The University of Northern Colorado football team appeared to score the biggest win in its 132-year history Saturday night in Fort Collins.
Then, minutes later, the Football Championship Subdivision-level Bears did not actually pull off the upset of Colorado State in front of more than 37,000 fans at Canvas Stadium.
With eight seconds to play, on a third-and-7 from the CSU 28-yard-line, UNC backup quarterback Eric Gibson Jr. connected with receiver Carver Cheeks for the go-ahead touchdown.
What? CSU had defeated UNC 19 times in the teams’ previous 20 meetings dating to 1899 coming into the evening. UNC’s only win in the series was a 5-0 victory in the first game 126 years ago in Fort Collins.
Cheeks, a converted defensive back and walk-on, immediately stood up and looked to the stands in victory. He later was helped off the field with an injury and received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for the play.
UNC, a team that has won two games in the past two seasons and only last season ended an 18-game losing streak, was about to defeat the Rams of the Mountain West Conference and playing at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.
But a review of the play overturned the call. Instead of a two- or three-point win, the error-prone Rams slipped away with a 21-17 victory.
UNC (1-1) won its first game of the year in the opener last week against Chadron State. The Bears managed a two-hour weather day to beat Chadron 17-3, giving Ed Lamb his first home win and second victory overall since he was hired in December 2022.
UNC lost starting quarterback, Peter Costelli, to a broken left collarbone in the win over Chadron. Costelli is right-handed but will be out for an extended period of time — clearing the way for Gibson Jr. to make his first-career start for UNC in his first season in the program. Costelli suffered a knee injury against Colorado State last year and missed most of the rest of the season.
UNC led CSU for 59 minutes, 16 seconds. The Bears capitalized on five CSU turnovers, four fumbles and an interception, and 10 penalties. They just couldn’t hold on in the final seconds.
Or could they?
CSU defensive back Jahari Rogers said he was surprised the call was overturned.
Rams coach Jay Norvell, whose team was booed a few times as the Bears kept the game close throughout, said CSU was fortunate to get the win.
“It appeared they had the winning score,” Norvell said. “The ball bounced our way and we won the game.”
Rams linebacker Jacob Ellis said from his view about 20 yards away, Cheeks appeared to catch the ball though the receiver was well covered by defensive back Lemondre Joe.
“The receiver made a heck of a play,” Ellis said. “Lemondre was right there. It was great coverage. You know, football is a game of inches.”
UNC head coach Ed Lamb said he was given no explanation beyond the call was overturned. The decision on the review was not up to the officials on the field at that point.
“That would be the only communication that would be expected,” Lamb said after the game. “I don’t have any access to the replay official. Really, neither do the officials on the sideline. The officials on our sideline charged with communicating to me, they communicated everything they could.”
Lamb said he saw the play as a catch.
The coach said the result was not disheartening to him because he was impressed with the Bears’ overall effort against an opponent that was supposed to win the game. The Rams were favored by 34 points, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers.
The coach added UNC isn’t playing this season to beat one opponent or to finish the season with a .500 record. Lamb said the Bears are a team “set on winning a championship” and there are plenty of games to come — starting next week at FCS No. 6 South Dakota.
The almost-win is a step, but just one in the process and progress of turning around the UNC program.
“It’s the first of many,” Lamb said. “It’s a young team. They’re hanging there together, through injury, through disappointment. We lost the lead. Fought right back. Never flinch. Fought the whole way. We said the toughest team would win. I think we had the tougher team on the field tonight.”
Linebacker Zach Nowatzke, who led UNC with 10 tackles, generally echoed his coach’s sentiments.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” Nowatzke said. “It’s not like it’s our call as players. But, kind of like what coach just said, we’re not just focused on this game. We still have a whole season ahead of us.”
The Bears were in the position to win in the final seconds because Rams quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi gave CSU its first lead on a 13-yard run with 51 seconds to play.
Fowler-Nicolosi had all the room in the world to run on the left side of the field, capping a 13-play, 77-yard drive. Fowler-Nicolosi was initially ruled out at the 1-yard line, but there was a delay to look at the play that clearly showed the quarterback diving inside the pylon.
Lamb said Fowler-Nicolosi used a pump fake throw on the play to freeze the defense, broke containment on a man-coverage call with defenders watching their own assignments and then used his speed to score.
“Not a lot of guys could come out of the coverage and corral the quarterback at that point,” Lamb said. “So, credit Brayden with the really nice, timely play.”
UNC took over on its own 25-yard line with 45 seconds remaining. The Bears picked up a first down on a 26-yard pass from Gibson Jr. to Brayden Munroe to the CSU 46. A CSU roughing-the-passer penalty moved the Bears to the 31.
Two plays later, Gibson Jr. found Cheeks in the end zone on the overturned touchdown.
Gibson Jr. quickly credited the coaching staff, special teams and defense for taking advantage of the CSU mistakes, such as coming up with a fumble off a sack, a fumble after a punt return and an interception.
UNC went ahead 17-7 in the third on a Aliou-Rocco Traore 1-yard touchdown during a drive helped by two CSU penalties: an offsides and a facemask.
Gibson Jr. was 17-of-28 passing for 160 yards, and he ran three times for six yards. He also had a fumble and threw an interception.
“They put us in great field position a lot of times for us to score, and offensively we just have to execute more of them,” the quarterback said of the team’s other units.
After playing at South Dakota, a team that reached the final four the FCS playoffs last year, UNC then plays Sept. 20 at Houston Christian. Five of the Bears’ first seven games are on the road this season. The Bears return home Sept. 27 against Idaho State in their Big Sky Conference opener.
