GREELEY — There was no chance Northern Colorado’s bad-news Bears would emerge in the final minutes today. No chance the Bears would suffer another heart-breaking defeat.
Not with the Bears finally playing up to their potential, dominating Idaho State in the first half en route to a 29-9 victory on a misty, bone-chilling day at Nottingham Field.
UNC (1-4, 1-1 Big Sky) snapped a seven-game losing streak dating to last season.
In each of the past three games, UNC found a painful way to lose in the final minutes. But today, the Bears racked up 403 yards of offense, 249 coming in the first half. Running back D.C. Wilson rushed for 125 yards on 15 carries, most of it coming on a 75-yard run up the gut early in the second quarter, putting UNC in control, 27-7.
Hapless ISU (0-6, 0-3) lost its 10th straight. The Bengals, haunted by a porous defense, have been outscored 236-130 this season. They brought the nation’s 115th-ranked defense to Greeley.
Action in the scoreless second half slowed to a crawl as increasingly slick conditions and a morass of penalties bogged down both teams. The teams combined for 23 penalties.
The Bengals put themselves in an early hole when long-snapper Chris Kirkegaard launched the ball over punter Jon Vanderwielen. Vanderwielen kicked the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
UNC quickly made it 9-0, taking over after the free kick and driving 60 yards in nine plays. Quarterback Bryan Waggener threaded a perfect 3-yard touchdown pass to Jason Caprioli for the score. Waggener added a 28-yard scoring pass Alex Thompson late in the first quarter, boosting UNC’s lead to 16-7.
ISU’s safety was the first of three in the game. UNC scored another two points late in the first quarter when ISU quarterback Russell Hill mishandled a snap in his end zone and was buried by Bears defenders Myles Hayes and Josh Mack. ISU scored two points midway through the second quarter when it blocked Cameron Karman’s punt out of the end zone.
UNC, which limited the Bengals to 80 yard in the first half, picked off four passes, two by Max Hewitt and one each by Hayes and Quincy Wofford.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
