The U. Northern Colorado football team opened its season in style, recording its first shutout since moving to Division I in 2003 with a 54-0 defeat of Division II Adams State.
The 54-point margin of victory was the UNC’s largest since a 72-13 victory over New Mexico Highlands, another Division II school, in 2003.
“It was a nice way to start the season today. I was really pleased,” UNC head coach Scott Downing said.
The UNC defense allowed just 104 yards of total offense in holding an opponent scoreless for the first time since a 31-0 blanking of Western State in 2002.
“To pitch a shutout at home against a team that last week rolled up over 500 yards of total offense is pretty good,” Downing said.
Junior quarterback Dylan Orms got the offense off to a fast start, connecting with sophomore wide receiver Jace Davis for a 70-yard touchdown on his first pass attempt of the game.
“We had known that we were going to run that play from early on in the week, so I’d been dreaming about it,” Orms said. “And then to go out and execute perfectly like that, it was a big deal.”
Orms was not the only Bear to take advantage of an early opportunity. Senior running back Andre Harris took his first carry of the game 30 yards to the end zone, giving UNC (1-0) a 14-0 lead with just over five minutes to play in the first quarter.
“They had the holes wide open for me, I was just happy feet out there,” Harris said.
Senior cornerback Korey Askew started the second quarter by nabbing a pass out of the air with one hand and taking it in for a touchdown, giving the Bears a 21-0 lead. It was one of two interceptions for him in the game.
“I was lucky to get my hand on it and snag it in,” Askew said.
An Adams State penalty allowed UNC to convert third-and-long on its next drive, which ended with Harris’ second touchdown of the game from 39 yards out, giving the Bears a 27-0 lead after a missed extra point. Harris finished the day with 154 rushing yards on 18 carries.
“The way Andre and Jhamele (Robinson) ran today, I’ve never seen any of our backs run like that, so that was great to see,” Orms said.
The next two UNC drives resulted in a 34-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Mason Puckett and a 7-yard touchdown run by Orms to give UNC a 37-0 lead.
UNC scored more points in the first half than it had in any previous game under Downing, taking a 44-0 lead into the locker room after Orms found Davis for a 53-yard score with less than three minutes to play before halftime.
“It was nice to get out here and play against somebody else,” said Davis, who finished the day with three catches for 148 yards. “I’ve been going against (Askew) for I don’t know how many weeks.”
The third quarter saw the UNC offense focusing on ball control and killing the clock. The Bears scored their final touchdown on a 13-play, 71-yard drive that took over seven minutes and was capped by Harris’ third touchdown run of the day, a 7-yarder.
In the fourth quarter, redshirt freshman quarterback Seth Lobato relieved Orms and engineered the Bears’ final scoring drive, which lasted nine plays, traveled 38 yards and led to a 39-yard field goal by Puckett that capped the scoring.
UNC begins Big Sky Conference play at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday at Weber State, which lost to FBS Boston College in its opener. The game will be televised on Altitude Sports & Entertainment.
“We’ve got bigger fish to fry next week,” Askew said. “We’ve got to get ready for Weber.”