine attempts (12.4 ypc) with touchdown runs of 57 yards, and one yard. He also padded his stat line with a 34-yard TD reception.
Knipp and Cartagena are also the first players since 2013 to have three touchdowns in one half of action.
Junior running back, Darius Graham tacked on another 71 yards on the ground from 14 touches, including a one-yard run in to the end zone.
In total, the offense pushed out 484 yards (298 rush, 186 pass), the second highest effort of the season behind the opener against Western State.
"Quite frankly, Brandon Cartagena and Darius Graham ran the ball like we needed them to today," Collins said about the big win. "When it's clicking like that you can see the momentum build. As a coach, when you talk to the kids about what their capable of doing and then they see it for themselves, it's a great feeling. I know we played together as a team today – we played together as a family."
The Bears didn't waste much time getting to work, going 75 yards in six plays in their opening drive for six. Knipp finished off the drive with a 10-yard scamper into the end zone, the first rushing touchdown of his collegiate career. The drive took just 2:05 off the game clock.
After a three-and-out from the Aggies and a 21-yard punt to boot, UNC needed just two plays to get back to pay dirt after starting the drive at the 50 yard line. Knipp found Cartagena on a screen pass and the running back broke free, taking it the distance, giving the home team a quick 14-0 advantage with 10:07 to play in the first quarter.
UNC put up one more score in the first quarter on the heels of Cartagena. This time he found an opening and broke free for 57 yards on a hand-off from Knipp, making it a 21-0 ball game with just minutes to play in the quarter.
"I know it's an old, corny cliché, but it's the truth, everyone on that field just has to do their one-eleventh," Collins added. "If I'm not trying to be an extraordinary player, but I'm just trying to do my one-eleventh – then it equals to extraordinary victories, and it all comes together, but everyone has to do their part – the team did that today. All three phases did their part to come away with an extraordinary victory."
The second quarter seemed identical to the first, as the Bears put up 21 more points, making it a 42-0 game, the most points scored in a half by any UNC team since joining the Big Sky Conference in 2006.
The quarter opened with another Knipp touchdown (3 yards) and after the defense forced yet another punt, Northern Colorado proceeded to go 55 yards in 10 plays with the redshirt freshman QB walking into the end zone from four yards out after spinning his way out of a certain sack by the Davis D-line.
The scoreboard read 35-0 in favor of UNC.
The offense capped off it's near perfect first half with a one-yard punch in from Cartagena, solidifying another 50+ yard drive.
The Aggies managed to put the ball through the uprights before halftime, going into intermission with a score of 42-3.
"It doesn't matter who we play, or who's the best team, we just have to be the better team on that day," Collins said. "UC Davis is probably the best 1-6 team in the country and I thought our staff on both sides of the ball did a great job preparing for them and I thought our kids did a great job of executing the game plan."
The second act was more of the same from the Bears. After UC Davis opened the last half of play with another field goal, Northern Colorado needed just two plays to put up more points. Redshirt sophomore receiver, Hakeem Deggs took the hand-off from Knipp and made his way to the corner untouched, going 75 yards down the side line for his first non-special teams touchdown of the season, totaling the score to 49-6 with 8:54 to play in the third quarter.
The Aggies got on the board less than a minute later after the two teams traded interceptions.
Senior safety Trevor Douglass stopped a potential UCD scoring drive, intercepting the Aggies' QB Ben Scott on the Bears' 6-yard line.
The offense trotted back on to the field and two plays later, Knipp had his throw taken away by Davis's Delvin Alexander. Alexander sprinted nine yards to complete the pick six, lessening the Bears lead to 49-13 with 8:05 remaining in the third.
To end the third quarter, Graham put the icing on the cake for the offense's record breaking day with a one-yard score of his own, making it 56-13 heading into the final fifteen minutes of play.
The Aggies put together two more scoring drives of their own, to bring it to the final score of 56-27.
The defense is due for some credit of their own, holding UCD to 118 yards rushing, a season low for that side of the ball. The D forced four punts, added three pass break ups, one turnover-on-downs, an interception and held three drives to just field goal attempts.
Redshirt Sophomore LB Isaiah Williams and junior safety Taylor Risner split the top of the tackles chart, both finished with eight. This is the Risner's third game this season leading the team in tackles.
"Eastern Washington is one of the, if not the best team in our conference," said Collins. "They'll provide a different kind of challenge to us, but again I'll go back to it, we don't have to be the best team, we just have to be the best team on that day when we play them."
The team rounds out its two-game home stand next Saturday, Oct. 24 as #7 Eastern Washington pays a visit to Nottingham Field. Kickoff is slated for 1:35 p.m.
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