2022 Northern Colorado Bears football team

2022 Northern Colorado Bears football
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 →

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]

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

Preseason edit

Polls edit

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]

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 edit

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

Defense

David Hoage – LB

Schedule edit

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	Notthingham 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

Source: Schedule

Conference opponents not played this season: Cal Poly, Montana, Weber State

Game summaries edit

vs Houston Baptist edit

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

at Wyoming edit

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

at Lamar edit

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

vs Idaho State edit

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

at Idaho edit

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

at No. 5 Sacramento State edit

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

vs no. 4 Montana State edit

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

vs UC Davis edit

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

at Portland State edit

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

vs Northern Arizona edit

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

at Eastern Washington edit

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

References edit

^ "McCaffrey will not return as Northern Colorado head football coach". Northern Colorado Bears. November 21, 2022.
^ "Montana Tabbed Big Sky Preseason Favorites by Coaches & Media". July 25, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
^ "Hoage Named to Preseason All-Big Sky Team". Northern Colorado University. July 25, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.

[1] "McCaffrey will not return as Northern Colorado head football coach". Northern Colorado Bears. November 21, 2022.

[2] "Montana Tabbed Big Sky Preseason Favorites by Coaches & Media". July 25, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.

[3] "Hoage Named to Preseason All-Big Sky Team". Northern Colorado University. July 25, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.

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