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NORTHERN COLORADO GAME NOTES | SACRAMENTO STATE GAME NOTES | BIG SKY WEEKLY NOTES

Honored
Senior quarterback Bryan Waggener was named the National Football Foundation Colorado Chapter Player of the Week after leading the Bears to a 21-17 victory over South Dakota. Waggener threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns, completing 21-of-32 passes. He also gained 14 yards rushing, threw no interceptions and was not sacked.

Breaking Even
Northern Colorado enters its last home game of the season with a 2-3 mark at Nottingham Field in 2009 and is looking to go .500 with a victory over Sacramento State.

Taking Care of the Ball
Against South Dakota, the Bears did not have a turnover, but recovered two from the Coyotes. In FCS non-conference games this season the team is +5 in turnovers and is now fourth in the league at +4 on the season.

Now Appearing
Senior wide receiver Alex Thompson now ranks 10th on the Northern Colorado single-season charts with 53 receptions after catching seven passes for 109 yards against South Dakota. Thompson is tied for fourth in the Big Sky statistics with 5.9 catches per game. The school single-season record for catches in a year is 80 by Vincent Jackson in 2004. Thompson also needs just two more receptions to tie for 10th on the school's career charts with 93 (Ron Lindsay, 1980-83).

Chart Hopping
Senior quarterback Bryan Waggener continues to climb the career charts at Northern Colorado. With his 281 passing yards against South Dakota he moved up one spot to seventh in career passing yards with 4,431 and he moved up two spots to sixth in total offense yards with 4,619. He is one of only two two-year players to rank on either chart as Jon Boyer (2000-01) ranks sixth in passing yards with 4,531 and eighth in total offense with 4,335.

Paper Or Plastic?
Junior linebacker John Eddy now has 4.5 sacks on the season after tallying one on Saturday, bringing his career total to 14.5. He ranks 12th on the school's career charts, needing just 0.5 to move into the top 10.

Keeping Them Close
In October this season the Bears are 2-3 and have lost the three conference games by a total of 21 points. In September the team was 1-3, losing the two conference games by an average of 17 points. The three victories by the Bears ties their total from the first three years in the Big Sky Conference.

Home Cooking
Junior linebacker John Eddy has played in each of the last five games, starting in three. In the last three home games, Eddy has recorded double figure tackles in each, notching 13 against Portland State, a career-high 14 against Weber State and 11 against South Dakota. He also had 4.5 sacks in those three contests.

By The Numbers
Northern Colorado has 12 players from California on its roster, second only to Colorado for number of players on the Bears roster.

Call It A Streak
For four straight weeks now, the Northern Colorado offensive line has not allowed a quarterback sack. Senior quarterback Bryan Waggener has not been sacked in the last 245 minutes of play, dating back to the fourth quarter at Northern Arizona.

W vs L
In the Bears' three wins this season, the offense has averaged 435.7 yards per game while in the six losses the team averaged just 276.3 yards per game.

Scouting Sacramento State
The Hornets are 3-5 on the season and 3-3 in Big Sky Conference action after upsetting 21st-ranked Northern Arizona 27-24. Sophomore punter Augie Heath was named the Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this season. He gained 18 yards on a fake punt, setting up the team's first score and averaged 41.6 yards per punt over five punts. Both the Hornets and Bears have losses to Weber State and Eastern Washington and a win over Idaho State. Sacramento State defeated Northern Arizona and Portland State, while Northern Colorado dropped decisions to both teams. The Hornets average 130.1 yards per game on the ground and 220.9 through the air and are battling injuries among the running backs. The Hornets are also the lowest penalized team in the league, getting flagged just 42 times for 45.6 yards per game.

November 7
NC is 5-4 all-time in games played on Nov. 7 with a 3-2 mark at home. The last game at Nottingham took place in 1998, a 44-24 victory over South Dakota State.

Among The Best
The Bears have several individuals ranked among the top five in the Big Sky Conference statistics.

• Bryan Waggener ranks fifth in total offense averaging 211.4 yards per game and fifth in passing yards per game at 209.4.
• Dylan Orms leads the league in passing efficiency at 186.8.
• Alex Thompson is tied for fourth with 5.9 receptions a game.
• Ryan Lutz averages 7.1 yards per punt return to rank fourth.
• Michael York ranks first in PAT kicking and is fourth with 1.25 field goals per game.
• Nick Hernon is tied for fifth in sacks at 0.56.
• Korey Askew is tied for fourth with 1.00 passes defended a contest.
• Max Hewitt averages 0.33 interceptions a game to tie for firth.
• Martin Awachie and Askew are tied for second with two fumble recoveries.

Schools From California
Northern Colorado is 4-17 all-time against teams hailing from the state of California (2-7 Cal Poly, 0-3 Sacramento State, 1-1 San Diego, 1-4 UC Davis, 0-2 UC Santa Barbara).

A Win Would...

• give the Bears four wins on the season and two in a row.
• even the home record to 3-3 this year.
• be the second Big Sky Conference win of the year.
• be the first-ever victory over Sacramento State.
• be the third in the last four games for the Bears.

Going Deep
After throwing just 10 passes for 20 or more yards in the first seven games, senior quarterback Bryan Waggener has thrown eight for over 20 yards in the last two games. He threw four against Weber State, three to sophomore Patrick Walker (34, 42 and 59 yards) and one to freshman Darin McDonald (30). He also threw four against South Dakota, hitting freshman Jace Davis (24), senior Alex Thompson twice (26, 53) and junior Denzel Hutchings (32), with two going for touchdowns.

Driving Distance
The drives of the last eight of the last nine touchdowns for Northern Colorado have all been at least 74 yards. The winning touchdown against South Dakota ended an 89-yard drive, while the Bears also scored after a drive of 78. In the three previous games, the team had touchdown drives of 75, 80, 82, 99 an 88-yard interception return and 74 yards.

If He Only Had A Game
In order to rank in the Big Sky and NCAA statistics, a player must have appeared in 75% of the team's games. For junior John Eddy, he will miss out on appearing in both sets of statistics all season after missing three games. Eddy has 4.5 sacks, which ties for seventh in the Big Sky and he would also rank ninth with 8.0 tackles per game.

Notes From USD Game

• Junior linebacker John Eddy recorded his 100th career tackle in the first half and now has 107 and senior safety Stephen Michon tallied his 200th career tackle and has 201.
• Senior quarterback Bryan Waggener moved up one spot in career passing yards to seventh with 4,431 yards and jumped two spots in total offense with 4,619 yards.
• The win was the eighth straight in Greeley against South Dakota and improves the Bears series record to 20-13 against the Coyotes.
• Junior safety Max Hewitt tallied his third interception of the season and the ninth of his career, saving a touchdown in the third quarter. He has now returned those nine picks a total of 151 yards.
• Senior linebacker Logan Zabel notched the first interception of his career, doing so late in the fourth quarter to help preserve the win. He had a 17-yard return, which is the fourth-longest on the team this year.
• Eddy has recorded double figure tackles in three of the last four games for the Bears after posting 11. He has 41 tackles over the last four games.
• This is the fourth time this season Waggener has completed more than 20 passes in a game and the fifth straight game he has thrown for more than 200 yards. It is also the fourth straight game he has rushed for positive yardage.

On The Plus Side
Senior quarterback Bryan Waggener has only tallied six negative rushing yards in the last four games, thanks in part to the offensive line holding strong. Waggener has rushed 17 times for 82 yards and one touchdown in the last two games (4.8 yds per carry).

AT&T
For Northern Colorado its not a telephone company, its Alex Thompson and touchdowns. The senior wide receiver tallied the second-highest single-game total with three touchdowns against Northern Arizona, and now has nine after another TD against South Dakota. Against the Lumberjacks, he also had 12 receptions, which ties for the second-most in a single game for a career-best 164 yards.

He's Very Active
Senior quarterback Bryan Waggener currently ranks on the NCAA FCS active career leaders list in passing attempts per game (6th, 34.4/gm), passing yards per game (11th, 215.1) and passing completions per game (11th, 19.7). Junior linebacker John Eddy also ranks 13th in sacks per game (0.5).

Career Milestones

• Junior linebacker John Eddy recorded his 100th career tackle and now has 107
• Senior safety Stephen Michon tallied his 200th career tackle and has 201.
• Sophomore Patrick Walker reached 500 reception yards in his career and now has 509.

What To Look For

• Junior cornerback Korey Askew is six tackles shy of 100 for his career.
• Freshman John Burnley needs just eight yards for 500 all-purpose on the year.
• Senior Alex Thompson needs nine yards for 1,200 career rushing yards and 35 yards for 1,500 all-purpose yards.
• Senior quarterback Bryan Waggener is just 69 yards shy of 4,500 passing yards.
• Senior linebacker Logan Zabel needs 11 tackles to reach 100.

Bears Story Lines

• Redshirt freshman Darin McDonald joins the team after a short stint at Wyoming. Prior to that, he spent three seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system.
• The Bears return all eight on the depth chart among defensive linemen from a year ago.
• Three players, safety Ryan Lutz, defensive back C.J. Stemo and kicker Michael York have all received their bachelor's degrees and have begun work on their masters.
• Northern Colorado athletics ranks first in the Big Sky Conference in graduation success rate, with last year's rate at 93%.
• Two upperclassmen on the team, junior kicker Zak Bigelow and junior offensive lineman Tim McGraw both have perfect 4.00 grade point averages and are in the Monfort College of Business.
• A total of 13 student-athletes were named to the Monfort College of Business Dean's Citation List and five were from football. Junior Zak Bigelow, junior Matt McDonnell, junior Tim McGraw, sophomore Chuks Nweke and senior Michael York were all honored.
• Junior Andre Harris was named the Big Sky player of the week after rushing for 152 yards in the Bears' 31-12 victory over San Diego. Harris averaged 7.6 yards per carry, scoring twice. Harris also caught four passes for 37 yards, giving him 189 all-purpose yards. His 152 rushing yards is the most at NC since Andre Wilson rushed for 158 against Western Illinois on Sept. 23, 2006.

Champions Council
This season, head coach Scott Downing decided to have a council of players to take more of a leadership role instead of the more traditional 2-3 captains. Those players, elected by their teammates are: Zak Bigelow, John Burnley, Cameron Friend, Chris Jones, Ryan Kemp, Ryan Lutz, Tim McGraw, Chuks Nweke, Dylan Orms, Colby Riggins, James Schrenk, C.J. Stemo, Thomas Stuemky, Curtis Truett and Michael Van Portfliet.