Game grades: Northern Colorado has decent outing against Wyoming

LARAMIE, Wyo. — The celebs of the College of Northern Colorado soccer staff swapped on Saturday. As a substitute of the offense, the protection had a very good day in opposition to Wyoming.

UNC (0-2) fell to the Cowboys (2-1), 33-10, within the longstanding rivalry, however the Bears held their very own for greater than three quarters of the competition.

Right here is how every place group did within the loss.

Offense: D

After logging greater than 500 yards of whole offense in Week 1, greater than 400 got here on the passing sport, UNC’s efficiency was disappointing to say the least.

Apart from the reversal landing from graduate broad receiver Trevis Graham to junior quarterback Jacob Sirmon, there wasn’t a ton to be enthusiastic about.

Northern Colorado completed with simply 147 yards of offense. The longest go was for 29 yards, and the longest rush was simply 9. UNC averaged lower than 1 yard on each rush try.

Eleven of the Bears’ drives have been unsuccessful, too, leading to a punt, interception, fumble or turnover on downs. The final three drives of the sport didn’t lead to any factors.

UNC gave up the ball on downs at 6:48 within the fourth, which led to a Wyoming landing. The Cowboys scored one other landing on the following drive after intercepting Sirmon’s go on the Northern Colorado 9-yard line.

The Bears fumbled the ball on their remaining drive, however Wyoming opted to take a knee.

On third down, Northern Colorado transformed simply 5-of-17 makes an attempt, in comparison with Wyoming’s 8-of-18, and went 1-of-3 on fourth down.

UNC’s offense left so much to be desired, particularly after such a high-powered season opener.

Protection: B

UNC’s defensive effort was significantly better on Saturday than it was per week in the past. It held Wyoming to below 300 yards and didn’t hand over a landing till the third quarter. Actually, the Cowboys acquired into UNC territory a number of occasions however have been held to 4 discipline objectives.

At halftime, Wyoming had scored simply 9 factors — all on discipline objectives — and didn’t rating its first landing till halfway by means of the third. Many of the Cowboys’ factors got here within the fourth quarter after UNC began displaying indicators of fatigue.

Moreover, the Wyoming offensive line had not allowed a quarterback sack within the first two video games. The Bears sacked Andrew Peasley twice.

Sophomore defensive again Dustin Johnson added some sturdy performs. One deflection was in the long run zone, too.

There are definitely extra enhancements to be made. The ultimate Cowboys landing got here by means of blown protection.

Particular groups: B-

It was an OK day for the particular groups squad. Issues weren’t nice, however they weren’t the worst, both.

Freshman kicker Hunter Inexperienced scored his first discipline aim in a Bears uniform and scored the additional level. His discipline aim within the third quarter put UNC on the board and helped function a catalyst for the offense within the interval.

Sophomore punter Devin Bale additionally had a very good day. He punted for 245 yards, averaging almost 41 yards per try. His longest was a 52-yard kick. His greatest work, nonetheless, got here on a faux punt.

Within the third quarter, the Bears turned the faux try into a primary down. This led to Inexperienced’s discipline aim and the primary factors for the staff.

On the return sport, UNC completed with 107 whole yards on eight makes an attempt. There have been some botched return makes an attempt, although, together with two that put the offense inside its personal 10-yard line.

General: C+

UNC stayed aggressive for almost all of the matchup and didn’t let Wyoming get into a lot of a rhythm till late, which was a spotlight coming in.

One other space of emphasis was lowering penalties. The Bears gave up 105 yards final week. They completed with seven penalties for a lack of 49 yards this time round.

The play calling deserves some credit score, as nicely, for the artistic faux punt and reversal that led to a landing.

Northern Colorado nonetheless must put the items collectively in all three areas, nevertheless it put up a good battle on Saturday.

It should return to motion at 6 p.m. Saturday in opposition to Lamar in Beaumont, Texas.