2018 Northern Colorado Bears football team

The 2018 Northern Colorado Bears football team, represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by eighth-year head coach Earnest Collins Jr. and played their home games at Nottingham Field. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 2–9, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in 11th place.

2018 Northern Colorado Bears football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	2–9 (2–6 Big Sky)
Head coach	Earnest Collins Jr. (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jon Boyer (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Marty English (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Nottingham Field
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Weber State +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 2 Eastern Washington +^		7	–	1					12	–	3
No. 7 UC Davis +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 17 Montana State ^		5	–	3					8	–	5
Idaho State		5	–	3					6	–	5
Montana		4	–	4					6	–	5
Cal Poly		4	–	4					5	–	6
Northern Arizona		3	–	4					4	–	6
Portland State		3	–	5					4	–	7
Idaho		3	–	5					4	–	7
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					2	–	9
Southern Utah		1	–	7					1	–	10
Sacramento State		0	–	7					2	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Although North Dakota was classified as an independent, games against them still counted as Big Sky Conference games. Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

Polls

On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Bears were predicted to finish in eleventh place in the coaches poll and twelfth place in the media poll.^[1]

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	134 (6)
2	Weber State	124 (3)
3	Northern Arizona	121 (3)
4	Idaho	101 (1)
5	Sacramento State	94
6	Southern Utah	91
7	Montana	82
8	Montana State	76
9	UC Davis	64
10	Cal Poly	40
11	Northern Colorado	30
12	Idaho State	29
13	Portland State	21

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	651 (27)
2	Weber State	636 (19)
3	Northern Arizona	535 (1)
4	Montana	496 (2)
5	Idaho	483 (3)
6	Southern Utah	449 (1)
7	Sacramento State	415
8	Montana State	391 (1)
9	UC Davis	331 (1)
10	Idaho State	170
11	Cal Poly	169
12	Northern Colorado	166
13	Portland State	103

Preseason All-Conference Team

The Bears had one player selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.^[2]

Alex Wesley – Sr. WR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	2:00 p.m.	No. 17 McNeese State*	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	Pluto TV 241	L 14–17	5,672
September 8	1:00 p.m.	at No. 23 South Dakota*	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN+	L 28–43	9,143
September 15	2:00 p.m.	Sacramento State*	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ELVN	L 25–28	3,768
September 22	6:00 p.m.	at No. 7 Weber State	Stewart Stadium Odgen, UT	Pluto TV 235	L 28–45	8,668
September 29	12:00 p.m.	North Dakota	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	Pluto TV 241	L 13–38	4,902
October 6	12:00 p.m.	No. 16 UC Davis	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	Pluto TV 241	L 36–49	4,155
October 13	3:00 p.m.	at Portland State	Providence Park Portland, OR	Pluto TV 232	L 14–35	4,375
October 20	12:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ELVN	W 42–14	3,522
October 27	6:00 p.m.	at Southern Utah	Eccles Coliseum Cedar City, UT	Pluto TV 236	W 42–39	7,106
November 3	12:00 p.m.	No. 5 Eastern Washington	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ELVN	L 13–48	3,274
November 10	1:00 p.m.	at Montana State	Bobcat Stadium Missoula, MT	ATTRM	L 7–35	14,147
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

• Source: Schedule

Despite also being a member of the Big Sky, the game vs. Sacramento State will be a non-conference game and will have no effect on the Big Sky standings.

Game summaries

McNeese State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Cowboys	10	7	0	0	17
Bears	0	0	0	14	14

See also: 2018 McNeese State Cowboys football team

At South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	14	0	0	14	28
No. 23 Coyotes	14	20	0	9	43

See also: 2018 South Dakota Coyotes football team

Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	7	0	7	14	28
Bears	7	7	3	8	25

See also: 2018 Sacramento State Hornets football team

At Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	14	7	0	28
No. 7 Wildcats	14	7	14	10	45

See also: 2018 Weber State Wildcats football team

North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Hawks	3	21	0	14	38
Bears	0	7	0	6	13

See also: 2018 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Aggies	14	14	14	7	49
Bears	0	10	0	26	36

See also: 2018 UC Davis Aggies football team

At Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	14	14
Vikings	14	14	7	0	35

See also: 2018 Portland State Vikings football team

Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	7	7	0	0	14
Bears	12	0	16	14	42

See also: 2018 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

At Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	14	10	18	0	42
Thunderbirds	8	3	14	14	39

See also: 2018 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Eagles	13	7	14	14	48
Bears	0	0	13	0	13

See also: 2018 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

At Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	0	0	0	7
Bobcats	7	14	0	14	35

See also: 2018 Montana State Bobcats football team

References

1. "Eastern Washington Picked to Win the Big Sky".
2. "Doss, Buss Headline Big Sky Football Preseason All-Conference Team".