2021 Northern Colorado Bears football team
{{Short description|American college football season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox college sports team season
| year = 2021
| team = Northern Colorado Bears
| sport = football
| image = UNC Bears.png
| image_size = 150
| conference = Big Sky Conference
| short_conf = Big Sky
| STATSRank =
| FCSCoachRank =
| record = 3–8
| conf_record = 2–6
| head_coach = Ed McCaffrey
| hc_year = 1st
| off_coach = Max McCaffrey
| oc_year = 1st
| off_scheme =
| def_coach= Scott Darnell
| dc_year = 1st
| def_scheme =
| stadium = Nottingham Field
| prev_year = 2019
}}
{{2021 Big Sky Conference football standings}}
The 2021 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Ed McCaffrey and played their home games at Nottingham Field.
Preseason
=Big Sky preseason poll=
On July 26, 2021, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Mustangs were predicted to finish in the Big Sky last in the media and twelfth in the coaches.{{cite web|title= Weber State Picked to Win Big Sky by Coaches and Media|url= https://bigskyconf.com/news/2021/7/26/football-weber-state-picked-to-win-big-sky-by-coaches-and-media.aspx|date=July 26, 2021|access-date=August 3, 2021}}
| class="wikitable" style="display: inline-table;"
|+Coaches poll |
| align="center"
{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Northern Colorado Bears|Predicted finish|Team|Votes (1st place)}} |
| align="center"
| 1 | Weber State | (7) |
| align="center"
| 2 | Montana | (3) |
| align="center"
| 3 | Eastern Washington | (2) |
| align="center"
| 4 | Montana State | (1) |
| align="center"
| 5 | Sacramento State | (1) |
| align="center"
| 6 | UC Davis | |
| align="center"
| 7 | Northern Arizona | |
| align="center"
| 8 | Idaho | |
| align="center"
| 9 | Idaho State | |
| align="center"
| 10 | Portland State | |
| align="center"
| 11 | Southern Utah | |
| align="center"
| 12 | Cal Poly | |
| align="center"
| 13 | Northern Colorado | |
| class="wikitable" style="display: inline-table;"
|+Media poll |
| align="center"
{{CollegeSecondaryHeader|team=Northern Colorado Bears|Predicted finish|Team|Votes (1st place)}} |
| align="center"
| 1 | Weber State | (14) |
| align="center"
| 2 | Montana | (4) |
| align="center"
| 3 | Eastern Washington | (3) |
| align="center"
| 4 | Montana State | (3) |
| align="center"
| 5 | Sacramento State | |
| align="center"
| 6 | UC Davis | |
| align="center"
| 7 | Northern Arizona | |
| align="center"
| 8 | Idaho | |
| align="center"
| 9 | Idaho State | |
| align="center"
| 10 | Portland State | |
| align="center"
| 11 | Southern Utah | |
| align="center"
| 12 | Northern Colorado | |
| align="center"
| 13 | Cal Poly | |
=Preseason All-Big Sky team=
The Bears did not have any players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.{{cite web|title= 2021 Preseason All-Big Sky Conference Teams Announced|url= https://bigskyconf.com/news/2021/7/26/football-2021-preseason-all-big-sky-conference-teams-announced.aspx|date=July 26, 2021|access-date=August 3, 2021}}
Schedule
{{CFB schedule
| opprank = y
| rankyear = 2019
| rankdivision = NCAA Division I FCS
| poll = STATS
| timezone = Mountain
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = {{tooltip|September 3|Friday}}
| time = 7:00 p.m.
| w/l = l
| rank =
| nonconf = y
| away = y
| opponent = Colorado
| opprank =
| stadium = Folsom Stadium
| cityst = Boulder, CO
| gamename =
| tv = P12N
| score = 7–35
| attend = 44,153
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = September 11
| time = 5:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| rank =
| nonconf = y
| away = y
| opponent = Houston Baptist
| opprank =
| stadium = Husky Stadium
| cityst = Houston, TX
| gamename =
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 45–13
| attend = 2,135
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = September 18
| time = 2:00 p.m.
| w/l = l
| rank =
| nonconf = y
| opponent = Lamar
| opprank =
| stadium = Nottingham Field
| cityst = Greeley, CO
| gamename =
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 10–17
| overtime = OT
| attend = 5,605
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = September 25
| time = 1:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| rank =
| opponent = Northern Arizona
| opprank =
| stadium = Nottingham Field
| cityst = Greeley, CO
| gamename =
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 17–10
| overtime = OT
| attend = 5,769
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = October 2
| time = 1:00 p.m.
| w/l = l
| rank =
| away = y
| opponent = Montana State
| opprank = 11
| stadium = Bobcat Stadium
| cityst = Bozeman, MT
| gamename =
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 7–40
| attend = 20,127
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = October 9
| time = 1:00 p.m.
| w/l = l
| rank =
| away =
| homecoming = y
| opponent = Eastern Washington
| opprank = 4
| stadium = Nottingham Field
| cityst = Greeley, CO
| gamename =
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 17–63
| attend = 5,413
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = October 16
| time = 6:00 p.m.
| w/l = l
| rank =
| away = y
| opponent = UC Davis
| opprank = 13
| stadium = UC Davis Health Stadium
| cityst = Davis, CA
| gamename =
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 3–32
| attend = 10,963
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = October 23
| time = 6:00 p.m.
| w/l = w
| rank =
| away = y
| opponent = Southern Utah
| opprank =
| stadium = Eccles Coliseum
| cityst = Cedar City, UT
| gamename =
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 17–9
| attend = 3,208
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = October 30
| time = 1:00 p.m.
| w/l = l
| rank =
| away =
| opponent = Sacramento State
| opprank = 15
| stadium = Nottingham Field
| cityst = Greeley, CO
| gamename =
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 24–27
| attend = 4,068
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = November 6
| time = 12:00 p.m.
| w/l = l
| rank =
| away =
| opponent = Montana
| opprank = 11
| stadium = Nottingham Field
| cityst = Greeley, CO
| gamename =
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 0–35
| attend = 4,987
}}
|{{CFB schedule entry
| date = November 20
| time = 1:00 p.m.
| w/l = l
| rank =
| away = yes
| opponent = Weber State
| opprank =
| stadium = Stewart Stadium
| cityst = Ogden, UT
| gamename =
| tv = ESPN+
| score = 17-48
| attend = 3,242
}}
}}
- Source: [http://uncbears.com/schedule.aspx?path=football Schedule]
Conference opponents not played this season: Cal Poly, Idaho, Idaho State, Portland State
Game summaries
=At Colorado=
{{Linescore Amfootball|
|Road=Bears
|R1=0
|R2=0
|R3=7
|R4=0
|Home=Buffaloes
|H1=0
|H2=14
|H3=7
|H4=14
}}
{{See also|2021 Colorado Buffaloes football team}}
{{Clear}}
=At Houston Baptist=
{{Linescore Amfootball|
|Road=Bears
|R1=14
|R2=7
|R3=17
|R4=7
|Home=Huskies
|H1=0
|H2=6
|H3=7
|H4=0
}}
{{See also|2021 Houston Baptist Huskies football team}}
{{Clear}}
=Lamar=
{{Linescore Amfootball|
|Road=Cardinals
|R1=0
|R2=7
|R3=0
|R4=3
|R5=7
|Home=Bears
|H1=0
|H2=7
|H3=0
|H4=3
|H5=0
}}
{{See also|2021 Lamar Cardinals football team}}
{{Clear}}
=Northern Arizona=
{{Linescore Amfootball|
|Road=Lumberjacks
|R1=0
|R2=7
|R3=0
|R4=3
|R5=0
|Home=Bears
|H1=0
|H2=3
|H3=7
|H4=0
|H5=7
}}
{{See also|2021 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team}}
{{Clear}}
=At No. 11 Montana State=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=Bears
|R1=0
|R2=7
|R3=0
|R4=0
|Home=No. 11 Bobcats
|H1=17
|H2=10
|H3=13
|H4=0
}}
{{See also|2021 Montana State Bobcats football team}}
{{Clear}}
=No. 4 Eastern Washington=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=No. 4 Eagles
|R1=22
|R2=21
|R3=10
|R4=10
|Home=Bears
|H1=3
|H2=7
|H3=7
|H4=0
}}
{{See also|2021 Eastern Washington Eagles football team}}
{{Clear}}
=At No. 13 UC Davis=
{{Linescore Amfootball|
|Road=Bears
|R1= 0
|R2= 0
|R3= 0
|R4= 3
|Home=No. 13 Aggies
|H1= 0
|H2= 11
|H3= 7
|H4= 14
}}
{{See also|2021 UC Davis Aggies football team}}
{{Clear}}
=At Southern Utah=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=Bears
|R1= 7
|R2= 3
|R3= 0
|R4= 7
|Home=Thunderbirds
|H1= 3
|H2= 0
|H3= 3
|H4= 3
}}
{{See also|2021 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team}}
{{Clear}}
=No. 15 Sacramento State=
{{Linescore Amfootball|
|Road=No. 15 Hornets
|R1=10
|R2=7
|R3=3
|R4=7
|Home=Bears
|H1=0
|H2=7
|H3=10
|H4=7
}}
{{See also|2021 Sacramento State Hornets football team}}
{{Clear}}
=No. 11 Montana=
{{Linescore Amfootball|
|Road=No. 11 Grizzlies
|R1=14
|R2=7
|R3=14
|R4=0
|Home=Bears
|H1=0
|H2=0
|H3=0
|H4=0
}}
{{See also|2021 Montana Grizzlies football team}}
{{Clear}}
=At Weber State=
{{Linescore Amfootball
|Road=Wildcats
|R1=3
|R2=21
|R3=24
|R4=0
|Home=Bears
|H1=3
|H2=14
|H3=0
|H4=0
}}
{{See also|2021 Weber State Wildcats football team}}
{{Clear}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Northern Colorado Bears football navbox}}
Category:Northern Colorado Bears football seasons
Northern Colorado Bears football
{{collegefootball-2020s-season-stub}}