The University of Northern Colorado football team closed its season in a chilly Bozeman, Montana last weekend.
A bitter way to end the season, but a sweet relief that no further disappointments will be coming.
The season had a lot of negatives, but there were some notable performances throughout the year.
Montana State had all of the notable performances except Milo Hall on Saturday.
Other than one notable drive, the Montana State Bobcats had an ideal senior day for their team.
The biggest problems for the Bears was the awful field position all game long and lack of completions through the air.
If the ball can not be moved down the field, then there is no way to score or win.
How It Happened
First Half
Keaton Mott was a game time decision but decided to give it a try. His first drive went well with the help of two Montana State penalties.
Dontay Warren finished off the drive with an eight-yard scamper to the endzone.
UNC was excited and determined at that moment, but little did they know that would be their only score in the entire game.
The Bears defense felt pretty good too by getting a stop and forcing a Montana State punt.
Things quickly went downhill after Jahque Alleyne picked off Mott and returned it 47 yards.
Momentum was deflated, and the Bobcats would capitalize with a Troy Anderson run for a touchdown.
UNC would try desperately the rest of the half to recover, but bad field position, another interception and a fumble would take all the wind from the UNC sails.
Troy Anderson may not be an ideal quarterback in the traditional sense, but he managed an 18-yard passing touchdown and another rushing touchdown to put Montana State up 21-7.
While it is undoubtedly a problem with the offense to credit UNC’s worn out defense, the referees did not do them any favors as UNC was heavily penalized throughout the first half.
It was quite cumbersome when the Bears were called for every little thing, while Montana State had the pick of the litter with the calls going their way minus a sideline warning.
Bears commentator Aaron Rath and Troy Coverdale added to listeners vocabulary by remarking a certain call was a, “Horse-apple” type of call.
The KFKA broadcasters were notably upset with the disparity in the calls and were not afraid to yell at the refs from afar.
Half time: MSU 21 – UNC 7
Second Half
The Bears had not given up despite the deficit from halftime.
They proved this by causing a fumble and Keifer Morris came out with the ball. The Bears best drive of the second half would come after getting to the Montana State 25-yard line.
From there they attempted a field goal, but had the ball blocked by a tenacious Bobcat special teams.
The two teams traded punts until UNC got the ball back again. Mott would get the team all the way to the 19-yard line before having the ball fumbled and recovered by Montana State.
Troy Anderson and Isiah Ifanse worked together to move the ball 88 yards for another Bobcat score.
Connor Martin came in to relieve Mott who had been trying desperately, but between bad luck and a bad wrist, it just was not his day.
Although Martin did not see much success either as he turned over the ball on fourth down at the MSU 45-yard line.
Once again, the Bobcats did not waste the gift of short yardage and got Troy Anderson his third rushing touchdown with this one totaling 36 yards on the sprint.
UNC made it to the Montana State 22-yard line, but bad luck struck every time except the first drive of the game when the Bears were in scoring range.
Bozeman had much to celebrate as senior day went well in all categories for them.
Final: MSU 35 – UNC 7
