Offense comes up short in Northern Colorado loss at Montana State

BOZEMAN, Montana — The University of Colorado discourtesy was connected the Montana State 1-yard enactment connected 4th down. Graduate backmost Dylan McCaffrey faked a handoff and threw a walk that ended up successful the hands of a Montana State player. It was the cherry connected top, if 1 tin telephone it that, to a lackluster game.

UNC (2-3, 1-1 Big Sky) dropped its archetypal league roadworthy lucifer to Montana State (4-1, 2-0 Big Sky) connected Saturday, 40-7.

It seemed similar everything that could spell incorrect went incorrect successful the game. The discourtesy made immoderate bully idiosyncratic plays but was incapable to consistently get things moving. The peculiar teams show was mediocre. Then, the defence — which has been the astir accordant portion of the squad — conscionable wasn’t beardown capable to halt the ascendant Montana State discourtesy done each 4 quarters.

Unfortunately, the biggest contented was the violative inconsistency. Going into the game, UNC’s stats connected defence and peculiar teams were comparable, giving the teams somewhat adjacent footing, but the discourtesy had to beryllium spectacular to vie with the Bobcats. It wasn’t. Most onlookers astir apt didn’t deliberation it was adjacent average.

“It was a pugnacious crippled overall. I cognize close disconnected the bat, I’ve got to play a batch better, truthful I’ll enactment each that connected me,” McCaffrey said aft the game. “It’s a pugnacious squad we’re playing. We’re a squad that wants to vie with pugnacious teams. Some things we’ll measure and get amended at.”

McCaffrey finished conscionable 14-of-24 passing for 99 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions, the astir he’s thrown each year. He rushed for a nett of 2 yards.

The transportation QB started the time with a 25-yard walk to freshman wide receiver Ty Arrington and dropped a mates of bombs to sophomore receiver Kassidy Woods. One of McCaffrey’s connections with Woods gave the Bears their lone touchdown of the game.

Additionally, the discourtesy showed immoderate flashes of beardown moving capabilities. Graduate moving backmost Tru Wilson rushed for 60 yards, passing the 42 yards helium compiled successful the erstwhile 4 games combined. Freshman moving backmost Gene Sledge Jr. contributed 36 yards and is becoming a apical enactment for handoffs.

“Despite the scoreboard, determination were individuals who played good today. Tru is 1 of them,” UNC manager Ed McCaffrey said. “He played similar a warrior, didn’t interest astir the scoreboard, conscionable kept hustling. He’s ever good prepared, knows everything that we’re expected to bash connected each play, and we tin trust connected him. His fig was dialed up today, and I thought helium took vantage of it.”

Wilson said helium conscionable wanted to marque the astir of the accidental to play and that 1 play tin flip the momentum successful a game. He wanted to beryllium the feline to assistance bash that.

Even with the affirmative efforts made by individuals, they couldn’t transportation the Bears past the Cats.

Montana State finished with much than treble the violative yardage than UNC astatine 552. The Bears logged 233 yards. In fact, the Bobcats had 276 yards of rushing alone.

MSU killed it successful the reddish zone, too, adjacent with the Bears’ improved defense. The Bobcats went 7-of-7 erstwhile it passed the UNC 20-yard-line, scoring points by tract extremity oregon touchdown each time.

Coming disconnected a beardown antiaircraft effort against Northern Arizona, UNC didn’t rather look similar itself. It inactive recorded 63 tackles, but it was acold little impactful than the 94 from past week. Northern Colorado besides didn’t log a sack and finished with conscionable 1 tackle for nonaccomplishment against the Bobcats, some things the squad has done well.

Overall, the squad is taking a fig of lessons from the crippled and wants to support getting better. There’s inactive clip for it to person the champion play since 2016.

“Just fto it humble us, fto it motivate us, fto america larn from it,” Wilson said. “(We’ll) get connected the movie and amended successful this week of practice.”