Preview: @UNCBearsFB Heads on the Road to Face Sacramento State

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado football hits the road for the first time in a month when they take on Sacramento State Saturday night. The Bears (2-5, 1-4 Big Sky) and Hornets (4-4, 3-2 Big Sky) are set for a 7 pm MT kick-off at Hornet Stadium. Northern Colorado will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak and pick up its first road win of the year.

Saturday night's contest will be broadcasted on Eleven Sports, along with being streamed on Pluto TV. Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast on 1310 KFKA from the Voice of the Bears Troy Coverdale and analyst Aaron Rath. Coverage on KFKA begins at 6 pm MT with Blue and Gold Gameday. Live stats for the game can be found on HornetSports.com

Setting the Stage
Both Northern Colorado and Sacramento State are coming off of losses last week, as UNC dropped its game against Southern Utah 27-14 and Sac fell to Northern Arizona 37-17.

UNC fell to Southern Utah last weekend 27-14 at home. The Bears were unable to overcome a pair of early turnovers and missed out on opportunities in the second half to put pressure on SUU. A pair fumbles in the first quarter led to a 13-0 hole for the team to overcome. Alex Wesley had a big day for the Bears recording 10 receptions for 193 yards. Quarterback Conor Regan also had a strong day for UNC passing for 392 yards and a touchdown.

Sacramento State traveled to Northern Arizona last weekend with a chance to tie the Lumberjacks for the Big Sky lead but ended up leaving Flagstaff with a 37-17 loss. The Hornets' offense struggled all game passing for just 91 yards and rushing for 142. Meanwhile, Northern Arizona's Case Cookus passed for 407 yards against Sac States defense.

After winning its Big Sky opener, Northern Colorado has dropped its last four conference games for a 1-4 Big Sky record. UNC currently sits in 11th place in the conference. After missing the opportunity to tie Northern Arizona atop the Big Sky last weekend, Sacramento State sits at 3-2 in the Big Sky, tied with Montana for sixth, a half game back of Montana State in fifth at 4-2. Northern Arizona is alone at the top with a 5-0 Big Sky record heading into the weekend when they travel to Montana.

Scouting Sacramento State
Sacramento State enters Saturday's contest against the Bears with a 4-4 record overall and 3-2 in Big Sky play. Sac State has played well at home all season long going 3-1, including winning its most recent home game against Idaho State 41-21. Under fourth-year head coach Jody Sears, the Hornets have a very balanced offense that averages 214.5 yards through the air and 202.2 yards rushing. Quarterback Kevin Thomson leads the team not only in passing with 1,305 yards and 11 touchdowns but also in rushing with 422 yards and 8 more scores. He is what makes the Sacramento State offense goes, but has missed the past two games with an undisclosed injury. The duo of Roman Ale and Wyatt Clapper have split time at QB since Thomson is injured. Sac State possesses three receivers who are putting up pretty similar numbers this season in Isiah Hennie, Jaelin Ratliff and Andre Lindsey. Lindsey leads the team in receiving yards (540) and touchdowns (5), while Hennie leads the team with 32 receptions this season.

Defensively, Sacramento State has a pair of safeties that patrol the whole field in Mister Harriel and Austin Clark. The duo has 63 and 61 tackles, respectively on the season. Harriel also has five sacks and three interceptions, while Clark has an interception of his own. The Hornets have a strong pass rush that has accounted for 31 sacks already this season to lead the Big Sky. Defensive end George Obinna leads the team with 11.5 sacks, for the most in the conference and ranks fourth nationally averaging 1.06 a game. The added pressure on opposing quarterbacks has led to 11 interceptions for the Hornets defense. Cornerback Dre Terrell leads the team with four picks.

Last Time Against Sac State
Northern Colorado hosted Sacramento State for homecoming last year and came away with a 27-19 win over the Hornets. UNC's defense stifled the Sac State offense, holding them to 283 yards, while the offense used big plays to put points on the board. Ellis Onic II scored on the second play of the game when he ran the ball 79-yards for a touchdown. Running back Trae Riek had an impressive day on the ground averaging 8.3 yards per carry on his way to 108 yards for the game. The Bears defense recorded five sacks and nine pass breakups in the win.

History Against the Hornets
Sacramento State won the first nine games in the series dating back to 2006, but Northern Colorado has won the past two between the teams. Since the series began in 2006, the two teams have played against each other every year. The Bears have won once at home and once in Sacramento. That one win in Sacramento came even though the UNC offense did not record a touchdown, but the defense and special teams accounted for three.

On This Date
The Bears are looking to snap a two-game losing streak when playing on November 4th. The past two times UNC played on the date, the team fell to Montana State and North Dakota State in 2006 and 2000, respectively. Overall on the date, 6-2 on the date though, winning the first six times they played on the fourth of November.

The Month of November
UNC is 92-104-6 all-time in the month of November. Under head coach Earnest Collins, the team is 7-10.

See Wesley Run
Bear fans knew that Alex Wesley possesses great speed, as he is not only a football player for UNC but also a track and field athlete and Big Sky Champion. Wesley won the 400-meter dash both his freshman and sophomore season on the track team, bring those skills over to the football field. He already has a pair of touchdowns over 50 yards this year, one at Colorado for 52 yards and another against Idaho State of 59 yards.

He has become one of the favorite targets of UNC's quarterbacks, catching a team-leading 40 passes for 705 yards and three touchdowns. He has led the team in receiving yards four times this year and is averaging 100.7 yards per game thanks to his 17.6 yards per catch.

Wesley turned in his best performance of the season last week against Southern Utah, catching 10 passes for 193 yards. He was key in setting up both of the team's touchdowns with catches of 65 and 47 yards to put UNC in prime scoring position. The 10 receptions in the game are the first time a Bear recorded 10 or more in a game since Jace Davis in 2013.

Slinging The Ball Around
Northern Colorado's offense is slinging the ball around the yard this year averaging 298.3 yards passing a game. That mark puts the team fifth in the Big Sky for passing offense, but 12th in the FCS. UNC has passed for over 300 yards in four of the six games this year. The Bears have completed 55.2 percent of its passes this season and averaging 14.50 yards per completion to rank 18th in the FCS and fourth in the Big Sky.

Regan's Growing up Fast
Quarterback Conor Regan started his first collegiate game on October 21 against Montana State, and had a solid first start passing for 218 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Regan took his game to another level a week later, when he threw for 392 yards and touchdown, completing 28 of his 54 pass attempts.

Opportunistic Defense
After only recording 13 turnovers last season, Northern Colorado already matched its total from last year in six games, and now have 14 on the year. Stone Kane leads the charge for UNC when it comes to turnovers with a pair of interceptions, and a fumble recovery this season. He also leads the team with 57 tackles and tied for second with five pass breakups. Six different Bears have intercepted a pass, and six different players have recovered a fumble. Even when they are not forcing turnovers, UNC has broken up 29 passes this year, led by Isaiah Swopes seven.

Party in the Backfield
Defensive end Keifer Morris has been a terror to opposing backfields through all season long. The senior recorded a sack in the first three games and has a total of 6.0 on the year. In addition to the sacks, he has 7.0 tackles for a loss and a pair of QB hurries. Morris ranks third in the conference and 15th in the nation with 0.86 sacks per game. As a team, Northern Colorado has recorded 16 sacks and has 28 tackles for a loss.

Big Play Offense
Northern Colorado's offense has been moving the ball in chunks throughout the season, through the first six games of the year the team has 51 plays gaining 20 or more yards. Thirty-three of those has come by pass and six by run. Those big pass plays have helped UNC average 14.50 yards per completion this season, ranking fourth in the Big Sky and 12th in the nation. A big reason for that includes a pair of 80-yard touchdown passes this season, the first to Theron Verna from Jacob Knipp at North Dakota and the second coming against Montana State as Conor Regan hit Frank Stephens to get UNC up 7-0 early.

All Three Phases of the Game
Coaches preach it all the time, but it takes all three phases of the game to win, and Northern Colorado has one of the best special teams units in the nation. Returners Hakeem Deggs and Ellis Onic give coaches fits in figuring out how to contain them, while the kicking game is just as dangerous. Collin Root has shown the importance of his powerful and accurate leg through six games this year. Root nailed a UNC record for the longest field goal against College of Idaho at 56 yards. He then hit the game-winning 37-yard attempt as time expired against Idaho State. His kickoffs have been important for the Bears as 15 of his 28 have gone for a touchback. Meanwhile, Kiefer Glau is averaging almost 40 yards per punt including five over 50 yards this season, and pinning opponents inside its 20-yard line 10 times.

Running Through The Record Book
Running back Trae Riek has been working his way through the UNC record book ever since he stepped foot on the UNC campus. He moved into the Top 10 of all-time rushing yards four weeks ago. For his career, Riek has rushed for 1,893 yards for seventh all-time. The next milestone he has in his sights is to become the seventh rusher in Northern Colorado history to eclipse the 2,000 yards mark, he enters the weekend 107 yards away from that accomplishment.

Weekly Honors
Northern Colorado football earned a few weekly honors with from its performance against Idaho State on September 23rd. Collin Root earned his second Root Sports Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week honor for his game-winning kick. It was the second weekly honor of the year for Root, who also earned the Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week after he hit a 56-yard field goal in week one. Meanwhile, quarterback Jacob Knipp earned honorable mention honors from the College Football Performance Players of the Week as he threw for a career-high 413 yards and four touchdowns. Finally, College Sports Madness named Stone Kane their Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week, as he recorded an interception, had 11 total tackles and broke up a pass.

The Bears added to its weekly honors by earning their third Root Sports Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week honors following the game against Montana State on October 21. Punter Kiefer Glau earned the honor after a big game against MSU that included a 70-yard punt and pinning the Bobcats inside their 20-yard line twice.

Bear in the NFL
Former UNC Bear Kyle Sloter made the most of his opportunity in training camp with the Denver Broncos this August, earning him a spot on the Minnesota Vikings practice squad. Just before week tow games started, Sloter signed onto the team's active roster. In his four preseason games with the Broncos, Sloter had a 72.1-percent completion percentage leading to 413 yards and three touchdowns, throwing no interceptions.

What's Next?
Northern Colorado hits the road for the last time of the 2017 next week, when they head to Missoula, Mont. to face the Montana Grizzlies. The Bears and Griz kick-off at 1:30 pm MT with the game being broadcast on Root Sports/ATT Sports Network. It is the first time UNC and UM face each other in Missoula since 2014. The Bears earned its first win over Montana in 40 years last season when they won at home 28-25.

On the Tube
Northern Colorado football will be featured on the TV all-year long. Four of the five home games will be featured on TV, and five of the six road games. Complete schedule below:

CET	SEC Network
9/2 - vs College of Idaho	9/9 - at Florida
10/28 - vs Southern Utah	PAC 12 Network
11/18 - vs Cal Poly	9/16 - at Colorado
Root Sports	Eleven Sports
10/21 - vs Montana State	11/4 - at Sacramento State
11/11 - at Montana

During conference season, all games can be seen both on Pluto TV and WatchBigSky.com.

Coaches Show
Back again for the 2017 season is the Earnest Collins Coaches Show. The weekly show takes place live every Tuesday night during the season at Stuft Burger Bar in downtown Greeley from 6 - 7 pm. If you are unable to attend, you can tune in on 1310 KFKA at the time or see a broadcast of the show on CET Sports both Thursdays at 7 pm and Fridays at 3 pm.