2019 Northern Colorado Bears football team

The 2019 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the University of Northern Colorado in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by ninth-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 2–10, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a five-way tie for ninth place. On November 24, 2019, Earnest Collins Jr. was let go after nine seasons, he finished at Northern Colorado with a record of 28–72.[1]

2019 Northern Colorado Bears football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
2019 record	2–10 (2–6 Big Sky)
Head coach	Earnest Collins Jr. (9th season)
Offensive coordinator	Nick Fulton (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Marty English (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Nottingham Field (Capacity: 8,533)

2019 Big Sky Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Weber State +^		7	–	1					11	–	4
No. 9 Sacramento State +^		7	–	1					9	–	4
No. 6 Montana ^		6	–	2					10	–	4
No. 4 Montana State ^		6	–	2					11	–	4
Eastern Washington		6	–	2					7	–	5
UC Davis		3	–	5					5	–	7
Idaho		3	–	5					5	–	7
Portland State		3	–	5					5	–	7
Cal Poly		2	–	6					3	–	8
Southern Utah		2	–	6					3	–	9
Northern Arizona		2	–	6					4	–	8
Northern Colorado		2	–	6					2	–	10
Idaho State		2	–	6					3	–	9
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – 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

Previous season

The Bears finished the 2018 season 2–9, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in 11th place.

Preseason

Big Sky preseason poll

The Big Sky released their preseason media and coaches' polls on July 15, 2019. The Bears were picked to finish in thirteenth place in both polls.[2]

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	536 (25)
2	UC Davis	510 (13)
3	Weber State	472 (4)
4	Montana State	417
5	Montana	396 (1)
6	Northern Arizona	302
7	Idaho State	285
8	Idaho	248
9	Cal Poly	196
10	Portland State	178
11	Southern Utah	160
12	Sacramento State	125
13	Northern Colorado	90

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	140 (10)
2	UC Davis	127 (2)
3	Weber State	124
4	Montana	104 (1)
5	Montana State	100
6	Northern Arizona	88
7	Idaho State	72
8	Idaho	65
9	Cal Poly	56
10	Portland State	42
11	Sacramento State	40
12	Southern Utah	38
13	Northern Colorado	19

Preseason All–Big Sky team

The Bears did not have any players selected to the preseason all-Big Sky team.[3]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	8:00 p.m.	at San Jose State*	CEFCU Stadium San Jose, CA	GSF	L 18–35	13,480
September 7	3:00 p.m.	at No. 22 (FBS) Washington State*	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	P12N	L 17–59	27,585
September 14	7:00 p.m.	at Sacramento State*	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	Pluto TV	L 0–50	6,753
September 21	2:00 p.m.	South Dakota*	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	Pluto TV	L 6–14	5,745
September 28	1:05 p.m.	Idaho	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	Eleven/Pluto TV	W 27–24	5,373
October 5	5:00 p.m.	at Northern Arizona	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	Pluto TV	L 23–41	10,026
October 12	2:00 p.m.	at Eastern Washington	Roos Field Cheney, WA	ATTSNRM	L 21–54	9,091
October 19	1:05 p.m.	Portland State	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	Eleven/Pluto TV	L 30–38	4,357
November 2	2:30 p.m.	at Idaho State	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	Pluto TV	W 26–20	5,369
November 9	1:05 p.m.	Montana State	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	Eleven/Pluto TV	L 14–45	4,442
November 16	12:00 p.m.	at North Dakota	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND	Pluto TV	L 38–45	7,732
November 23	12:05 p.m.	Cal Poly	Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	Pluto TV	L 21–28	2,854
*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 at Sacramento State will be a non-conference game and will have no effect on the Big Sky standings.

Game summaries

at San Jose State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	3	3	9	3	18
Spartans	14	7	7	7	35

at Washington State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	3	0	7	17
No. 22 (FBS) Cougars	14	10	21	14	59

at Sacramento State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	0	0
Hornets	7	15	21	7	50

South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Coyotes	0	7	0	7	14
Bears	0	0	6	0	6

Idaho

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vandals	3	14	7	0	24
Bears	0	7	10	10	27

at Northern Arizona

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	3	10	7	3	23
Lumberjacks	0	10	24	7	41

at Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	14	7	21
Eagles	10	30	14	0	54

Portland State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	10	14	7	7	38
Bears	0	14	10	6	30

at Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	6	6	6	8	26
Bengals	0	10	7	3	20

Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	7	17	14	7	45
Bears	7	0	0	7	14

at North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	14	10	7	38
Fighting Hawks	14	17	14	0	45

Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	7	7	14	28
Bears	7	7	7	0	21

References

1. "Collins will not be retained as Northern Colorado head football coach". University of Northern Colorado Athletics. November 24, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
2. "Scoreboard: Big Sky Conference preseason football polls". 406 MT SPORTS. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
3. "Big Sky Conference announces preseason all-conference teams". MTSPX. 15 July 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.