Northern Colorado presented Ed Lamb with his first victory as the Bears’ coach in the 21-17 win over 23-ranked Weber State in Ogden, Utah.
The victory at Weber State’s homecoming snapped an 18-game losing streak for the Bears, who had last won a game in the next-to-last contest of the 2022 campaign with a 21-20 triumph over Northern Arizona in Greeley on November 12.
With Weber State ranked 23rd in the coaches poll, UNC defeated a ranked opponent for the first time since November 12, 2016, when the Bears defeated No. 18 Montana 28-25 at Nottingham Field in Greeley. Northern Colorado will have an opportunity to duplicate that when now No. 14 Montana visits “The Not” on October 26.
The win for Lamb, who replaced Ed McCaffrey as the Bear coach, was incredibly satisfying. He was a head coach at Southern Utah (2008–2015) and an assistant at BYU (2016–2022) before being named the Northern Colorado coach on December. 7, 2022.
A 15-yard run by Darius Stewart with 6:14 left in the game capped an 18-play, 98-yard, time-consuming drive (eight minutes, 38 seconds) to give the Bears the lead. Stewart had amassed 22 yards in the game in his previous six carries.
Weber State, which upset nationally-ranked Montana in Missoula last week, had the ball three more times after Stewart’s score but turned the ball over twice on a fumble and interception.
Kia’i Keone passed for 118 yards, and David Afari led the rushing attached with 74 yards to lead the Bears. Other Bear scores were by Caden Meis and Keone.
Benefiting the Bears were five turnovers by Weber (four fumbles and and interception). The Wildcats totaled 401 yards of offense, compared to 321 for Northern Colorado.
UNC also snapped a five-game losing streak to the Wildcats, who entered the contest with an 11-1 edge in the series. The lone Bear win was- on November 10, 2012 in Ogden. The Bears are idle this coming week before entertaining Montana on October 26 in Greeley. READ MORE
at Colorado Mines 45, South Dakota Mines 20 – rebounded from its upset last week on the western slope to return to the front range with a 45-20 win over South Dakota Mines in Golden on Saturday. The Orediggers improved their record to 3-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and 5-1 overall. Last week in Grand Junction, Colorado Mines wasted a 13-0 half-time lead evaporate when Colorado scored 14 fourth-quarter points to snap a 23-game league winning streak for the Orediggers. Ranked 12th and 15th in the national polls, the two-time national runner-up Mines jumped out to a 28-3 lead at halftime. Evan Foster was 19-26 for 319 yards and four touchdowns. Max McLeod had eight receptions for 172 yards and two touchdowns. Colorado Mines, which has won six straight games over the Hardrockers and holds a 24-1 advantage in the series, plays at Adams State next Saturday. READ MORE
Western Colorado 35, at Black Hills State 14 – The eighth-ranked Mountaineers improved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the RMAC with the victory. It was Western’s sixth straight win over the Hornets. Drew Nash completed 34 of 45 passes for a career-high 346 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Mountaineers. Western Colorado returns to Gunnison next weekend for Hall of Fame Weekend as the Mountaineers host South Dakota Mines. WCU READ MORE
CSU Pueblo 58, at Fort Lewis 24 – The 16-ranked ThunderWolves overcame three first-half turnovers to remain atop the RMAC standings with a 5-0 record to lead Western Colorado by one-half game. In a contest closer than the score indicated, with Fort Lewis leading 14-13 at intermission, CSU Pueblo scored 45 points in the last two quarters to improve its overall record to 6-1. Reserve quarterback Roman Fuller passed for 216 yards and three scores (47, 5, 39 yards) for the Pack as CSU Pueblo had 614 total yards on offense. RMAC leading rusher Howard Russell V had 135 yards rushing and one score (68 yards), but fumbled twice to half potential scoring drives. Reggie Retzlaff had ten pass receptions for 158 yards and one score (39 yards). Two short (4 and 8 yards) Stone Walker scoring passes earned the first-half lead for the host Skyhawks, who had five turnovers and controlled the pigskin for 34:11. Before leaving the contest with an injury, Walker passed for 214 yards and rushed for a team-high 29 yards and one score. CSU Pueblo returns home to host Black Hills State next Saturday. Fort Lewis, which is 1-5 overall and 0-4 in the RMAC, is at Chadron State. CSUP READ MORE / FLC READ MORE
Colorado Mesa 52, at Adams State 10 – Liu Aumavae passed for 189 yards and two scores, Brandon Belgrave rushed for 163 yards, and Quezon Villa caught seven passes for 121 yards and a touchdown as the Mavericks validated their upset win last week over nationally ranked Colorado Mines. Mesa compiled 585 yards on offense, including 396 rushing, and allowed the Grizzlies 225 yards. Colorado Mesa, 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the RMAC, hosts New Mexico Highlands next week, with Adams State (0-6, 0-4) entertaining Colorado Mines in Alamosa. CMU EAD MORE / ASU RECAP
at Colorado State 31, San Jose State 24 – The Rams opened up Mountain West with a win over the league-leading Spartans as Colorado State evened its season record at 3-3. Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi‘s 62-yard touchdown pass to Armani Winfield with 2:44 left in the contest proved to be the winning score. Fowler-Nicolosi passed for 269 yards, Winfield had six receptions for 108 yards, and Avery Morrow rushed 100 yards. The Rams play at Air Force next Saturday. READ MORE
at New Mexico 52, Air Force 37 – The Falcons had their best day offensively this season, but New Mexico withstood a fourth-quarter rally by the visitors to post its first Mountain West win this season and second overall. Air Force had 474 total yards with 325 on the ground as Quentin Hayes paced the Falcons with 79 yards passing and 103 rushing, highlighted by an 18-yard touchdown running in the fourth quarter. Air Force is now 0-3 in Mountain West play and 1-5 overall. The Falcons’ five-game losing streak is the worst since the 2013 season when AFA dropped six consecutive contests. The Air Force returns home next week to entertain in-state rival Colorado State. READ MORE
Kansas State 31, at Colorado 28 – The Buffs had the lead with 3:12 left in the contest, but Avery Johnson connected on a 50-yard pass to Jayce Brown to cap a three-play, 84-yard drive in 51 seconds to secure the victory with 2:14 remaining for the 18th-ranked Wildcats. CU had one last chance but could only muster five yards before turning over the ball. Despite missing two of his top receivers (Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn, Jr.), Shedeur Sanders passed for 388 yards and three scores, but the Buffs had -29 yards rushing, with the Buff quarterback being sacked six times. LaJohntay Wester has two CU touchdown receptions, and Will Sheppard had the other. The setback snapped a three-game winning streak for the Buffs, who are now 4-2 and 2-1 in the Big 12. CU is in Tucson next Saturday to play Arizona. READ MORE
| October 12 | RECAPS | Series | |
| at Colorado Mines, 45, South Dakota Mines 20 | RECAP | CSM now leads 2-1 | |
| Colorado Mesa 52, at Adams State 10 | CMU RECAP / ASU RECAP | CMU now leads 31-18 | |
| Western Colorado 35, at Black Hills State 14 | RECAP | WCU now leads 9-3 | |
| at Colorado State 31, San Jose State 24 | RECAP | CSU now leads 8-5 | |
| CSU Pueblo 58, at Fort Lewis, 24 | CSUP RECAP / FLC RECAP | CSUP now leads 30-7 | |
| at New Mexico 52, Air Force 37 | RECAP | AFA now leads 26-15 | |
| Northern Colorado 21, at Weber State 17 | RECAP | UNC now trails 2-11 | |
| Kansas State 31, at Colorado 28 | RECAP | CU now leads 45-21-1 | |
| October 19 | Series | ||
| Colorado Mines at Adams State, 1 p.m. (RMAC Net) | CSM leads 37-36-2 | ||
| Fort Lewis at Chadron State, 1 p.m. (RMAC Net) | FL trails 5-33 | ||
| Black Hills State at CSU Pueblo, 1 p.m. (RMAC Net) | CSUP leads 11-0 | ||
| N. M. Highlands at Colorado Mesa, 1 p.m. (RMAC Net) | CMU leads 35-11 | ||
| So. Dakota Mines at Western Colorado, 1 p.m. (RMAC Net) | WC leads 4-3 | ||
| Colorado at Arizona, 2 p.m. (FOX) | CU leads 11-10 | ||
| Colorado State at Air Force, 6 p.m. (CBS-SN) | AFA leads 39-21-1 | ||
