GREELEY — Teammates voted Northern Colorado senior quarterback Dylan Orms a team captain. UNC coaches wanted sophomore Seth Lobato to take the first offensive snap of the season, leaving Orms as the backup QB.
In the Bears’ season opener Saturday, Orms had an opportunity to prove the coaches wrong. Lobato, who transferred to UNC from the University of Colorado, where he was a walk-on, didn’t play in the second half because of concussion symptoms.
Orms did everything he could to keep UNC from losing 22-20 to Lindenwood at Nottingham Field. Orms engineered a late scoring drive, but Lindenwood won on a last-play field goal.
UNC plays this weekend at Colorado State, the teams’ first meeting since 1986.
“It’s real motivation against CSU,” Orms said. “Some people might say we don’t even have a shot, especially after . . . losing to a school most people thought we should beat.”
Lobato’s size (6-foot-5, 221 pounds) makes the Eaton product more physically suited for the pounding a quarterback can take in UNC’s new spread offense, but Orms (6-1, 198) can handle contact too.
“Dylan was named captain after we announced Seth as the starter,” said Earnest Collins Jr., UNC’s new head coach. “It wasn’t about who is the starter. I told the kids, ‘You pick your captain.’ And they picked him.
“It’s not about who’s behind who. It’s our football team. (Dylan) did a great job (in the opener), which is what I expected him to do.”
Orms rushed for 19 yards and completed 5-of-10 passes for 65 yards in the second half. Two of his drives ended in Dave Eden field goals, the second producing a 20-19 lead with 1:10 remaining.
During his final drive, Orms had a 30-yard completion on a third-and-25 play. Lobato, who was hurt on the last play of the first half, finished 11-of-17 for 97 yards and a touchdown.
“I have complete faith in Dylan,” said UNC quarterbacks coach Jon Boyer, a former Bears player. “He’s our team leader and our team captain. Based off what we believed were our strengths, Seth was the guy to start off this season.”
Boyer said Lobato will be the starter against CSU if he is cleared to play.
Orms was a 10-game starter last year as a junior, throwing for 2,055 yards and 15 touchdowns. He passed for 344 yards and four touchdowns against Montana State. But the Bears finished 3-8 for the second consecutive season and a coaching change was made. Collins proclaimed a wide-open quarterback race with Orms, Lobato and junior Matt Baca competing for the No. 1 job.
“It was really tough,” said Orms, a former Wheat Ridge High School star. “At first I didn’t take it really well. I didn’t know how to respond to it. I eventually realized that things happen and sometimes you’re not going to win.”
He tried to stay positive during August camp. Then Lobato was helped off the field in the opener.
“To see a player go down, it kills you because you know how hard those guys work,” Orms said. “I know how much it means to him to get his first start. It wasn’t something I wanted to see happen.”
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
