After a little bit of déjà vu, the University of Northern Colorado football team has two games in the win column. It might not seem like much, but that means the Bears are right where they need to be with seven games left on the schedule.
UNC (2-2, 1-0 Big Sky) beat Northern Arizona (1-3, 0-1 Big Sky), 17-10, in overtime Saturday at Nottingham Field.
This was the first home win for UNC coach Ed McCaffrey, and the result was exactly reversed from the week before, when the Bears fell to Lamar — 17-10 in overtime.
“I’m so incredibly proud of our guys for finding a way to win,” McCaffrey said. “It was a complete team win; certainly didn’t go as scripted for much of the game, (but) defense showed up again and offense found a way to make a big play.”
Going into overtime, the Bears and Lumberjacks were tied, 10-10. It felt just like the loss last week to Lamar, but with the looming question: Would they fall apart at the end, or would they grind out the gritty victory?
UNC answered that today.
“We had a plan if we went to overtime, and we stuck to it,” McCaffrey said. “Fortunately, it worked today. It didn’t work last week, but it worked this week. I think the difference was the players just had the will to win.”
Graduate quarterback Dylan McCaffrey was back in the lineup this week after missing the game against Lamar. He acknowledges the game started slowly and there were some imperfect plays, but he’s proud of how the team ultimately responded.
In fact, the game-winning touchdown pass was intended for graduate wide receiver Dylan Thomas, but it was tipped off his hands into those of sophomore receiver Jaren Mitchell.
“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Mitchell said. “I just saw the ball, and I knew my team needed a play.”
Ed McCaffrey said the catch wasn’t scripted nor was it easy, but itap exactly what UNC wants from its players — in all position groups. It wants something phenomenal, something beyond what the players are supposed to do.
In this case, even the quarterback didn’t even see it coming. Dylan McCaffrey was tackled after the pass and only knew something good happened when he heard cheering.
“I got up and saw Jaren made a hell of a play,” Dylan McCaffrey said. “Thatap what we were talking about all week. Itap just someone’s got to step up and find a play to make.”
Then, the defense stopped NAU on fourth down to prevent the Lumberjacks from responding, sealing the win.
UNC finished with 254 yards of total offense to NAU’s 357 yards, while the defense logged 94 total tackles, including 10 for a loss.
The Bears ended the 2018 and 2019 seasons with just two wins each. This victory sets UNC up to have a better finish this fall. If the team continues its progress, it could even qualify for the FCS Playoff.
“Thatap the type of win that our program absolutely needed,” Ed McCaffrey said. “We needed to find a way to turn the corner and win those close games. (It) didn’t matter who made the plays — a lot of guys made them at the end of the day — but we just needed someone, somehow, to find a way to make a play to win a ballgame. We found it today, and I’m really proud of our guys.”
