@UNCBEARSFB Eyes First Winning Season in 12 Years on Senior Day

Saturday, November 21

Greeley, Colo.

12:00 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

Abilene Christian University

Tickets

Photo by: Rob Trubia

11/19/2015 9:28:00 AM | Football

UNC will look to finish the season with a winning record for the first time since 2003 when they host Abilene Christian on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 12:05 p.m.

By: Kobee Stalder, UNC Athletics

Bears Notes
Wildcats Notes
Big Sky Notes

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Game Time
- Northern Colorado (5-5, 3-5 Big Sky) wraps up its 2015 season with a chance to make history by becoming the first program in 12 seasons to finish with a winning record. The Bears play host to non-conference foe Abilene Christian (3-7, 3-6 Southland) who is coming off a close win over Southeastern Louisiana. Kickoff is set for 12:05 p.m.
For all information regarding the game please visit our GAMEDAY CENTRAL.

End It With A "W"
- If Northern Colorado defeats Abilene Christian on Saturday it'll be the first time in 12 seasons (2003) that the program would finish with a winning record.

Senior Day
- The Bears will be recognizing eight seniors in its final game of the season. A.J. Battle, James Davis, Trevor Douglass, Chris Glover, Jonathan Newsom, Sean Palinckx, JaQueal Walker, and Malcolm Whye will all be honored for their contributions to the program before kickoff.

Century Club
- Junior safety Taylor Risner became just the third player in Northern Colorado Division I history to record 100 tackles on the season and the first since 2013 when Clarence Bumpas achieved the feat. Risner recorded a team-high 9 tackles in the loss at UND and has now led the team in tackles in seven of the 10 games this year.

National Recognition
- Return Specialists Hakeem Deggs and Ellis Onic II have both been added to the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) announced its 2015 FCS Special Teams Watch Lists. Deggs is second in the nation in kickoff return TDs and Onic leads the FCS in punt return TDs and yard average.

It's Been Awhile
- UNC is 4-10-1 all-time against the Abilene Christian. The Wildcats won the first 10 of the 11 games in the series (one ending in a tie), but the Bears have picked up wins in the last four meetings. This will be the first time in 24 years the two teams will play each other.

Remember That One Time In November
- The Bears have played just one game in program history on Nov. 21 coming back in the 1998 season against North Dakota in Greeley. UNC walked away with a 52-24 win over UND.

By The Numbers
- Statistically, UNC has a slight edge heading into Saturday's game against ACU. UNC has a better run game (160 yds per game) to the Wildcats (103.1 yds per game) and average more points a game (29.0) over Abilene Christian's (23.6). However, ACU has a better passing game (236.8 yds per game) compared to UNC (219.0 yds per game).

Big Sky Finish
- Northern Colorado finished 3-5 in league play this season, the second best finish in conference under Collins. UNC was picked to finish 13th in the league and as of now they sit 10th overall.

Grand Finale
- Under Collins, the Bears are 1-3 all-time in final games of the season. The lone win came in 2012 when UNC defeated North Dakota, 28-27 to finish 5-6 on the year.

Forecast
- As of Thursday, weather.com predicts a high of 41 degrees for Saturday's contest with a 10% chance of precipitation.

Ways to Watch
- This Saturday's contest will be live on the internet, streamed by EverSport.TV. EverSport is the new official streaming provider of the Big Sky Conference. All conference games this season can be viewed on EverSport at no cost.

Freshman Phenom
- Redshirt Freshman Jacob Knipp has already shattered the D1 record for passing yards by a freshman. The previous record was 315 and Knipp currently sits with 1,705 yards on the season. He has also broken the freshman records for completions, attempts and TD passes. As of last week, the young QB sits 8th on the D1 Top 10 list for passing yards in a season.

Doing Work in the Classroom
- The 2015 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District™ Football Teams have been released to recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Both junior linebacker Bryan Stansbury and junior safety Tyler Bloyer have earned first team NCAA Division I District 7 honors. Both student-athletes are well above a 3.5 GPA and are Top 5 on the team in best GPAs.