Greeley – Although it wasn’t officially designated as turn- back-the-clock day at Northern Colorado, the 45-14 homecoming victory over Fort Lewis on Saturday sure felt that way.
Having moved up to Division I-AA, Northern Colorado (3-4) got a chance to frolic against a Division II foe, just like old times. Bears senior quarterback Nick Hager, back after missing two games with a separated shoulder, looked like his former self in throwing four touchdowns.
And at halftime, Northern Colorado honored the most successful football coach in its history. Taking advantage of Wyoming’s open date, UNC invited current Cowboys coach Joe Glenn to campus for an honored alumni award.
Glenn coached the Bears to a record of 98-35 from 1989-99, winning the national Division II championship in 1996 and 1997. While at Montana, he won one Division I-AA national championship in the Big Sky Conference, which UNC will join next year.
“You’re darn right we, er, Northern Colorado, will be competitive in the Big Sky,” Glenn said. “Just look at the recruiting base here.”
Bears coach Kay Dalton, who was ready to become a pro scout before Glenn hired him as a UNC assistant in 1989, expects some growing pains in the move to the Big Sky. Dalton divides 42 scholarships among his 60-man roster. Big Sky teams can give 63 scholarships.
“The Big Sky is a great opportunity for us,” Dalton said.
“But what Joe doesn’t understand is that he has never not had an even table to play pool on. It’s going to take some time to get our personnel up to par.”
On the other hand, Fort Lewis coach Ed Rifilato said he has only the equivalent of eight in-state scholarships to divvy up. Fort Lewis, which had not played UNC since 1970, jumped at the chance to come to Greeley for a $25,000 guarantee.
The Skyhawks (5-4) played UNC to a scoreless first quarter before Hager found his rhythm and tossed second-quarter touchdown passes of 31 yards to Andy Birkel and 13 yards to Cory Sleeth.
“Our guys played hard,” Rifilato said, “but they could only hang in there so long with those hogs. I was worried about us getting beat up.”
Skyhawks quarterback Matt Gutierrez passed for 122 yards, well under his season average of 275 yards. He threw three interceptions and was sacked four times.
Hager delighted an announced crowd of 8,561 – second-largest since Nottingham Stadium opened in 1995 – by connecting on 14-for-21 passes for 206 yards without an interception.
“To get 45 points was big for our offense,” Hager said.
Running back Andre Wilson (85 yards) had a six-game streak of 100-yard efforts snapped because he left early in the third quarter with an ankle injury.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
