# 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.

## 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.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Montana | 111 (3) |
| 2 | Sacramento State | 110 (4) |
| 3 | Montana State | 109 (5) |
| 4 | Weber State | 84 |
| 5 | UC Davis | 82 |
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 76 |
| 7 | Northern Arizona | 62 |
| 8 | Idaho | 45 |
| 9 | Portland State | 42 |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 33 |
| T-11 | Idaho State | 19 |
| T-11 | Northern Colorado | 19 |
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Montana | 356 (14) |
| 2 | Montana State | 352 (13) |
| 3 | Sacramento State | 335 (4) |
| 4 | Weber State | 261 |
| 5 | UC Davis | 255 (1) |
| 6 | Eastern Washington | 236 |
| 7 | Northern Arizona | 191 |
| 8 | Portland State | 146 |
| 9 | Idaho | 142 |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 85 |
| 11 | Northern Colorado | 71 |
| 12 | Idaho State | 66 |

### Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Bears had one player selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 2:00 p.m. | Houston Baptist* | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | L 34–46 | 4,419 |
| September 10 | 2:00 p.m. | at Wyoming* | War Memorial StadiumLaramie, WY | MW Network | L 10–33 | 22,863 |
| September 17 | 5:00 p.m. | at Lamar* | Provost Umphrey StadiumBeaumont, TX | ESPN+ | W 21–14 | 4,933 |
| September 24 | 1:00 p.m. | Idaho State | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | W 35–14 | 5,292 |
| October 1 | 7:00 p.m | at Idaho | Kibbie DomeMoscow, ID | ESPN+ | L 35–55 | 10,759 |
| October 8 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 5 Sacramento State | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | ESPN+ | L 7–55 | 11,013 |
| October 15 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 4 Montana State | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | L 14–37 | 4,796 |
| October 22 | 1:00 p.m. | UC Davis | Notthingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | L 10–58 | 4,499 |
| November 5 | 3:00 p.m. | at Portland State | Hillsboro StadiumHillsboro, OR | ESPN+ | L 21–35 | 2,771 |
| November 12 | 12:00 p.m. | Northern Arizona | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | W 21–20 | 3,769 |
| November 19 | 2:00 p.m. | at Eastern Washington | Roos FieldCheney, WA | ESPN+ | L 21–45 | 4,099 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time |||||||
* Source: Schedule
Conference opponents not played this season: Cal Poly, Montana, Weber State

## Game summaries
### vs Houston Baptist

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

### at Wyoming

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

### at Lamar

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Cardinals | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
Statistics
| 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 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Northern Colorado | Passing | Jacob Sirmon | 16/28; 218 total yards; 43 long |
| Northern Colorado | Rushing | David Afari | 7 attempts; 41 yards; 11 long |
| Northern Colorado | Receiving | Trevis Graham | 5 receptions; 97 total yards; 43 long |
| Lamar | Passing | Nick Yockey | 10/11; 71 total yards; 16 long |
| Lamar | Rushing | Khalan Griffin | 10 attempts; 66 total yards; 10 yards long |
| Lamar | Receiving | Sevonne Rhea | 3 receptions; 36 yards; 16 yards long |

### vs Idaho State

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

### at Idaho

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

### at No. 5 Sacramento State

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

### vs no. 4 Montana State

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

### vs UC Davis

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

### at Portland State

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

### vs Northern Arizona

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

### at Eastern Washington

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