Upset-Minded @UNCBEARSFB at no.4 Eastern Washington Saturday

Game Time
- Northern Colorado is back on the road for the first leg of back-to-back away games. The Bears travel to Cheney, Washington and look to upset the no. 4 Eastern Washington Eagles on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 2:05 p.m. (MT). For more information, please visit our GAMEDAY CENTRAL.

Follow Along
Radio: 1310 KFKA
Video Stream: WatchBigSky.com
Live Stats: GoEags.com
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Notes: Bears Notes | Eagles Notes | Big Sky Notes

Punch It Out
- Northern Colorado forced and recovered three fumbles in the 21-18 win over Northern Arizona on Saturday. The team has now forced seven fumbles on the season and recovered six of them. The six recovered fumbles rank them 12th overall in the FCS.

A Look at the Eags
- Following a 63-30 victory over UC Davis, the Eagles are 4-1 on the year. EWU opened the season beating Washington State (45-42), falling in overtime to five-time defending FCS champion North Dakota State (50-44) and beating 10th-ranked Northern Iowa (34-30). The Eagles opened league play with a 50-35 victory against league favorite NAU. Eastern is the FCS leader in passing offense (432.8 yards per game), third in scoring offense (47.2), sixth in third down conversions (51.4 percent), fifth in completion percentage (.686) and ninth in passing efficiency (168.65).

Series Matchup
- Northern Colorado is just 1-10 all-time against EWU. Last season the Bears dropped a heartbreaker at home against the then ranked no. 7 Eagles, 43-41. Eastern capitalized on a 40+ yard field goal as time expired to defeat UNC. The last two matchups between the teams have been decided by eight points or less.

Defensive Player of the Week
- Marshaun Cameron, a freshman cornerback, had a career-high 13 tackles, along with two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble last weekend in the win against NAU. The accolades were enough to earn him Big Sky ROOT Sports Defensive Player of the Week. Both NAU fumbles occurred in the red zone and Cameron was there to force one, and recover both of them to help the Bears win its first conference opener under head coach, Earnest Collins Jr.
Taking Notice
- Northern Colorado is back receiving votes in the Top 25 polls. UNC received votes in both the STATS FCS Poll as well as the NCAA FCS Coaches Poll. It's the first time in Division I program history that the team received votes in both polls.

Running Riek
- For the third straight game running back, Trae Riek finished with over 100 rushing yards. He ended the NAU game with 107 yards. He's currently tied the Division I record of consecutive games with 100 yards rushing set by Tromaine Dennis in 2012. For his career, he now has seven games with 100+ yards on the ground, making him the D1 record holder as a redshirt sophomore.

Milestone
- Senior wide out, Stephen Miller currently sits with 99 career receptions after last Saturday. Miller needs just one more to reach the century club, becoming just the fifth player in Division I history and the 15th player in the all-time history to haul in 100 catches.

Tackling Machines
- Linebackers, Kyle Newsom and Bryan Stansbury, and DBs, Thomas Singleton and Marshaun Cameron all finished with 10 or more tackles. Newsom collected a season-best 14 stops, while Cameron secured a new career-high 13 tackles in the three-point win.

Against Ranked Opponents
- Since joining the Big Sky Conference in 2006, UNC has played a ranked FCS opponent 29 times. The Bears currently hold a 4-25 record against ranked teams. The last win over a Top 25 team came just last season defeating no. 9/10 Portland State at home 35-32.

High Powered Offenses
- The top two scoring offenses in the Big Sky will meet on Saturday. Eastern Washington currently ranks first in the conference, averaging 47.2 points per game, while UNC ranks second with 38.2 points per game.

Kick Off Coverage
- The Bears kick off coverage unit sits atop the Big Sky after four weeks. UNC is currently averaging 64.0 yards a kick with 11 touchbacks, with a net average of 44.5 yards.

Tune in on Saturday
- This Saturday's contest will be live on the internet, streamed at WatchBigSky.com Fans can also listen to the game on the 1310 KFKA AM. Live Stats will also be provided via GoEags.com

Bears On The Tube
- Comcast Entertainment Television has partnered with UNC for the second consecutive year and will broadcast four of the football team's five home games. Beginning on Oct. 1, fans across Colorado can watch the team every Saturday exclusively on XFINITY service across Colorado on Channel 900 (HD) and 105 (SD) in the Denver and Colorado Springs DMAs. Roughly, 800,000 subscribers have access to CET from Fort Collins/Greeley in the north to Pueblo in the south along the Front Range. CET can also be seen in mountain towns such as Vail, Aspen, and Steamboat Springs.

Off The Field Success
- Besides bringing the first winning record in the program's FCS history to UNC, Coach Collins has also turned the team around in the classroom. Since he took over in 2011 they have raised the team GPA from a 2.51 to a 2.83, the highest the GPA has ever been in the Division I era... He's also placed 45 student-athletes on the All-Big Sky Fall Academic teams, including a team-best 12 players on the 2015 fall conference All-Academic team.