Winless No More! Bears Snap 18 Game Losing Streak 

Oct. 12, 2024 will go down in the history books for Northern Colorado as the Bears football team drove over to Ogden, Utah to take on the 20th ranked Weber State Wildcats in one of the biggest upsets of the year, with a final score of 21-17. 

The Bears entered the Saturday night matchup coming off the teams biggest loss of the season to Montana State with the final score being 55-17. UNC have been riddled with injuries as well as dealing with a Denver Broncos style "quarterback carousel", but the Bears buckled up the pads and helmets and went blow for blow against an nationally ranked opponent. 

This win is the first against a ranked opponent for UNC since 2016 when the Bears won 28-25 at Nottingham Field against Montana State. 

UNC were able to get the victory off of a stellar performance by the defense that saw the Bears force five turnovers. Linebackers Payton Polson, KJ Smedley and defensive back Darrell Bryant Jr. forced three fumbles. The last turnover and the nail in the coffin was on the Wildcat’s last drive when Weber State quarterback Richie Munoz threw an interception that was caught by freshman Cam Chapa. 

Chapa led the defense with seven total tackles and was followed up by Polson and Keyvon Lakes with six each. No sacks were recorded this game, but the Bears were able to create constant pressure on the Wildcats all game. 

On the offensive side of the ball, Kia’i Keone started at quarterback again and threw the ball for 118 yards on 14 of 28 passes. While Keone wasn’t able to score through the air, he did it on the ground by scoring on a 21 yard run that saw him make a very impressive scramble out of the pocket. 

In addition to Keone, Caden Meis and Darius Stewart were able to punch in their own touchdowns that helped the Bears get the victory. David Afari led the team in rushing with 74 yards on 15 carries followed by Meis with 60 yards. Stewart ended with 37 yards and Keone with 29 yards. 

The most impressive drive for the Bears on offense came when the team was backed up against the wall when Weber State was able to punt the ball to the two yard line. For most, driving down the field 98 yards would seem like a very tall task, but the Bears grabbed the challenge by the horns and ran with it…literally. 

UNC drove the ball 98 yards in 18 plays near the start of the fourth quarter. Out of the 18 plays the offense ran, the Bears only threw the ball three times and none of the passes were completed. Stewart ended the drive by running the ball in off a trick play design for a 15 yard touchdown. 

The Bears have been through the ringer this season and head coach Ed Lamb knows it, but after the game he was able to express his feelings on the victory and what it means for the team. 

“Adversity builds strong men if you keep coming back and learning from it and being humble…I really wanted this for them in the worse way.”

With a giant smile on his face Lamb continued on, saying a win in the middle of season shouldn’t be this big of a deal, but in the contexts of everything going on, he’s happy this group of Bears players got to experience the taste of victory. 

While this was not only the first win in the Ed Lamb era, but it was also the first collegiate win for defensive lineman Sam Iongi-Amituanai. Before coming to UNC, Sam played at Lincoln University where he didn’t experience a win in football either. Like many others on the team, this is there first taste at victory at the Division I level, but it taste just a little but sweeter for Iongi-Amituanai. 

UNC will be on a bye week and won’t be playing again until the 26th when the Bears go up against the Montana Grizzlies at Nottingham Field; kickoff will be at 1 p.m.