Recap: Montana State Field Goal as Time Expires Sinks @UNCBearsFB

Saturday, October 21

Greeley, Colo.

12:30 pm

University of Northern Colorado

2-4 , 1-3

Montana State University

3-4 , 3-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Montana State

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Rob Trubia

10/21/2017 7:51:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Northern Colorado football fell in its homecoming game Saturday afternoon 27-24

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – It felt like Deja Vu at Nottingham Field Saturday afternoon, as a game-winning field goal as time expired decided the outcome of the game between Northern Colorado and Montana State.

Unlike a month ago when UNC hit a game-winner to defeat Idaho State, the Bears were on the other end of the winning kick. Montana State's Gabe Peppenger squeaked in a 27-yard field goal to defeat Northern Colorado 27-24.

(10/21/2017) Football vs Montana State

Peppenger's game-winner capped off a 13 play, 73 yards drive over the final 2:42 of the game.

The loss is the third in a row for Northern Colorado, moving the team to 2-4 on the year and 1-3 in Big Sky play. MSU improved to 3-4 overall and 3-2 in conference games.

UNC held the lead throughout the majority of the game, striking first when Conor Regan found Frank Stephens for 80 yards through the air. Stephens caught a slant route, made a pair of MSU defenders miss and was off to the races. The score came after the Bears' offense gained no yardage on their first four plays of the game including one called back by a penalty. The 80-yard strike tied for the longest play of the year for UNC offense.

MSU responds to the quick strike of Northern Colorado with a methodic 17 play, 75 yards scoring drive capped off by a six-yard touchdown pass from Chris Murray to Mitch Herbert. The drive ate up 7:15 of game time.

The Bears offense showed they could put together a long drive of their own going 13 plays, finished off by a two-yard Trae Riek TD run to go back up seven at 14-7. Northern Colorado needed a few key plays in the drive starting with an 11-yard completion to Alex Wesley on third and nine from midfield. Regan completed another big pass to Stephens, this one for 28 yards, to move the team into red-zone.

Following three straight possessions ending in touchdowns, both offenses stalled out for the majority of the second quarter. Northern Colorado ended that scoring drought just before the half, thanks to great field position following an Isaiah Swopes interception.

Swopes, picked off the MSU's Murray with 1:07 at the Montana State 37 and returned it to the MSU 18-yard line. The Bears converted two plays later as Regan found tight end Theron Verna over the seam for a 12-yard touchdown pass, and UNC went into the half up 21-10.

The Bobcats cut the Northern Colorado lead to 21-10 following a 10 play drive that ended with a 20-yard field goal following a UNC three and out to start the second half.

Northern Colorado's offense struggled throughout the second half, but the team's defense slowed down MSU including forcing a second interception of the day. Sherand Boyd Jr. intercepted a tipped pass from Murray in the red-zone to keep UNC up 21-10.

Montana State cut the Bears' lead to 21-17 just inside a minute into the fourth quarter and carried plenty of momentum on both sides of the ball.

Looking for any way to change the momentum, UNC seemed to find that play when Kiefer Glau unleashed a 70-yard punt that pinned MSU at its 6-yard line.
Instead, MSU went on a 94-yard drive to claim its first lead of the game at 24-21 with 7:57 remaining.

On the ensuing kickoff, Hakeem Deggs put Northern Colorado in solid scoring position with a 57-yard return and a late hit by MSU moved UNC to the Bobcats' 26-yard line. The Bears ended up settling for a 34-yard Collin Root FG to tie the game.

With 4:55 remaining in the game, Northern Colorado took over at its 26-yard line, with the chance to reclaim the lead. Regan and the offense put together a drive including two chunk plays of 17-yards to Stephens and another pass of 24 yards to Wesley to move well into Root field goal range. The Bears just missed on converting third and five as Regan's pass to Trae Riek was too far away from his outstretched hands, setting up a 34-yard kick for Root.

Unfortunately for the Bears, a low snap led to a broken play that they were unable to convert leading to MSU taking over the ball at their 17-yard line and driving down for the game-winning field goal.

They Said It
Head Coach Earnest Collins Jr.

Overall thoughts on the game
"We didn't put two halves together. We were up 21-7 and we should be able to hold onto it. We allowed them to score 20 points and we only scored three. We talked about it at halftime we have to finish the job and now we face a big test with four games remaining."

About Conor Regan's performance
"Conor (Regan) did some great things, I didn't see a whole lot while I was helping coach the defense, but he was able to put points on the board for us and move the ball."

Senior safety Stone Kane

About the defense's mindset heading into the final drive
"The main focus was to just keep them out of field goal range on the last drive. This game came down to just a few big plays that if we make we win."

On quarterback Conor Regan's first career start
"Connor (Regan) came out and played well for us. He is in the backup role and was thrown into starting, and I'm proud of the way he responded to it."

Sophomore quarterback Conor Regan

If he had any nerves making his first career start
"I was pretty calm coming into the game. I knew what we were coming into with the two weeks to prepare for this game so I felt confident."

What led to the second half offensive struggles
"The second half struggles were just missed execution by us, I blame myself for a lot of that. I was thinking too much and didn't stay focused and play football like I needed to."

Game Notes
- Northern Colorado ran only five offensive plays in the first quarter compared to 28 by Montana State. The Bears gained positive yards on only one of those plays which were the touchdown pass.
- For the fourth time this year, UNC forced multiple opponent turnovers. Isaiah Swopes and Sherand Boyd Jr. increased the team's interception total to seven on the year, and UNC won the turnover battle 2-0.
- Kiefer Glau's 70-yard punt tied for the 13th longest punt in UNC history. He averaged 48.6 on his seven punts in the game, including pinning MSU inside its own 20-yard line twice.
- In his first career start, Conor Regan took care of the ball and put up positive numbers for UNC. He finished 13-of-29 for 218 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. He spread the ball around, finding seven different pass catchers.
- Frank Stephens surpassed the 100 yards receiving mark on Saturday catching three passes for 125 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown.
- Four Bears finished the game with double-digit tackles, led by defensive end Kadim Phillip. Phillip recorded a career-high 15 tackles including one sack and two tackles for loss and broke up a pass. Peter Mitchell (14), Stone Kane (13) and Sherand Boyd Jr. (11) were the other Bears in double figures.

What's Ahead?
Northern Colorado is back at home next weekend when they host Southern Utah. Kickoff is set for 12:30 pm MT.

Tickets for the game start as low as $14. Fans can purchase tickets by going to UNCBears.com, visiting the Nottingham Field Box Office, opened Monday through Friday from 10 am to 6 pm, or by calling 970-352-4849. Fans can also reserve a spot for tailgating at the Pepsi Fan Fest by online at UNCBears.com, or by calling Brian Lukas at 970-351-4409.

To stay up to date with all things UNC football, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @UNCBearsFB.