# 2023 Northern Colorado Bears football team

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 were led by first-year head coach Ed Lamb and played their home games at Nottingham Field.

## Preseason
### Polls

On July 23, 2023, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Bears were predicted to finish tenth in the Big Sky by both the coaches and media.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Montana State | 120 (10) |
| 2 | UC Davis | 96 (1) |
| 3 | Sacramento State | 94 (1) |
| 4 | Weber State | 91 |
| 5 | Idaho | 89 |
| 6 | Montana | 84 |
| 7 | Eastern Washington | 52 |
| 8 | Portland State | 45 |
| 9 | Northern Arizona | 44 |
| 10 | Northern Colorado | 37 |
| 11 | Cal Poly | 25 |
| 12 | Idaho State | 15 |
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Montana State | 447 (26) |
| 2 | Idaho | 410 (8) |
| 3 | Montana | 359 (2) |
| 4 | Sacramento State | 334 (3) |
| 5 | UC Davis | 330 |
| 6 | Weber State | 320 |
| 7 | Eastern Washington | 216 |
| 8 | Northern Arizona | 178 |
| 9 | Portland State | 167 |
| 10 | Northern Colorado | 109 |
| 11 | Cal Poly | 103 |
| 12 | Idaho State | 69 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 6:00 p.m. | at Abilene Christian* | Wildcat StadiumAbilene, TX | ESPN+ Zach Carlyle, Andy Penney, Daisy Strine | L 11–31 | 6,164 |
| September 9 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 10 Incarnate Word* | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ Jason Alvine, Nick Hager | L 7–42 | 3,898 |
| September 16 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 23 (FBS) Washington State* | Martin StadiumPullman, WA | P12N Matt Chazanow, Michael Bumpus | L 21–64 | 23,595 |
| September 23 | 4:00 p.m. | at Idaho State | Holt ArenaPocatello, ID | ESPN+ Dylan Carder, Kody Graves | L 21–35 | N/A |
| September 30 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 13 Weber State | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ Jason Alvine, Nick Hager | L 21–28 | 3,375 |
| October 14 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 4 Sacramento State | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ Jason Alvine, Nick Hager | L 13–21 | 4,783 |
| October 21 | 7:05 p.m. | at Cal Poly | Mustang Memorial FieldSan Luis Obispo, CA | ESPN+ Chris Sylvester, John Kane | L 17–24 | 9,263 |
| October 28 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 7 Montana | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT | ESPN+ Jay Kohn, Marty Mornhinweg, Kyle Hansen | L 0–40 | 25,463 |
| November 4 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 3 Idaho | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ Jason Alvine, Nick Hager | L 13–27 | 3,608 |
| November 11 | 1:00 p.m. | at Northern Arizona | Walkup SkydomeFlagstaff, AZ | ESPN+ Zach Carlyle, Joseph Chapa, Connor Mullins | L 7–28 | 6,003 |
| November 18 | 12:00 p.m. | Portland State | Nottingham FieldGreeley, CO | ESPN+ Jason Alvine, Nick Hager | L 23–27 | 2,578 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time |||||||
* Source: Schedule
Conference opponents not scheduled this season: Eastern Washington, Montana State, UC Davis

## Game summaries
### vs No. 10 Incarnate Word

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 10 Cardinals | 7 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 42 |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
at Nottingham Field, Greeley, CO
* Date: September 9
* Game time: 2:00 p.m.
* Game weather: Wind: NE 9 mph • Weather: Sunny
* Game attendance: 3,898
* Referee: Gregg Wilson
* TV announcers (ESPN+): Jason Alvine (play-by-play) and Nick Hager (analyst)
* Box Score Pregame line: UIW −17.0
| Statistics | UIW | UNC |
| First downs | 29 | 14 |
| Plays–yards | 82–617 | 69–261 |
| Rushes–yards | 42–235 | 37–93 |
| Passing yards | 382 | 168 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 29–40–1 | 15–32–1 |
| Time of possession | 31:03 | 28:57 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Incarnate Word | Passing | Zach Calzada | 23/32, 255 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT |
| Incarnate Word | Rushing | Timothy Carter | 16 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD |
| Incarnate Word | Receiving | Caleb Chapman | 5 receptions, 116 yards, 2 TD |
| Northern Colorado | Passing | Jacob Sirmon | 13/27, 114 yards, 1 INT |
| Northern Colorado | Rushing | David Afari | 14 carries, 43 yards |
| Northern Colorado | Receiving | Blake Haggerty | 4 receptions, 57 yards, 1 TD |

### at No. 23 (FBS) Washington State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| No. 23 (FBS) Cougars | 22 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 64 |
at Martin Stadium • Pullman, WA
* Date: September 16, 2023
* Game time: 3:00 p.m.
* Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 81 °F (27 °C) • Wind: SW 8 mph
* Game attendance: 23,595
* Referee: Gary Reed
* TV announcers (P12N): Matt Chazanow, Michael Bumpus
| Statistics | NCU | WSU |
| First downs | 17 | 33 |
| Total yards | 366 | 718 |
| Rushes/yards | 31–158 | 36–229 |
| Passing yards | 208 | 489 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 18–30–0 | 29–38–1 |
| Time of possession | 29:11 | 30:49 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Northern Colorado | Passing | Jacob Sirmon | 16/24, 171 yards, 2 TD |
| Northern Colorado | Rushing | David Afari | 17 carries, 116 yards |
| Northern Colorado | Receiving | Blake Haggerty | 6 receptions, 70 yards |
| Washington State | Passing | Cam Ward | 20/26, 327 yards, 4 TD |
| Washington State | Rushing | Dylan Paine | 7 carries, 71 yards, TD |
| Washington State | Receiving | Lincoln Victor | 6 receptions, 119 yards, 2 TD |

### at Idaho State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| Bengals | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
at Holt Arena, Pocatello, Idaho
* Date: September 23
* Game time: 4:00 p.m. MDT
* Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C), Indoors
* Game attendance: 8,012
* Referee: Jim C.
* TV announcers (ESPN+): Dylan Carder (play-by-play), Kody Graves (analyst)
* Spread: Idaho State –6.5 • Odds to win: Northern Colorado 51.7% •
| Statistics | Northern Colorado | Idaho State |
| First downs | 25 | 26 |
| Plays–yards | 72–365 | 72–429 |
| Rushes–yards | 40–242 | 30–103 |
| Passing yards | 123 | 326 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 22–32–2 | 26–42–1 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 1 |
| Time of possession | 31:13 | 28:47 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Northern Colorado | Passing | Jacob Sirmon | 22/32, 123 yards, 2 INT |
| Northern Colorado | Rushing | Darius Stewart | 14 carries, 124 yards, 1 TD |
| Northern Colorado | Receiving | Ty Arrington | 5 receptions, 42 yards |
| Idaho State | Passing | Jordan Cooke | 14/23, 218 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT |
| Idaho State | Rushing | Hunter Hays | 13 carries, 55 yards, 1 TD |
| Idaho State | Receiving | Christian Fredericksen | 7 receptions, 108 yards |

### vs No. 4 Sacramento State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Hornets | 14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Bears | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
at Nottingham Field, Greeley, CO
* Date: October 14, 2023
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. MST
* Game weather: Sunny
* Game attendance: 4,783
* Referee: Jim Crowley
* TV announcers (ESPN+): Play-by-Play: Jason Alvine • Analysis: Nick Hager
* Sources:
Game information :
First Quarter
(12:19) UNC – Hunter Green 39-yard field goal (Drive: 4 plays, 1 yard, 0:50; Northern Colorado 3–0)
(8:44) SAC – Devin Gandy 15-yard pass from Kaiden Bennett (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 3:35; Sacramento State 7–3)
(0:34) SAC – Ezra Moleni 8-yard pass from Kaiden Bennett (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 9 plays, 53 yards, 3:56; Sacramento State 14–3)
Second Quarter
(7:47) UNC – Brayden Munroe 41-yard pass from Jacob Sirmon (Hunter Green kick) (Drive: 5 plays, 92 yards, 2:29; Sacramento State 14–10)
Third Quarter
(0:00) SAC – Carlos Hill 20-yard pass from Kaiden Bennett (Zach Schreiner kick) (Drive: 11 plays, 70 yards, 4:41; Sacramento State 21–10)
Fourth Quarter
(8:31) UNC – Hunter Green 19-yard field goal (Drive: 14 plays, 73 yards, 3:50; Sacramento State 21–13)
Line
SAC –25.0
Over/Under
58.5 :
| Statistics | SAC | UNC |
| First downs | 23 | 17 |
| Total yards | 334 | 332 |
| Rushing yards | 151 | 75 |
| Passing yards | 183 | 257 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 25–31–0 | 20–39–0 |
| Time of possession | 30:57 | 29:03 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Sacramento State | Passing | Kaiden Bennett | 25/31, 183 yards, 3 TD |
| Sacramento State | Rushing | Ezra Moleni | 16 carries, 93 yards |
| Sacramento State | Receiving | Marshel Martin | 7 receptions, 52 yards |
| Northern Colorado | Passing | Jacob Sirmon | 20/39, 257 yards, TD |
| Northern Colorado | Rushing | David Afari | 10 carries, 36 yards |
| Northern Colorado | Receiving | Brayden Munroe | 3 receptions, 66 yards, TD |

### at No. 7 Montana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 7 Grizzles | 0 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 40 |

### vs No. 3 Idaho

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Vandals | 3 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 27 |
| Bears | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
at Nottingham Field • Greeley, CO
* Date: November 4, 2023
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. MDT
* Game attendance: 3,608
* TV announcers (ESPN+): Jason Alvine, Nick Hager