# 2021 Northern Colorado Bears football team

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.
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.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 7:00 p.m. | at Colorado* | Folsom StadiumBoulder, CO | P12N | L 7–35 | 44,153 |
| September 11 | 5:00 p.m. | at Houston Baptist* | Husky StadiumHouston, TX | ESPN+ | W 45–13 | 2,135 |
| September 18 | 2:00 p.m. | Lamar* | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | L 10–17 $^{OT}$ | 5,605 |
| September 25 | 1:00 p.m. | Northern Arizona | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | W 17–10 $^{OT}$ | 5,769 |
| October 2 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 11 Montana State | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT | ESPN+ | L 7–40 | 20,127 |
| October 9 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 4 Eastern Washington | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | L 17–63 | 5,413 |
| October 16 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 13 UC Davis | UC Davis Health StadiumDavis, CA | ESPN+ | L 3–32 | 10,963 |
| October 23 | 6:00 p.m. | at Southern Utah | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | ESPN+ | W 17–9 | 3,208 |
| October 30 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 15 Sacramento State | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | L 24–27 | 4,068 |
| November 6 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 11 Montana | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ | L 0–35 | 4,987 |
| November 20 | 1:00 p.m. | at Weber State | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | ESPN+ | L 17-48 | 3,242 |
| *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, 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 |