@UNCBearsFootball upset bid comes up short vs. No. 7 Weber State

Saturday, September 22

Ogden, Utah

6 pm

University of Northern Colorado

0-1 , 0-1

Weber State

3-1 , 1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Northern Colorado

Weber State

UNC comes up short against No. 7 Weber State

Photo by: Brian Smith / University of Northern Colorado

9/22/2018 9:40:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Ryan Ronan

OGDEN, UTAH – Facing a top-10 team on the road there are always certain things a team has to do if they want to spring the upset. However you want to rank them, not turning the ball over and avoiding costly mistakes are always high on the list. Trailing 38-28 and looking at fourth and ball game, Northern Colorado had temporally kept its hopes alive against No. 7 Weber State, but a holding call brought the play back. On the redo, the Wildcats forced Keaton Mott into a desperation heave that came up empty. WSU took over possession, added some icing to the cake and went on to win, 45-28.

"When you are 0-4 you just have to tell the guys to keep on fighting," said UNC head coach Earnest Collins Jr. "They are hurting right now and I get it. All you can do is keep battling, because if you quit you are going to lose period, so you can't do that and keep battling. It will turn for us at some point in this season and we look forward to keep battling next week."

The holding call itself didn't cost the Bears the chance to spring the upset, it just happened to be the final miscue. UNC was called for nine penalties totaling nearly 100 yards, however more impactful than the yellow hankies were the big plays and turnovers.

After mounting a furious comeback at the end of the first half, the game swung in the opening minutes of the third quarter. By opening, we're talking the second half kickoff, which was returned 100 yards by Rashid Shaheed. UNC came out looking to prove once again that they were ready to respond, unfortunately, Mott was intercepted and WSU took over on the fringe of the red zone. Three plays later Josh Davis punched it in for six and the Wildcats went up two scores following the point after.

The mistakes started early, and actually started with the Wildcats. On their opening possession, Jake Constantine had his pass deflected and intercepted by Keifer Glau. Milo Hall cashed in the turnover with a 13-yard TD run and the Bears went up 7-0.

Weber went right down the field to tie the game, 7-7. UNC wasn't fazed, Mott led the offense right back down the field and was looking to give the Bears the lead back when he lowered his shoulder and went for the goal line. Unfortunately, he was so focused on trying to score that the ball popped out and was recovered by the Wildcats. It was third and six and it looked like UNC was going avoid any further damage from the fumble, but Davis had other ideas when he broke through the line and raced 95 yards to give WSU a 14-7 lead.

"Keaton is that kind of guy he has a lot of fight in him and isn't going to give in. He has to learn though that he is not a running back and to treat his body right not going out there trying to run over guys," Collins Jr. said.

Weber went up 21-7 early in the second quarter, the Bears showed their fight with a seven play 92-yard drive that ended with a Mott to Theron Verna TD pass. UNC wasn't done, with just over 90 seconds left in the half, Mott found Alex Wesley for a 42-yard pass and catch, which allowed UNC to tie the game headed into the break. The fight continued in the third quarter after WSU went up 35-21, UNC went right down the field capped by a Mott to Michael McCauley one-yard touchdown.

Mott finished the game 17-for-33 for 262 yards and three touchdowns, but also had a pair of INTs and lost a fumble.

Hall led UNC with 80 yards on 18 carries and the one score.

QUICK HITS
- Alex Wesley finished with 137 yards receiving, the seventh time in his career and third time this season he has eclipsed 100 yards.
- Verna has now caught a TD pass in three-straight games, the first Bear to do so since Wesley last season.
- Verna also leads the team with three TDs this season.
- In addition to his interception, Glau added a forced fumble and fumble recovery. It was his first game with multiple turnovers as a Bear.

UNC returns to Nottingham Field next week to take on the up-and-down North Dakota Fighting Hawks. UND is coming off a 25-21 loss at Idaho State.