First Look

FIRST LOOK: Stumbling Montana travels to new-look Northern Colorado

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Montana’s four-game run-up to the Brawl of the Wild hasn’t been entirely smooth, but the Grizzlies are still on track to head into their season finale on a winning streak as they visit Northern Colorado this weekend.

After losing to Sacramento State, the Griz were expected to have four easy games in a row before their season finale against Montana State. That hasn’t been the case, as Montana barely survived with a one-point win over one-win Southern Utah last week.

One of Northern Colorado’s three wins came against Southern Utah, a 17-9 victory over the Thunderbirds on Oct. 23.

The Bears have been the doormat of the Big Sky Conference since moving up from Division II in 2006, the one team almost guaranteed to be at the bottom of the league standings every year. UNC has won 37 games during its Division I history, including 26 conference contests.

After just two winning seasons in nine years (their only winning seasons since moving to DI), Northern Colorado fired head coach Earnest Collins Jr. after the 2019 season and brought in former Denver Broncos star Ed McCaffrey, whose total coaching experience consisted of two years as a high school head coach, to take over.

The Bears sat out the 2021 spring season aside from two closed-door scrimmages against non-DI teams, meaning the fall season is the first time anybody has seen McCaffrey’s team in action.

Because of that, and because Ed McCaffrey’s son, former Michigan quarterback Dylan McCaffrey, transferred in, they entered the fall surrounded by plenty of intrigue. So far, they’re 3-6, the most wins the team has recorded in a season since 2017. Surprisingly, their offense is in the bottom three in the conference, so that relative success has been driven by a surprising defense that’s ranked in the middle of the Big Sky.

QUICK HITS

Location: Greeley, Colorado

Nickname: Bears

Founded: 1889

Enrollment: 12,084

Stadium: Nottingham Field seats 8,533. Built in 1995, it’s hosted two D-II national championship teams from Northern Colorado. The Bears have averaged 5,213 fans through four home games so far in the fall 2021 season.

Famous alumni: James Michener, author; Chesley Sullenberger, pilot; Justin Gaethje, mixed martial artist; Vincent Jackson, wide receiver

THE TEAM

THE COACH

Ed McCaffrey (first season at Northern Colorado, 3-6)

McCaffrey is certainly the most famous coach in the Big Sky, thanks to his 13-year NFL career that saw him win three Super Bowls and go to one Pro Bowl with the Denver Broncos.

He retired after the 2003 season but didn’t start his coaching career until 2018, when he was named the head coach at Denver-area powerhouse Valor Christian High School. Northern Colorado plucked him away from the Eagles after two years, a big-time gamble that instantly gave the Bears more attention than they’d had in years. They’re betting that his name recognition and recruiting potential will outweigh his inexperience.

McCaffrey brought his oldest son Max, a former Duke wide receiver, with him to Greeley as the offensive coordinator, and a younger son, Dylan, transferred from Michigan to be the quarterback.

In his first year, the Bears have won three games so far, more than the program won in a full season in both 2018 and 2019.

OFFENSE – PLAYERS TO WATCH

QB Dylan McCaffrey, 6-5, 220, Gr.

Northern Colorado quarterback Dylan McCaffrey throws during a game against Montana State on Oct. 2/By Brooks Nuanez

McCaffrey’s oldest brother Max, as previously mentioned, played wide receiver at Duke and went on to bounce around the NFL for multiple years. His other older brother is Christian McCaffrey, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist at Stanford and 2019 Pro Bowler at running back for the Carolina Panthers.

Dylan was a 4-star recruit coming out of high school and picked Michigan, where he played in 13 games for the Wolverines over 2018 and 2019.

After not playing in 2020, he came to the Bears as one of the most high-profile transfers to hit the Big Sky in the last decade.

At 6-foot-5, he’s a pro-framed pocket passer, but has thrown for over 200 yards just twice in eight games for the Bears, in their first game against Colorado and most recent game against Sacramento State.

All told, he’s completed just over 60 percent of his passes for 1,135 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions.

He does have positive rushing yardage in every game, including a 100-yard effort two weeks ago against Southern Utah.

RB Gene Sledge Jr., 6-2, 235, Fr.

Gene Sledge

Sledge is from Huntsville, Alabama, and attended Paul Bryant High School there until transferring to Vista Peak High School in Colorado.

As a freshman for the Bears, he broke onto the scene with two touchdowns in his first game against Houston Baptist and 99 yards the next week against Lamar.

He’s been Northern Colorado’s leading rusher ever since, with his 403 yards nearly double the next-closest player and four of the team’s nine rushing touchdowns (Dylan McCaffrey also has four).

WR Kassidy Woods, 6-4, 220, sophomore

The former four-star recruit is one of a variety of former FBS transfers who dot Northern Colorado’s roster.

The Bears have put a high priority on controlling the clock this season, so passing attempts have been few and far between for an offense that is averaging 279.4 yards per game.

Woods has been McCaffrey’s top target, leading the team with 33 catches, 342 yards and three touchdowns. His top outing came when he snared 11 catches for 123 yards against Northern Arizona. Woods also had four catches for 88 yards and a score against Colorado.

THE DEFENSE – PLAYERS TO WATCH

DL David Hoage, 6-3, 250, So.

David Hoage

Northern Colorado’s defense, which was 12th in the league in scoring defense and gave up over 500 yards a game in 2019, is one of the biggest surprises in the Big Sky in 2021.

It’s still not elite (383.6 yards surrendered a game), but it’s carried the Bears to conference wins by scores of 17-10 and 17-9.

Like the unit as a whole, Hoage has come out of essentially nowhere, and is probably the Big Sky’s biggest individual surprise on defense besides Montana State’s Daniel Hardy.

Hoage, from Denver, had 19 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss as a true freshman in 2019. In 2021, he’s leading the Big Sky with 19 TFLs in nine games, a whisker behind Portland State’s VJ Malo in per-game average and ahead of Montana’s Patrick O’Connell and MSU’s Hardy.

Only eight players in the conference have even reached double digits in TFLs.

Hoage is also fourth in the conference in sacks with 8.5, has eight other quarterback hits, and is tied for second on Northern Colorado with 56 total tackles.

LB Jace Bobo, 6-1, 215, Jr.

Jace Bobo

If Hoage is the destructive pass rusher, Bobo is the field-covering linebacker for the Bears.

The junior from Houston played in 10 games as a true freshman in 2018 and finished fifth on the team in tackles in 2019.

Like the rest of the defense, he’s taken a big step forward in 2021, leading the team with 78 total tackles.

He’s also been plenty versatile, with four tackles for loss, a sack, and joint-team-highs in interceptions with two and pass breakups with three.

Photos by Brooks Nuanez and Attributed. All Rights Reserved.

About Andrew Houghton

Andrew Houghton grew up in Washington, DC. He graduated from the University of Montana journalism school in December 2015 and spent time working on the sports desk at the Daily Tribune News in Cartersville, Georgia, before moving back to Missoula and becoming a part of Skyline Sports in early 2018.

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