2021 Northern Colorado Bears football team

2021 Northern Colorado Bears football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
2021 record	3–8 (2–6 Big Sky)
Head coach	Ed McCaffrey (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Max McCaffrey (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Scott Darnell (1st season)
Home stadium	Nottingham Field (capacity: 8,533)
Seasons ← 2019 2022 →

2021 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 10 Sacramento State $^		8	–	0					9	–	3
No. 2 Montana State ^		7	–	1					11	–	3
No. 7 Eastern Washington ^		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 6 Montana ^		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 17 UC Davis ^		5	–	3					8	–	4
Weber State		5	–	3					6	–	5
Northern Arizona		4	–	4					5	–	6
Portland State		4	–	4					5	–	6
Idaho		3	–	5					4	–	7
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					3	–	8
Cal Poly		1	–	7					2	–	9
Idaho State		1	–	7					1	–	10
Southern Utah		0	–	8					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

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.

Previous season[]

The Bears finished the 2019 season 2–10, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a five-way tie for ninth place. On November 24, head coach Earnest Collins Jr. was fired after nine seasons. He finished at Northern Colorado with a record of 28–72.^[1] The Bears opted out in the 2020 fall season and 2021 spring season.

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:00 p.m.	at Colorado*	Folsom Stadium Boulder, CO	P12N	L 7–35	44,153
September 11	5:00 p.m.	at Houston Baptist*	Husky Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN+	W 45–13	2,135
September 18	2:00 p.m.	Lamar*	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	L 10–17 OT	5,605
September 25	1:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	W 17–10 OT	5,769
October 2	1:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Montana State	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	L 7–40	20,127
October 9	1:00 p.m.	No. 4 Eastern Washington	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	L 17–63	5,413
October 16	6:00 p.m.	at No. 13 UC Davis	UC Davis Health Stadium Davis, CA	ESPN+	L 3–32	10,963
October 23	6:00 p.m.	at Southern Utah	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	ESPN+	W 17–9	3,208
October 30	1:00 p.m.	No. 15 Sacramento State	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	L 24–27	4,068
November 6	12:00 p.m.	No. 11 Montana	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ESPN+	L 0–35	4,987
November 20	1:00 p.m.	at Weber State	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	ESPN+	L 17-48	3,242
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

• Source: Schedule

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
No. 11 Bobcats					0

No. 4 Eastern Washington[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Eagles					0
Bears					0

at No. 13 UC Davis[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears					0
No. 13 Aggies					0

at Southern Utah[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds					0
Bears					0

No. 15 Sacramento State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Hornets					0
Bears					0

No. 11 Montana[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Grizzlies					0
Bears					0

at Weber State[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats					0
Bears					0

References[]