2022 Northern Colorado Bears football team

The 2022 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Ed McCaffrey and played their home games at Nottingham Field. McCaffrey was fired on November 21, 2022, two days after the Bears completed their season with a 3–8 record (2–6 in Big Sky play), repeating the win-loss record of the prior season.[1]

2022 Northern Colorado Bears football
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Record3–8 (2–6 Big Sky)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMax McCaffrey (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorScott Darnell (2nd season)
Home stadiumNottingham Field
Seasons
← 2021
2023 →
2022 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 4 Montana State +^   8 0     12 2  
No. 5 Sacramento State +^   8 0     12 1  
No. 9 Weber State ^   6 2     10 3  
No. 18 Idaho ^   6 2     7 5  
No. 25 UC Davis   5 3     6 5  
No. 14 Montana ^   4 4     8 5  
Portland State   3 5     4 7  
Eastern Washington   2 6     3 8  
Northern Colorado   2 6     3 8  
Northern Arizona   2 6     3 8  
Idaho State   1 7     1 10  
Cal Poly   1 7     2 9  
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

edit

Polls

edit

On July 25, 2022, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Bengals were predicted to finish in a tie for eleventh in the Big Sky by the coaches and eleventh by the media.[2]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Montana 111 (3)
2 Sacramento State 110 (4)
3 Montana State 109 (5)
4 Weber State 84
5 UC Davis 82
6 Eastern Washington 76
7 Northern Arizona 62
8 Idaho 45
9 Portland State 42
10 Cal Poly 33
T-11 Idaho State 19
T-11 Northern Colorado 19
Media poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Montana 356 (14)
2 Montana State 352 (13)
3 Sacramento State 335 (4)
4 Weber State 261
5 UC Davis 255 (1)
6 Eastern Washington 236
7 Northern Arizona 191
8 Portland State 146
9 Idaho 142
10 Cal Poly 85
11 Northern Colorado 71
12 Idaho State 66

Preseason All–Big Sky team

edit

The Bears had one player selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.[3]

Schedule

edit
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 32:00 p.m.Houston Baptist*ESPN+L 34–464,419
September 102:00 p.m.at Wyoming*MW NetworkL 10–3322,863
September 175:00 p.m.at Lamar*ESPN+W 21–144,933
September 241:00 p.m.Idaho State 
  • Nottingham Field
  • Greeley, CO
ESPN+W 35–145,292
October 17:00 p.mat IdahoESPN+L 35–5510,759
October 87:00 p.m.at No. 5 Sacramento StateESPN+L 7–5511,013
October 151:00 p.m. No. 4 Montana State
  • Nottingham Field
  • Greeley, CO
ESPN+L 14–374,796
October 221:00 p.m.UC Davis
  • Notthingham Field
  • Greeley, CO
ESPN+L 10–584,499
November 53:00 p.m.at Portland StateESPN+L 21–352,771
November 1212:00 p.m.Northern Arizona
  • Nottingham Field
  • Greeley, CO
ESPN+W 21–203,769
November 192:00 p.m.at Eastern WashingtonESPN+L 21–454,099

Conference opponents not played this season: Cal Poly, Montana, Weber State

Game summaries

edit

vs Houston Baptist

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Huskies 6 16 10 14 46
Bears 7 7 0 20 34

at Wyoming

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 0 0 3 7 10
Cowboys 3 6 7 17 33

at Lamar

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 7 7 7 0 21
Cardinals 0 7 0 7 14

Statistics

Statistics Northern Colorado Lamar
First downs 19 21
Total yards 270 299
Rushing yards 52 217
Passing yards 218 82
Turnovers 3 0
Time of possession 27:39 32:21
Team Category Player Statistics
Northern Colorado Passing Jacob Sirmon 16/28; 218 total yards; 43 long
Rushing David Afari 7 attempts; 41 yards; 11 long
Receiving Trevis Graham 5 receptions; 97 total yards; 43 long
Lamar Passing Nick Yockey 10/11; 71 total yards; 16 long
Rushing Khalan Griffin 10 attempts; 66 total yards; 10 yards long
Receiving Sevonne Rhea 3 receptions; 36 yards; 16 yards long

vs Idaho State

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Bengals 0 14 0 0 14
Bears 0 14 0 21 35

at Idaho

edit
Northern Colorado Bears (2–2) vs Idaho Vandals (2–2) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bears 6 14 8735
Vandals 10 14 211055

at Kibbie DomeMoscow, ID

  • Date: October 1, 2022
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: Sunny
  • Game attendance: 10,759
  • Referee: Steve Hanni
  • TV: ESPN+
Game information

at No. 5 Sacramento State

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 0 0 7 0 7
No. 5 Hornets 7 17 21 10 55

vs no. 4 Montana State

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 4 Bobcats 3 14 13 7 37
Bears 7 7 0 0 14

vs UC Davis

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Aggies 6 21 14 17 58
Bears 3 0 0 7 10

at Portland State

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 0 28 7 0 35
Vikings 14 0 0 7 21

vs Northern Arizona

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Lumberjacks 7 3 0 10 20
Bears 3 0 10 8 21

at Eastern Washington

edit
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 0 14 7 0 21
Eagles 7 14 14 10 45

References

edit
  1. ^ "McCaffrey will not return as Northern Colorado head football coach". Northern Colorado Bears. November 21, 2022.
  2. ^ "Montana Tabbed Big Sky Preseason Favorites by Coaches & Media". July 25, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  3. ^ "Hoage Named to Preseason All-Big Sky Team". Northern Colorado University. July 25, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.