Preview: @UNCBearsFB Plays Final Road Game at Montana

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado (2-6, 1-5 Big Sky) football hits the road for the final time this season when they take on Montana (6-3, 4-2 Big Sky) Saturday at 1 pm. The Bears are looking to snap a five-game losing streak, while Montana aims to keep its playoff hopes alive.

Saturday's game will be broadcast on Root Sports/ATT Sports Network. Fans can also listen the broadcast of the game on 1310 KFKA starting at 12 pm with Blue and Gold Gameday with Troy Coverdale and Aaron Rath.

Setting the Stage
Northern Colorado and Montana are coming into Saturday's game on opposite ends of the spectrum. UNC is looking to snap a five-game losing streak, while Montana is coming off a big win at home over Northern Arizona last Saturday to hand the Lumberjacks their first conference loss of the season.

Northern Colorado battled back from going down 14-0 early against Sacramento State to take a 21-20 lead into the half before mistakes on both sides of the ball added up and the Hornets out-scored UNC 30-0 to go onto a 50-21 win. The Bears put together a balanced game offensively behind the efforts of Trae Riek and Alex Wesley. Riek ran for 114 yards on the ground averaging 9.5 yards per carrying, while Wesley was a big play threat through the air with seven receptions for 144 yards, including an 83-yard touchdown. The second half mistakes included an errant snap leading to a safety, a pair of interceptions and missed tackles leading to big plays for Sacramento State.

Montana took down Northern Arizona last weekend to hand the Lumberjacks its first Big Sky loss of the season in a 17-15 game. UM out-lasted NAU in a game that saw the 'Jacks quarterback ejected for a targeting penalty and the Griz function without its starting QB due to a concussion. It was Montana's defense that stepped up and made the big plays, shutting down Northern Arizona's offense after they went up 9-7 in the second quarter, holding them to 56 offensive yards over the next eight drives.

Montana looks to keep its playoff hopes alive, while the Bears look to play spoilers. UM currently sits in 6-3 and 4-2 in the conference with two games remaining in the regular season.

Scouting Montana
Montana is in the heat of the FCS Playoff race with just two weeks remaining. The Griz enter this weekend's contest with a 6-3 record overall and 4-2 in the Big Sky Conference. Head coach Bob Stit and his high octane offense are once again slinging the ball around the yard this season, averaging 309.1 passing yards per game, ranking 11th in the nation and fourth in the Big Sky. Quarterback Gresch Jensen leads the big pass game for Montana, averaging 247.1 yards passing over the eight games he has played this year throwing 16 touchdown passes. Jensen missed last week's game against Northern Arizona due to a concussion. The Griz spread the ball around to a variety of receivers with six different pass catchers hauling in at least 20 catches this season. Jerry Louie-McGee leads the team with 38 receptions for 525 yards and three touchdowns. Keenan Curran leads UM with 609 yards receiving and six touchdowns. Jeremy Calhoun is the team's leading rusher averaging 62.3 yards a game having scored five touchdowns.

Defensively, Montana is led by the linebacking duo of James Banks and Josh Buss. Banks leads the team with 94 tackles, while Buss isn't far behind with 89 of his own. Buss is a half tackle ahead of his teammate in tackles for a loss with 12.5 compared to Banks 12.0. In the secondary, Josh Sandry and Justin Strong lead the team with three interceptions each. The Griz attack their opponents on the defensive side of the ball leading the Big Sky with 9.1 tackles for loss a game.

Last Time Against Montana
It was a historic win for Northern Colorado over Montana last November when the two teams last squared off, snapping a 40-year drought between wins over the Griz for UNC. The Bears jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead thanks to a Mikhail Dubose punt block that he then picked up and took in for a touchdown early in the first quarter. Montana battled its way back to make it a 14-12 game at half, and took the lead midway in the fourth at 25-21, Kyle Sloter found tight end Theron Verna for a five yard touchdown pass to put UNC up 28-25 with 3:35 and the team held on for the big win.

History Against the Griz
Until last season, Northern Colorado had only defeated Montana once and that came in 1976. The two schools faced each other every year from 1976-79 and then did not meet again until the Bears made the transition into Division I in 2002. Since then, the Bears and Griz have faced each other 11 times. Montana leads the all-time series 13-2.

On This Date
Northern Colorado has struggled with playing on November 11, going 2-8-1. The last game on the date for UNC was against Montana in 2006, when the Griz came to Greeley and won 53-21. Both wins on the date for the team came at home in 1995 against Augustana (55-21) and 1972 Southern Colorado (3-0). The tie on the date came back in 1932 when UNC traveled to Laramie and tied the Wyoming 0-0.

The Month of November
UNC is 92-105-6 all-time in the month of November. Under head coach Earnest Collins, the team is 7-11.

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. That speed was on display last week when he took a pass 83-yards for a touchdown against Sacramento State.

He has become one of the favorite targets of UNC's quarterbacks, catching a team-leading 47 passes for 849 yards and four touchdowns. He has led the team in receiving yards five times this year and is averaging 106.1 yards per game thanks to his 18.1 yards per catch. Going into the weekend, Wesley is 21 yards shy of breaking into the top 15 for receiving yards in a season.

Wesley turned in his best performance of the season 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.

Party in the Backfield
Defensive end Keifer Morris has been a terror to opposing backfields all season long. The redshirt junior has a pair of three-game streaks recording a sack, including a current on going into this weekend. Morris has 7.0 on the year. In addition to the sacks, he has 9.0 tackles for a loss and a pair of QB hurries, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Morris ranks third in the conference and 16th in the nation with 0.88 sacks per game. Last week, Morris recorded a strip sack and ended up recovering the fumble that helped UNC take the lead going into the half. As a team, Northern Colorado has recorded 19 sacks and has 35 tackles for a loss.

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 joined special company in the game against Sacramento State, becoming the seventh player in program history to eclipse the 2,000 career rushing yards mark. Riek raked up 114 yards in the game to move over the 2,000-yard mark and currently, sits at 2,007 yards. The total ranks him eighth in the program's history for yards. The next person for Riek to pass in the record books is Chuck Taibi (1974-75) and his 2,191 yards.

Big Play Offense
Northern Colorado's offense has been moving the ball in chunks throughout the season, through eight games of the year the team has 57 plays gaining 20 or more yards. Thirty-five of those has come by pass and nine by run. Those big pass plays have helped UNC average 14.34 yards per completion this season, ranking fourth in the Big Sky and 19th in the nation. Northern Colorado has a trio of touchdown passes of at least 80 yards this year, including the longest play of the season coming at Sacramento State when Conor Regan found Alex Wesley for an 83-yard touchdown pass.

Slinging The Ball Around
Northern Colorado's offense is slinging the ball around the yard this year averaging 288.5 yards passing a game. That mark puts the team fifth in the Big Sky for passing offense, but 13th in the FCS. UNC has passed for over 300 yards in four of the eight games this year. The Bears have completed 55.3 percent of its passes this season and averaging 14.34 yards per completion to rank 19th in the FCS and fourth in the Big Sky.

Opportunistic Defense
After only recording 13 turnovers last season, Northern Colorado already matched its total from last year in six games, and now have 15 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 is also second on the team with 74 tackles and tied for third with five pass breakups. Six different Bears have intercepted a pass, and seven different players have recovered a fumble. Even when they are not forcing turnovers, UNC has broken up 31 passes this year, led by Isaiah Swopes seven.

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 closes out the 2017 season when they host Cal Poly on November 18. The Bears and Mustangs kick off at 11:30 am MT. Last season the two teams played in a shootout in California with Cal Poly outlasting UNC 55-48.

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.