2021 Northern Colorado Bears football team

2021 Northern Colorado Bears football
2021 Northern Colorado Bears football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	3–8 (2–6 Big Sky)
Head coach	Ed McCaffrey (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Max McCaffrey (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Scott Darnell (1st season)
Home stadium	Nottingham Field
	Seasons ← 2019 2022 →

Last updated December 13, 2023

2021 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 10 Sacramento State $^	8	–	0	9	–	3
No. 2 Montana State ^	7	–	1	11	–	3
No. 7 Eastern Washington ^	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 6 Montana ^	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 17 UC Davis ^	5	–	3	8	–	4
Weber State	5	–	3	6	–	5
Northern Arizona	4	–	4	5	–	6
Portland State	4	–	4	5	–	6
Idaho	3	–	5	4	–	7
Northern Colorado	2	–	6	3	–	8
Cal Poly	1	–	7	2	–	9
Idaho State	1	–	7	1	–	10
Southern Utah	0	–	8	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2021 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Ed McCaffrey and played their home games at Nottingham Field.

Preseason

Big Sky preseason poll

On July 26, 2021, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Mustangs were predicted to finish in the Big Sky last in the media and twelfth in the coaches.^[1]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Weber State	(7)
2	Montana	(3)
3	Eastern Washington	(2)
4	Montana State	(1)
5	Sacramento State	(1)
6	UC Davis
7	Northern Arizona
8	Idaho
9	Idaho State
10	Portland State
11	Southern Utah
12	Cal Poly
13	Northern Colorado

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Weber State	(14)
2	Montana	(4)
3	Eastern Washington	(3)
4	Montana State	(3)
5	Sacramento State
6	UC Davis
7	Northern Arizona
8	Idaho
9	Idaho State
10	Portland State
11	Southern Utah
12	Northern Colorado
13	Cal Poly

Preseason All-Big Sky team

The Bears did not have any players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:00 p.m.	at Colorado *	Folsom Stadium Boulder, CO	P12N	L 7–35	44,153
September 11	5:00 p.m.	at Houston Baptist *	Husky Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN+	W 45–13	2,135
September 18	2:00 p.m.	Lamar *	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	L 10–17 ^OT	5,605
September 25	1:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	W 17–10 ^OT	5,769
October 2	1:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Montana State	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	L 7–40	20,127
October 9	1:00 p.m.	No. 4 Eastern Washington	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	L 17–63	5,413
October 16	6:00 p.m.	at No. 13 UC Davis	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	L 3–32	10,963
October 23	6:00 p.m.	at Southern Utah	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	ESPN+	W 17–9	3,208
October 30	1:00 p.m.	No. 15 Sacramento State	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	L 24–27	4,068
November 6	12:00 p.m.	No. 11 Montana	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	L 0–35	4,987
November 20	1:00 p.m.	at Weber State	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	ESPN+	L 17-48	3,242
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

Source: Schedule

Conference opponents not played this season: Cal Poly, Idaho, Idaho State, Portland State

Game summaries

At Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	7	0	7
Buffaloes	0	14	7	14	35

At Houston Baptist

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	14	7	17	7	45
Huskies	0	6	7	0	13

Lamar

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Cardinals	0	7	0	3	7	17
Bears	0	7	0	3	0	10

Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Lumberjacks	0	7	0	3	0	10
Bears	0	3	7	0	7	17

At No. 11 Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	7	0	0	7
No. 11 Bobcats	17	10	13	0	40

No. 4 Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Eagles	22	21	10	10	63
Bears	3	7	7	0	17

At No. 13 UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	3	3
No. 13 Aggies	0	11	7	14	32

At Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	3	0	7	17
Thunderbirds	3	0	3	3	9

No. 15 Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Hornets	10	7	3	7	27
Bears	0	7	10	7	24

No. 11 Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Grizzlies	14	7	14	0	35
Bears	0	0	0	0	0

At Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	3	21	24	0	48
Bears	3	14	0	0	17

Related Research Articles

The Big Sky Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. As of 2023, full member institutions are located in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Two affiliate members from California are football–only participants.

The Montana Grizzlies football program represents the University of Montana in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of college football. The Grizzlies have competed in the Big Sky Conference since 1963, where it is a founding member. They play their home games on campus in Missoula at Washington–Grizzly Stadium, where they had an average attendance of 26,978 in 2023.

The 2018 Northern Colorado Bears football team, represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by eighth-year head coach Earnest Collins Jr. and played their home games at Nottingham Field. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 2–9, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in 11th place.

The 2018 Sacramento State Hornets football team represented California State University, Sacramento as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by Jody Sears in his fifth and final season as head coach, Sacramento State compiled an overall record of 2–8 with a mark of 0–7 in conference play, placing last out of 13 teams in the Big Sky. The Hornets played home games at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California.

The 2019 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Vandals played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho, and were members of the Big Sky Conference. They were led by seventh-year head coach Paul Petrino. They finished the season 5–7, 3–5 in Big Sky play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place.

The 2019 Idaho State Bengals football team represented Idaho State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by third-year head coach Rob Phenicie, the Bengals compiled an overall record of 3–9 with a mark of 2–6 in conference play, placing in a five-way tie for ninth in the Big Sky. Idaho State played their home games at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho.

The 2019 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by ninth-year head coach Earnest Collins Jr. and played their home games at Nottingham Field. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 2–10, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a five-way tie for ninth place. On November 24, 2019, Earnest Collins Jr. was let go after nine seasons, he finished at Northern Colorado with a record of 28–72.

The 2019 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team represented Southern Utah University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Demario Warren and played their home games at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City, Utah as eighth-year members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 3–9, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a five-way tie for ninth place.

The 2019 Sacramento State Hornets football team represented California State University, Sacramento as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Troy Taylor, the Hornets compiled an overall record of 9–4 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, sharing the Big Sky title with Weber State. Sacramento State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs where, after a first-round bye, they lost to Austin Peay in the second round. The Hornets played home games at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California.

The 2019 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team represented Northern Arizona University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 1st-year head coach Chris Ball and played their home games at the Walkup Skydome. They were members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 4–8, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a five-way tie for ninth place.

The 2019 Weber State Wildcats football team represented Weber State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Wildcats were led by fifth-year head coach Jay Hill and played their games at Stewart Stadium as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 11–4, 7–1 in Big Sky play to finish in a two-way tie for the Big Sky championship with Sacramento State. They received the Big Sky's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where, after a first round bye, they defeated Kennesaw State in the second round and Montana in the quarterfinals before losing to James Madison in the semifinals.

The 2020 Eastern Washington Eagles football team represented Eastern Washington University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Aaron Best, the Eagles played their home games at Roos Field in Cheney, Washington.

The 2021 Idaho State Bengals football team represented Idaho State University in the Big Sky Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by fifth-year head coach Rob Phenicie, the Bengals finished at 1–10 and played their home games on campus at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho.

The 2021 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team represented Southern Utah University in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Demario Warren and played their home games at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City, Utah. They played their final season as a member of the Big Sky Conference, as they would depart for the Western Athletic Conference for the 2022 season.

The 2021 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the Big Sky Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by ninth-year head coach Paul Petrino, the Vandals were 4–7, and played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho.

The 2022 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Jason Eck, the Vandals were 7–4 in the regular season and played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho. It was the program's first winning season in six years.

The 2022 Idaho State Bengals football team represented Idaho State University in the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. In their only season under head coach Charlie Ragle, the Bengals were 1–10 and played their home games on campus at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho.

The 2022 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Ed McCaffrey and played their home games at Nottingham Field. McCaffrey was fired on November 21, 2022, two days after the Bears completed their season with a 3–8 record, repeating the win-loss record of the prior season.

The 2023 Idaho State Bengals football team represented Idaho State University in the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Cody Hawkins, the Bengals played their home games on campus at Holt Arena, an indoor facility in Pocatello, Idaho.

The 2023 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They are led by first-year head coach Ed Lamb and played their home games at Nottingham Field.

References

↑ "Weber State Picked to Win Big Sky by Coaches and Media". July 26, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
↑ "2021 Preseason All-Big Sky Conference Teams Announced". July 26, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.

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[1] "Weber State Picked to Win Big Sky by Coaches and Media". July 26, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.

[2] "2021 Preseason All-Big Sky Conference Teams Announced". July 26, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.

[1]

[2]

v t e Northern Colorado Bears football
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