2022 Northern Colorado Bears football team

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 (2–6 in Big Sky play), repeating the win-loss record of the prior season.^[1]

ConferenceBig Sky Conference

Record3–8 (2–6 Big Sky)

Headcoach

Ed McCaffrey (2nd season)

OffensivecoordinatorMax McCaffrey (2nd season)

Quick facts Northern Colorado Bears football, Conference ...

2022 Northern Colorado Bears football

Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	3–8 (2–6 Big Sky)
Head coach	Ed McCaffrey (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Max McCaffrey (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Scott Darnell (2nd season)
Home stadium	Nottingham Field
Seasons ← 2021 2023 →

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More information Conf., Overall ...

2022 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Montana State +^	8	–	0	12	–	2
No. 5 Sacramento State +^	8	–	0	12	–	1
No. 9 Weber State ^	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 18 Idaho ^	6	–	2	7	–	5
No. 25 UC Davis	5	–	3	6	–	5
No. 14 Montana ^	4	–	4	8	–	5
Portland State	3	–	5	4	–	7
Eastern Washington	2	–	6	3	–	8
Northern Colorado	2	–	6	3	–	8
Northern Arizona	2	–	6	3	–	8
Idaho State	1	–	7	1	–	10
Cal Poly	1	–	7	2	–	9

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

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Preseason

Polls

On July 25, 2022, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Bengals were predicted to finish in a tie for eleventh in the Big Sky by the coaches and eleventh by the media.^[2]

Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Bears had one player selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.^[3]

Defense

David Hoage – LB

Schedule

More information Date, Time ...

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	2:00 p.m.	Houston Baptist*	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	L 34–46	4,419
September 10	2:00 p.m.	at Wyoming*	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY	MW Network	L 10–33	22,863
September 17	5:00 p.m.	at Lamar*	Provost Umphrey Stadium Beaumont, TX	ESPN+	W 21–14	4,933
September 24	1:00 p.m.	Idaho State	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	W 35–14	5,292
October 1	7:00 p.m	at Idaho	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	ESPN+	L 35–55	10,759
October 8	7:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Sacramento State	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	ESPN+	L 7–55	11,013
October 15	1:00 p.m.	No. 4 Montana State	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	L 14–37	4,796
October 22	1:00 p.m.	UC Davis	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	L 10–58	4,499
November 5	3:00 p.m.	at Portland State	Hillsboro Stadium Hillsboro, OR	ESPN+	L 21–35	2,771
November 12	12:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	W 21–20	3,769
November 19	2:00 p.m.	at Eastern Washington	Roos Field Cheney, WA	ESPN+	L 21–45	4,099
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

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Game summaries

vs Houston Baptist

More information Total ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	6	16	10	14	46
Bears	7	7	0	20	34

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at Wyoming

More information Total ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	3	7	10
Cowboys	3	6	7	17	33

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at Lamar

More information Total ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	7	7	0	21
Cardinals	0	7	0	7	14

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Statistics

More information Statistics, Northern Colorado ...

Statistics	Northern Colorado	Lamar
First downs	19	21
Total yards	270	299
Rushing yards	52	217
Passing yards	218	82
Turnovers	3	0
Time of possession	27:39	32:21

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More information Team, Category ...

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northern Colorado	Passing	Jacob Sirmon	16/28; 218 total yards; 43 long
	Rushing	David Afari	7 attempts; 41 yards; 11 long
	Receiving	Trevis Graham	5 receptions; 97 total yards; 43 long
Lamar	Passing	Nick Yockey	10/11; 71 total yards; 16 long
	Rushing	Khalan Griffin	10 attempts; 66 total yards; 10 yards long
	Receiving	Sevonne Rhea	3 receptions; 36 yards; 16 yards long

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vs Idaho State

Idaho State Bengals (0–3) at Northern Colorado Bears (1–2) – Game summary

More information Quarter, Total ...

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	0	14	0	0	14
Bears	0	14	0	21	35

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at Nottingham Field • Greeley, Colorado

Date: September 24
Game time: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: Sunny, 80 °F (27 °C)
Game attendance: 5,292
Referee: Scott Root
TV: ESPN+

More information Game information ...

Game information
First quarter No scoring plays Second quarter (12:22) UNCO – Ty Arrington 8-yard pass from Dylan McCaffrey, Hunter Green kick (Drive: 3 plays, 43 yards, 0:51; Northern Colorado 7–0) (9:21) IDST – Shane Dailey Jr. 29-yard pass from Hunter Hays, Ian Hershey kick (Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 3:01; Tied 7–7) (6:13) UNCO – David Afari 1-yard run, Hunter Green kick (Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 3:08; Northern Colorado 14–7) (2:30) IDST – Xavier Guillory 51-yard pass from Hunter Hays, Ian Hershey kick (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:43; Tied 14–14) Third quarter No scoring plays Fourth quarter (14:23) UNCO – Elijah Dotson 2-yard run, Hunter Green kick (Drive: 15 plays, 77 yards, 6:32; Northern Colorado 21–14) (10:26) UNCO – Elijah Dotson 82-yard punt return, Hunter Green kick (Northern Colorado 28–14) (9:13) UNCO – Elijah Anderson-Taylor 47-yard fumble return, Hunter Green kick (Northern Colorado 35–14)

Game information

First quarter

No scoring plays

Second quarter

(12:22) UNCO – Ty Arrington 8-yard pass from Dylan McCaffrey, Hunter Green kick (Drive: 3 plays, 43 yards, 0:51; Northern Colorado 7–0)
(9:21) IDST – Shane Dailey Jr. 29-yard pass from Hunter Hays, Ian Hershey kick (Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 3:01; Tied 7–7)
(6:13) UNCO – David Afari 1-yard run, Hunter Green kick (Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 3:08; Northern Colorado 14–7)
(2:30) IDST – Xavier Guillory 51-yard pass from Hunter Hays, Ian Hershey kick (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:43; Tied 14–14)

Third quarter

No scoring plays

Fourth quarter

(14:23) UNCO – Elijah Dotson 2-yard run, Hunter Green kick (Drive: 15 plays, 77 yards, 6:32; Northern Colorado 21–14)
(10:26) UNCO – Elijah Dotson 82-yard punt return, Hunter Green kick (Northern Colorado 28–14)
(9:13) UNCO – Elijah Anderson-Taylor 47-yard fumble return, Hunter Green kick (Northern Colorado 35–14)

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More information Statistics, IDST ...

Statistics	IDST	UNCO
First downs	22	23
Plays–yards	69–423	69–384
Rushes–yards	29–141	41–150
Passing yards	282	234
Passing: comp–att–int	27–40–1	23–28–0
Time of possession	29:34	30:26

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More information Team, Category ...

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Idaho State	Passing	Hunter Hays	25/34, 264 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Raiden Hunter	17 carries, 111 yards
	Receiving	Xavier Guillory	7 receptions, 120 yards, TD
Northern Colorado	Passing	Dylan McCaffrey	23/28, 234 yards, TD
	Rushing	Elijah Dotson	24 carries, 102 yards, TD
	Receiving	Alec Pell	6 receptions, 86 yards

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at Idaho

Northern Colorado Bears (2–2) vs Idaho Vandals (2–2) – Game summary

More information Quarter, Total ...

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	6	14	8	7	35
Vandals	10	14	21	10	55

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at Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID

Date: October 1, 2022
Game time: 7:00 p.m. MST
Game weather: Sunny
Game attendance: 10,759
Referee: Steve Hanni
TV: ESPN+

More information Game information ...

Game information

First quarter

IDHO – Jermaine Jackson 26-yard pass from Gevani McCoy (Ricardo Chavez kick), 13:25. Drive: 4 play, 75 yards, 1:35.
NCU – David Afari 14-yard run, 9:04. Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:21.
IDHO – Ricardo Chavez 21-yard field goal, 0:40. Drive: 15 plays, 67 yards, 8:18.

Second quarter

NCU – Ty Arrington 31-yard pass from Dylan McCaffrey (Devin Bale kick), 7:19. Drive: 3 plays, 71 yards, 1:03.
IDHO – Elisha Cummings 27-yard run (Ricardo Chavez kick), 4:12. Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:07.
NCU - Elijah Dotson 2-yard run (Devin Bale kick), 1:21. Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 2:51.
IDHO - Elisha Cummings 25-yard run (Ricardo Chavez kick), 0:35. Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 0:46.

Third quarter

IDHO – Anthony Woods 15-yard run (Ricardo Chavez kick), 10:35. Drive: 6 plays, 59 yards, 2:50.
NCU – Elijah Dotson 8-yard pass from Dylan McCaffrey (Ty Arrington pass), 6:43. Drive: 11 plays, 75 yards, 3:52.
IDHO - Hayden Hatten 35-yard pass from Gevani McCoy (Ricardo Chavez kick), 5:08. Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:35.
IDHO - Hayden Hatten 9-yard pass from Gevani McCoy (Ricardo Chavez kick), 0:36. Drive: 7 plays, 34 yards, 3:13.

Fourth quarter

IDHO - Elisha Cummings 12-yard pass from Gevani McCoy (Ricardo Chavez kick), 7:49. Drive: 12 plays, 88 yards, 6:22.
IDHO - Richard Chavez 39-yard field goal, 5:02. Drive: 4 plays, 5 yards, 2:14.
NCU – Ty Arrington 11-yard pass from Jacob Sirmon (Devin Bale kick), 0:51. Drive: 9 plays, 71 yards, 4:03.

Top passers

NCU – Dylan McCaffrey – 17/26, 264 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
IDHO – Gevani McCoy – 22/27, 298 yards, 4 TD

Top rushers

NCU – Elijah Dotson – 17 carries, 77 yards, TD
IDHO – Anthony Woods – 17 carries, 96 yards, TD

Top receivers

NCU – Ty Arrington – 4 receptions, 56 yards, 2 TD
IDHO – Hayden Hatten – 8 receptions, 131 yards, 2 TD

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at No. 5 Sacramento State

More information Total ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	7	0	7
No. 5 Hornets	7	17	21	10	55

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vs no. 4 Montana State

More information Total ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Bobcats	3	14	13	7	37
Bears	7	7	0	0	14

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vs UC Davis

More information Total ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	6	21	14	17	58
Bears	3	0	0	7	10

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at Portland State

More information Total ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	28	7	0	35
Vikings	14	0	0	7	21

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vs Northern Arizona

More information Total ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	7	3	0	10	20
Bears	3	0	10	8	21

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at Eastern Washington

More information Total ...

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	14	7	0	21
Eagles	7	14	14	10	45

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2022 Northern Colorado Bears football team

Preseason

Polls

Preseason All–Big Sky team

Schedule

Game summaries

vs Houston Baptist

at Wyoming

at Lamar

vs Idaho State

at Idaho

at No. 5 Sacramento State

vs no. 4 Montana State

vs UC Davis

at Portland State

vs Northern Arizona

at Eastern Washington

References

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