It would be tough to find a more depressing loss in Northern Colorado’s 115-year football history than the heartwrencher it lost last Saturday.
Trailing Texas State by three points, but rolling with less than two minutes remaining, quarterback Bryan Waggener led the Bears 76 yards on nine plays. He threw a 30-yard, pinpoint pass to Ryan Chesla that some thought was a touchdown. Instead, Chesla was called down at the 1-yard line.
On the next play, with less than 30 seconds left, Waggener ran a QB sneak. He fumbled. Texas State recovered. Game over: 38-35.
The pain.
In the history of college football, the ending must rank among the most disappointing. UNC (0-2) dropped its record to 2-24 since the start of the 2006 season, when the program joined the Big Sky Conference.
“Obviously it was a disappointment to lose a game like that,” UNC coach Scott Downing told reporters after the loss. “We fought back to tie it. Fought back to take the lead. And driving down at the end of the game with the potential to score a touchdown and end the game in regulation.”
But it’s not the setbacks that matter. It’s the rebound.
The Bears hop back into action Saturday when they host Northern Arizona (2-1) in the Big Sky opener for both teams at Nottingham Field.
For UNC, it will be another chance to stretch its offensive wings. The Bears through two games, including a loss to host Purdue in the opening week, have compiled an average of 458 yards on offense. They gained 578 yards last week against Texas State.
Saturday’s matchup will also give the Bears a chance to avenge a 54-3 loss to the Lumberjacks in the team’s last meeting in Greeley, in 2006.
Waggener’s 304 passing yards per game this season are among the best in the Big Sky. He trails the leader, Weber State’s Cameron Higgins, by 4 yards per game.
Northern Colorado faces Northern Arizona at 1:30 p.m.
Heart-stoppers
UNC’s loss to Texas State last week isn’t alone in heartbreaking college football finishes.
1969: After Alabama scored late to go ahead 33-32, Archie Manning drove Mississippi downfield, but his fourth-down sneak with seconds remaining failed.
1979: The great goal-line stand game. Alabama held Penn State on four consecutive goal-to-go plays, the final inches from a touchdown, and won 14-7.
1980: BYU came from 20 points behind in the final minutes of the Holiday Bowl to beat SMU, winning on a 45-yard Hail Mary pass from Jim McMahon as time expired.
1990: Colorado continued an undefeated season with a last-second win over Missouri … on fifth down.
AROUND TOWN
Get ready for the ThunderWolves.
The metro area will get its first look at the revamped CSU-Pueblo football team Saturday when the ThunderWolves travel to Golden to take on Colorado Mines in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game.
The game will go far in shaking up the early RMAC standings. CSU-Pueblo, surprisingly, started its first season of football since 1985 at 2-1, after wins over Oklahoma Panhandle State and Fort Lewis.
The Orediggers (3-1) are one of four teams undefeated in conference play and are tied atop the standings.
It will be the 18th matchup between Pueblo and Mines since they first met in 1964. The game starts at noon.
STAY ON THE COUCH
Say goodbye to summer.
There are several reasons to tune in to see the Rockies this weekend as they go to Phoenix for a season-ending three-game series with the Diamondbacks.
Neither team will be playing next week. But future lineups could be decided, as young late-season call-ups — such as Colorado center fielder Dexter Fowler — are getting a look at the big leagues.
The Rockies (73-85 through Wednesday) will also attempt to finish fewer than 10 games below .500 for just the third time this decade.
The Rox face Arizona tonight at 7:30 (FSN); Saturday at 6 p.m. (KTVD-20); and Sunday at 2 p.m. (FSN).
Also on TV this weekend:
Rapids: at N.Y. Red Bulls, Saturday, 5:30 p.m., ALT
Broncos: at Kansas City, Sunday, 11 a.m., CBS (KCNC-4)
Boxing: “Sugar” Shane Mosley vs. Ricardo Mayorga, 8:30 p.m., HBO
GET OFF THE COUCH
Sports venue circuit training.
Runners and walkers, both competitive and casual, can get an up-close look at Denver’s professional sports stadiums Sunday during the Fans on the Field 10K and 5K.
The 10K timed run starts with a lap around Invesco Field, goes down the South Platte trail to Coors Field, around the warning track, then cuts through town to dissect the Pepsi Center floor. The 5K fun run/walk follows nearly the same route, but excludes the Coors Field leg.
It’s all a benefit for the National Sports Center for the Disabled. Check for information.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Calling your inner pro.
The Colorado 14ers, the Nuggets’ NBA Development League affiliate, this weekend will hold open tryouts at the Broomfield Event Center for spots on the team’s roster next season.
Players — and we’re talking real ball players here, not backyard HORSE players — should register starting at 10 a.m. Saturday. Tryouts go through Sunday.
“These tryouts will be a good opportunity to look beyond the players that are a part of the D-League draft and potentially find local talent,” 14ers coach Bob MacKinnon said.
Check for info.
NEVER TOO EARLY
Snow time like present.
In an attempt to beat Arapahoe Basin to the opening-lift punch, Loveland Ski Area on Tuesday started making snow for the upcoming season.
A-Basin last year opened Oct. 10, the earliest resort opening in the nation. It was the second consecutive year A-Basin opened first.
Loveland hasn’t set a date for opening this season, so the race is still on. But it is the first to start producing snow.
