PREVIEW: Bears Open 2025 Campaign Against Chadron State

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado will kick off the 2025 season against Chadron State at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Nottingham Field.

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LIVE STATS: UNCBears.com/FBStats

GAMEDAY INFO & TIMELINE
The gameday timeline for Saturday is listed below.

Student Tailgate Opens – 10 a.m.
Gates Open – 12 p.m.
National Anthem – 12:56 p.m.
Kickoff – 1:05 p.m.

TICKETS & PARKING
Tickets for Saturday's game are available at UNCBears.com/Tickets.
Parking information for Saturday's game are available at UNCBears.com/FBParking

SEASON NO. 132: Northern Colorado kicks off its 132nd season of football on Saturday, Aug. 31, welcoming Division II opponent Chadron State to Nottingham Field. The Bears begin year three under head coach Ed Lamb, who continues to emphasize long-term program building with an emphasis on local recruiting and player development. This is the ninth all-time meeting between the two programs and the first since 2007, when UNC lost to the Eagles 0-31. Saturday also marks the Bears' first season opener at home since 2022.

SEASON OPENERS: UNC owns a 49-59-3 all-time record in season openers. The Bears are looking to start 1-0 for the first time since 2017, when they defeated the College of Idaho at home. UNC last opened a season at home in 2022, falling to Houston Baptist. This will be Lamb's first season opener at Nottingham Field. The Eagles compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and finished 3-8 in 2024.

THE LAMB ERA: Head coach Ed Lamb enters year three with a clear vision for growth. A veteran of the Big Sky Conference and a two-time Eddie Robinson Award finalist for FCS national coach of the year at Southern Utah, Lamb continues to lay a foundation focused on discipline, player development, and local recruiting. While the Bears went 1-11 (1-7 Big Sky) in 2024, they played their most competitive football late in the year and return several key contributors across both sides of the ball. Saturday's opener also marks the debut of a healthy Peter Costelli at quarterback, a major piece missing from last season's offense.

QB1 RETURNS: After missing most of the 2024 season due to injury, Peter Costelli returns under center as the Bears' starting quarterback. The former Utah signee was slated to be UNC's QB1 last fall before suffering a season-ending injury. Now healthy, the junior brings athleticism, arm talent, and experience to a young offense looking to take a step forward in 2025. Costelli was a standout in spring practices and fall camp, and is expected to lead a unit that includes returning receiver's Brayden Munroe and Carver Cheeks, who emerged late in 2024 as reliable targets.

CHAPA CHASING MORE: Cam Chapa enters 2025 as one of the top young defensive backs in the Big Sky after a breakout freshman campaign. The sophomore earned Freshman All-America honors, was named a Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week, and landed on the 2024 Big Sky Fall All-Academic Team. Chapa led the team in tackles and interceptions, and is poised to be a cornerstone of the Bears' secondary. Chapa was the lone Bear representative on the 2025 Big Sky Preseason All-Conference list. He'll anchor a defensive unit that showed steady improvement as the 2024 season progressed.

LOCAL ROOTS RUN DEEP: Northern Colorado continues to lean into its Colorado recruiting pipeline. The 2025 roster features over 60 in-state players, the second most in the Big Sky Conference behind Sacramento State and over half of the full roster. Head coach Ed Lamb and his staff have made it a point to recruit from within state lines, giving local talent an opportunity to develop and shine at the Division I level. The approach is paying dividends, with multiple projected starters hailing from Colorado, including Cam Chapa, Brayden Munroe, Carver Cheeks, and Ezra Ekuban.

SERIES HISTORY:

Northern Colorado and Chadron State are meeting for the ninth time and the first time since Sept. 8, 2007 - a 31-0 win for the Eagles in Greeley.
This is just the second meeting between the two programs in the last 60+ years. The previous eight matchups were played between 1926 and 2007, with Northern Colorado holding a 5-3 edge in the all-time series.
The Bears are 3-2 against Chadron State in Greeley and 2-1 in Chadron.
Northern Colorado has won two of the last three meetings in the series.
UNC's most lopsided win in the series came in 1963, when the Bears rolled to a 41-0 victory at home.
Northern Colorado has recorded two shutouts in the series (1935 and 1963), while Chadron State has three (1927, 1942, and 2007).
This is the first season opener between the two programs and just the fourth meeting since World War II.

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