UNC football celebrating its first win of the season after taking down Chadron State on Aug. 30, 2025. (Photo by Jesus Ayala - @jesuzzy/Instagram)
A bye week in football is beneficial for any team dealing with certain struggles and injuries, and for a banged up Northern Colorado team, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
On Sept. 27, UNC played its first Big Sky opponent in the Idaho State Bengals for a homecoming matchup. The Bears ended up losing the game 26-18. The 2-3 Bears entered that game with an injured roster and used last week's bye to get everyone healthy for the upcoming matchup against the 2-3 Idaho Vandals.
Similar to last season, the injury bug has popped up in the Bears locker room, mostly on the offensive side of the ball. Against the Bengals, UNC entered the game with six starters out with injuries, and lost another mid game in tight end Fisher Clements. Head coach Ed Lamb spoke on the benefit of the bye week in the latest episode of “Football 52” with KFKA manager and host of the Hull Show, Brady Hull.
“The bye week can really help in getting guys back to practicing… it is a healthier team right now,” Lamb said.
In addition to getting back to full strength, Lamb and the staff are able to use the off week to game plan for the future and improve in the good and the bad they have seen through the first few weeks of the season.
“Sometimes the weekly schedule in season can be so quick and tight that it’s hard to make much of a pivot," Lamb said. "The bye week offers a little more of an opportunity to do that.”
Despite all the injuries, the Bears' offense has improved compared to where they finished last year. In 2024, the Bears finished dead last in the Big Sky in total yards on offense with 3,422 yards, which averaged to 285.2 yards per game. This season the team is ninth at 1,810 yards (362 yards per game).
Quarterback Eric Gibson Jr. has been the biggest contributor on offense since taking over the starting role after Peter Costelli’s injury. Gibson has thrown for 1,147 yards (No. 5 in Big Sky) and four touchdowns. Passing the ball is UNC’s biggest strength, but the Vandals' defense is top three in passing yards allowed at 213.3 per game.
Carver Cheeks and Charles Garrison have emerged in the Bears' offense as the two pass catchers that Gibson and the team can rely on. Cheeks enters the week as the number five receiver in the Big Sky with 382 yards and Garrison with the second most by a tight end in the conference with 207.
Idaho’s defense is currently the number two team in yards allowed per game in the conference with 352.6 and have faced major opponents. The Vandals were in close games with Washington State, San Jose State and most recently the number four ranked team in the FCS, Montana. The defense for the Bears have been playing solid football and is a top three unit in the Big Sky and top 30 at the FCS level. Some of those categories include scoring defense, passing yards per game, fumbles recovered and red zone defense.
Defensive rankings for the Bears in conference and nationally. (Graphic by UNC Athletics - @unc_bearsfb/Instagram)
UNC has only allowed 370 yards per game and will be tested by an Idaho team with a quarterback that can do it all with his legs and arm.
Joshua Wood is entering his first season with the Vandals program after transferring from Fresno State. Wood is currently number seven in the conference in passing yards with 927, and in the run game with 346 yards.
Wood is what Lamb calls a dual-threat quarterback. Which means he can use his arm to beat you, use his legs to extend plays or be used on designed runs that can gain big yards on drives.
“The first thing that’s most dangerous about Josh is he runs to throw," Lamb said. "He’ll run the ball sideways in a passing situation and keep his eyes down the field."
Lamb sees the danger that Wood possesses and knows he'll be hard to take down on the pass rush. Wood has only been sacked five times this season all because of a starting offensive line that is 13th in the nation for least sacks allowed, and ninth for tackles for loss allowed.
The upcoming matchup between the two programs will be only the fourth meeting all-time since Idaho joined the conference in 2018. The Vandals lead the series 2-1 entering Saturday afternoon.
Kickoff for UNC and Idaho is set for 3 p.m. and you can catch the game live on ESPN+ or tune into Pirate Radio at 93.5 FM.
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