University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Saturday, September 5
Greeley, Colo.
1:35 p.m.
University of Northern Colorado
1-0
42
vs
34
Western State Colorado University
0-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
WESTERN
7
13
7
7
34
Northern Colorado
14
7
14
7
42
Team Stats
WESTERN
UNCO
Total Yards
587
523
Pass Yards
302
293
Rushing Yards
285
230
Penalty Yards
50
32
1st Downs
29
26
3rd Downs
9
9
4th Downs
2
0
TOP
35:11
24:49
1st Quarter
WESTERN 0, UNCO 7
UNCO - Trae Riek 1 yd run (Marques Combs kick), 15 plays, 82 yards, TOP 5:09
WESTERN 7, UNCO 7
WESTERN - Austin Ekeler 1 yd run (Ryan Winke kick), 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:54
WESTERN 7, UNCO 14
UNCO - Trae Riek 32 yd run (Marques Combs kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:04
2nd Quarter
WESTERN 10, UNCO 14
WESTERN - Ryan Winke 42 yd field goal 12 plays, 42 yards, TOP 4:18
WESTERN 10, UNCO 21
UNCO - Trae Riek 55 yd pass from Jonathan Newsom (Marques Combs kick) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:54
WESTERN 13, UNCO 21
WESTERN - Ryan Winke 24 yd field goal 10 plays, 68 yards, TOP 4:07
WESTERN 20, UNCO 21
WESTERN - Austin Ekeler 1 yd run (Ryan Winke kick), 13 plays, 90 yards, TOP 4:23
3rd Quarter
WESTERN 20, UNCO 28
UNCO - Stephen Miller 10 yd pass from Jonathan Newsom (Marques Combs kick) 8 plays, 78 yards, TOP 2:09
WESTERN 27, UNCO 28
WESTERN - Travis Haney 49 yd pass from Brett Arrivey (Ryan Winke kick) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:07
WESTERN 27, UNCO 35
UNCO - Jonathan Newsom 3 yd run (Marques Combs kick), 4 plays, 42 yards, TOP 1:21
4th Quarter
WESTERN 27, UNCO 42
UNCO - Anthony Davis 20 yd run (Marques Combs kick), 9 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:50
WESTERN 34, UNCO 42
WESTERN - Anthony Apodaca 12 yd pass from Brett Arrivey (Ryan Winke kick) 8 plays, 59 yards, TOP 3:27
Game Leaders
CMP
20
TD
2
YDS
293
INT
0
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DL
/ FootballQB
/ Football
DT
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballPhoto by: Rob Trubia
@UNCBEARSFB Win in Shootout Over Western State 42-34
9/5/2015 9:14:00 PM | Football
GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado football's season opener quickly turned into an offensive bonanza against Western State on Saturday afternoon. Nottingham Field was the scene for a Wild West shootout as both teams combined for 1,111 yards off 164 plays.
UNC, behind a strong run game from redshirt freshman Trae Riek and great game management from senior QB Jonathan Newsom walked away with a 42-34 victory over the Mountaineers.
The Bears finished the day with 524 yards of total yards of offense, the most productivity UNC has had moving the ball at home since 2008. The home team ran 74 plays (51 pass, 43 rush) showing their hurry-up offense is no joke.
In his collegiate debut, Riek performed just as everyone expected him to. He finished the day with 153 yards rushing off 25 carries (6.1 ypc) with two touchdowns. The newcomer added another 72 yards receiving, including a 55-yard touchdown off a screen pass from Newsom.
Newsom was calm and cool under center, managing a perfect game with no turnovers. The senior was 20-of-31 for 279 yards and connected with the receiving core twice for touchdown passes. He also made a lot happen with his legs, rushing for 46 yards and finding pay dirt once on the ground.
Even after a great game, Newsom was still focused on being better.
"I missed a few reads, definitely," said Newsom. "I'm always going to be critical on myself, so I can get the best out of myself. We still have some things we need to clean up on offense to be one hundred percent efficient. We had a great day, no doubt, but there were still yards we left out on the field."
It was a tough day for the Bears' defense as they allowed Western State to get off 90 plays and gain 587 yards, but more specifically they had trouble stopping the Mountaineers running back, Austin Ekeler. Ekeler gave UNC trouble all day rushing for 226 yards and two TDs on 32 carries (7.1 ypc), the second-most rushing yards an opponent has had at Nottingham Field since it open its doors.
Northern Colorado came out hot to start the game, stomping 82 yards in 15 plays behind some great reads from Newsom, connecting with senior wide out Malcolm Whye for a 21-yard pass-and-catch, following it up with another 10-yard sling to redshirt sophomore Anthony Davis.
The run game took over from there, moving the ball deep into the red zone the next four plays before Riek pushed it across the goal line for the first points of the day.
The Mountaineers quickly combated the TD effort from UNC, going 75 yards behind Ekeler, tying the game up at 7-7.
Northern Colorado got on the board once more before the quarter ended off a Riek 32-yard run for six, taking a 14-7 lead.
In the second quarter of action, WSU was able to tack on a 42-yard field goal to dig into the Bears' lead, making it 14-10.
UNC continued its scoring barrage finding the end zone for the third time, and once again, it was Riek for his third TD of the game. He broke free off a screen pass and never looked back, going 55 yards down the right sideline.
That would end the first half for UNC, but Western State put another field goal through the uprights and scored a TD off another Ekeler run, making it just a one point game at the half, 21-20.
"I don't want to say defense is an easy fix, but there are things like gang tackling, running to the ball, pursuit angles, making sure the right personnel is in, those are things you can fix," said head coach Earnest Collins Jr. "Something you can't fix is forty-two points. Our offense was moving the ball at-will, at times, and we even left some things out on the field like Jon said, so the sky's the limit when it comes to that side of the ball."
The Mountaineers began the second half with the ball and looked to take their first lead of the game, quickly moving 53 yards in just seven plays, but UNC's bend, but don't break method paid off as they forced WSU to kick a field goal, which they missed to the right, due to a bad snap.
The Bears retained their minimal lead and took advantage of Western State's missed opportunity, scoring their fourth touchdown of the day, this time through the air. Set up at the 10-yard line after another Whye gainer of 18 yards, Newsom caught up with junior receiver, Stephen Miller, who had a relatively quiet day, for a 10-yard catch for six.
Again, Western State refused to go anywhere matching the touchdown with a 49-yard pass to wide out Travis Henry, take the Bears lead back to one, 28-27.
Before the third quarter was all said and done, UNC tallied one more score, this time a QB keeper.
Newsom rolled out of the pocket and ran into the end zone untouched, padding the lead back to eight, 35-27.
Northern Colorado's defense stepped up in a big way in the final 15:00 minutes of action, forcing WSU to punt to open the quarter and then holding the Mountaineers to another FG attempt on their next drive, which they missed, this time wide left, due to another bad snap.
After the punt, Davis did his best Riek impersonation cutting through Western's secondary and breaking off a 20-yard TD run to allow some extra breathing room for UNC, 42-27.
Northern Colorado couldn't make good on the Mountaineers missed field goal opportunity after the touchdown, being forced to punt on their only three-and-out of the game.
With just 8:00 minutes remaining in the contest, Western had one last drive in them, moving 59 yards in eight plays for six, bringing it to 42-34.
The Mountaineers had one last crack at tying the game getting the ball back with under three minutes to go, but UNC's defense remained stout and forced a turnover on downs, ending the game in victory formation for the Bears.
Defensively, Northern Colorado had six players with double digit tackles. Redshirt sophomore, James Riddle was a force at middle linebacker recording a career-high 14 stops in the win. Senior safety and junior linebacker, Trevor Douglass and A.J. Isenburg, both finished with 11 tackles and redshirt freshman Keifer Morris had a big day in his debut at defensive end, tallying 10 tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss, and 1.5 sacks. Junior Myles Overton rounded out the double-digit numbers, also having 10 tackles.
The football teams takes to the road for a two-week journey, beginning next Saturday, Sept. 12 in Houston, Texas facing Houston Baptist for the second time in school history at 6:00 p.m. (MT)
UNC, behind a strong run game from redshirt freshman Trae Riek and great game management from senior QB Jonathan Newsom walked away with a 42-34 victory over the Mountaineers.
The Bears finished the day with 524 yards of total yards of offense, the most productivity UNC has had moving the ball at home since 2008. The home team ran 74 plays (51 pass, 43 rush) showing their hurry-up offense is no joke.
In his collegiate debut, Riek performed just as everyone expected him to. He finished the day with 153 yards rushing off 25 carries (6.1 ypc) with two touchdowns. The newcomer added another 72 yards receiving, including a 55-yard touchdown off a screen pass from Newsom.
Newsom was calm and cool under center, managing a perfect game with no turnovers. The senior was 20-of-31 for 279 yards and connected with the receiving core twice for touchdown passes. He also made a lot happen with his legs, rushing for 46 yards and finding pay dirt once on the ground.
Even after a great game, Newsom was still focused on being better.
"I missed a few reads, definitely," said Newsom. "I'm always going to be critical on myself, so I can get the best out of myself. We still have some things we need to clean up on offense to be one hundred percent efficient. We had a great day, no doubt, but there were still yards we left out on the field."
It was a tough day for the Bears' defense as they allowed Western State to get off 90 plays and gain 587 yards, but more specifically they had trouble stopping the Mountaineers running back, Austin Ekeler. Ekeler gave UNC trouble all day rushing for 226 yards and two TDs on 32 carries (7.1 ypc), the second-most rushing yards an opponent has had at Nottingham Field since it open its doors.
Northern Colorado came out hot to start the game, stomping 82 yards in 15 plays behind some great reads from Newsom, connecting with senior wide out Malcolm Whye for a 21-yard pass-and-catch, following it up with another 10-yard sling to redshirt sophomore Anthony Davis.
The run game took over from there, moving the ball deep into the red zone the next four plays before Riek pushed it across the goal line for the first points of the day.
The Mountaineers quickly combated the TD effort from UNC, going 75 yards behind Ekeler, tying the game up at 7-7.
Northern Colorado got on the board once more before the quarter ended off a Riek 32-yard run for six, taking a 14-7 lead.
In the second quarter of action, WSU was able to tack on a 42-yard field goal to dig into the Bears' lead, making it 14-10.
UNC continued its scoring barrage finding the end zone for the third time, and once again, it was Riek for his third TD of the game. He broke free off a screen pass and never looked back, going 55 yards down the right sideline.
That would end the first half for UNC, but Western State put another field goal through the uprights and scored a TD off another Ekeler run, making it just a one point game at the half, 21-20.
"I don't want to say defense is an easy fix, but there are things like gang tackling, running to the ball, pursuit angles, making sure the right personnel is in, those are things you can fix," said head coach Earnest Collins Jr. "Something you can't fix is forty-two points. Our offense was moving the ball at-will, at times, and we even left some things out on the field like Jon said, so the sky's the limit when it comes to that side of the ball."
The Mountaineers began the second half with the ball and looked to take their first lead of the game, quickly moving 53 yards in just seven plays, but UNC's bend, but don't break method paid off as they forced WSU to kick a field goal, which they missed to the right, due to a bad snap.
The Bears retained their minimal lead and took advantage of Western State's missed opportunity, scoring their fourth touchdown of the day, this time through the air. Set up at the 10-yard line after another Whye gainer of 18 yards, Newsom caught up with junior receiver, Stephen Miller, who had a relatively quiet day, for a 10-yard catch for six.
Again, Western State refused to go anywhere matching the touchdown with a 49-yard pass to wide out Travis Henry, take the Bears lead back to one, 28-27.
Before the third quarter was all said and done, UNC tallied one more score, this time a QB keeper.
Newsom rolled out of the pocket and ran into the end zone untouched, padding the lead back to eight, 35-27.
Northern Colorado's defense stepped up in a big way in the final 15:00 minutes of action, forcing WSU to punt to open the quarter and then holding the Mountaineers to another FG attempt on their next drive, which they missed, this time wide left, due to another bad snap.
After the punt, Davis did his best Riek impersonation cutting through Western's secondary and breaking off a 20-yard TD run to allow some extra breathing room for UNC, 42-27.
Northern Colorado couldn't make good on the Mountaineers missed field goal opportunity after the touchdown, being forced to punt on their only three-and-out of the game.
With just 8:00 minutes remaining in the contest, Western had one last drive in them, moving 59 yards in eight plays for six, bringing it to 42-34.
The Mountaineers had one last crack at tying the game getting the ball back with under three minutes to go, but UNC's defense remained stout and forced a turnover on downs, ending the game in victory formation for the Bears.
Defensively, Northern Colorado had six players with double digit tackles. Redshirt sophomore, James Riddle was a force at middle linebacker recording a career-high 14 stops in the win. Senior safety and junior linebacker, Trevor Douglass and A.J. Isenburg, both finished with 11 tackles and redshirt freshman Keifer Morris had a big day in his debut at defensive end, tallying 10 tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss, and 1.5 sacks. Junior Myles Overton rounded out the double-digit numbers, also having 10 tackles.
The football teams takes to the road for a two-week journey, beginning next Saturday, Sept. 12 in Houston, Texas facing Houston Baptist for the second time in school history at 6:00 p.m. (MT)
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