A new challenge awaits University of Northern Colorado football this week, according to head coach Ed Lamb.
In Lamb’s third season leading the program, the Bears have made strides and have been competitive in every game this season.
That changed Saturday.
Nationally ranked No. 4 Montana State dominated the Bears in every way in a 55-7 Big Sky Conference win Saturday afternoon at Nottingham Field in Greeley.
The loss was the worst for the program, by margin of defeat, in the Lamb era. In Lamb’s first season in 2023, Montana defeated the Bears 40-0 in Missoula.
Montana State racked up 480 yards of offense to just 160 for UNC through three quarters. (A computer glitch led to game statistics not being available immediately after the game.)
A late fourth-quarter touchdown by UNC running back Kieyrus Boone kept the Bears from being shut out for the first time in the Division I era dating to 2006.
After the game, Lamb was asked what he expected to see from the players in the upcoming week of practice. UNC’s next game is Saturday at Northern Arizona. In most weeks, the Bears return to the practice field Tuesday afternoon as a team following a game the previous weekend.
Lamb said he hopes to see what he sees every Tuesday — a team practicing and preparing to win. The coach said there are some Tuesdays where the players show a little more spirit in that first practice of the week and appear to be having fun.
Other Tuesday practices might not be as upbeat, but the players have always practiced hard.
“I have not seen this team ever come out without an intention to prepare to win,” Lamb said. “This will be a new challenge. We haven’t had a game like this. This game wasn’t a one- or two-play game.”
Lamb said the Bears were beaten at critical moments in the game on defense, and offensively they “fell to an all-time level” especially in the first half. He added the coaches couldn’t adjust to help the players, who Lamb said played hard during the game.
“That’s the hard part I’ve got to put on myself and our coaches,” Lamb said. “I’m more worried about us showing up with a good plan on Tuesday than I am that the players will show up and work hard.”
Until Saturday, every game has been close and winnable, Lamb said. UNC (3-6 overall and 1-4 Big Sky) has made definite strides and progress from the first two seasons. It’s undeniable and easy to see.
The Bears played with Colorado State early in the season when the Rams’ fortunes looked far different from how they’ve developed. UNC lost that game on an overturned touchdown in the final seconds. South Dakota, which was ranked in the early part of the season, needed overtime to beat the Bears in mid-September in Vermillion. The following week, UNC gutted out an OT win of its own in a nonconference game at Houston Christian.
Two weeks later, UNC went to Idaho and defeated the then-ranked Vandals in a shootout.
Montana State (7-2 overall, 4-0 Big Sky), the defending conference champions and Football Championship Subdivision runner up, showed to be a different level of competition. The Bobcats scored seven touchdowns, including an 86-yard interception returned for a touchdown by defensive lineman Talon Marsh with under 10 minutes to play.
Defensive end Dominic Solano deflected the pass by UNC quarterback Eric Gibson Jr., and the ball fell into Marsh’s hands. He rumbled down the Montana State sideline, followed much of the way by teammates not in the game and trailed by a pack of other players.
The play was reviewed to see if Marsh was out-of-bounds before crossing the goal line. The touchdown held up, giving Montana State a 48-0 lead.
“I caught it and turned and I was like ‘I guess I better just turn on the jets as I can here,” Marsh said after the game. “It worked out, I guess.”
Lamb said while the Bears had some bright spots — including running backs, such as Mathias Price and Brandon Johnson, running hard behind the offensive line, and in run defense, which was better this week — the effort from UNC quarterbacks and among coaches was not good enough against the Bobcats.
Lamb credited Montana State quarterback Justin Lamson with a good game and in exposing the Bears in man-to-man coverage.
Lamb said the back-breaking play of the day was a 67-yard catch and run early in the third quarter by Bobcats wide receiver Taco Dowler.
Dowler is an electric player with speed to burn, and he caused plenty of problems for the Bears last year in a 55-17 win in Bozeman. Dowler caught two passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns and added 120 yards on seven punt returns.
Montana received the second half kickoff Saturday and needed only 23 seconds to extend its lead to 27-0.
Lamson connected on a screen pass with Dowler just beyond the line of scrimmage at their 33-yard line. Dowler did the rest, cutting inside toward the middle and finishing the long run for the score.
Montana State scored twice in the final 2-minutes, 27 seconds of the second quarter to take a 20-0 lead at halftime.
“Defense kept coming,” Bobcats coach Brent Vigen said. “Defense went really hard on them all day. They’ve scored a bunch of points and they’ve moved the ball. Credit to the defense and the effort.”
Lamb said the game needed to happen to UNC so players understand the measuring stick or bar to be a championship program.
“It’s not an up-and-down thing week to week,” the coach said. “We can play better. At times, we could’ve played better today but I think that was a game we weren’t ready for as coaches and players and it’s important that the program sees that.”
Montana State 55, UNC 7
Montana State — 7 – 13 – 21 – 14 — 55
UNC — 0 – 0 – 0 – 7 — 7