Sept. 7, 2002

Final Stats

GREELEY, Colo. - In front of the eighth largest crowd in Nottingham Field history, the No. 22 ranked University of Northern Colorado Bears opened the 2002 season in impressive fashion, shutting out cross-state rival Western State 31-0. The win for the Bears (1-0) marked the fifth in a row over Western State (0-1).

On "Hall of Fame Weekend" the Bears brought out a tough defense that limited Western State to only 120 total yards for the day and only three net rushing yards. The game marked the first shutout for UNC since the Bears blanked Morningside 21-0 on September 16, 2000.

In the early going, both teams could not bolster much of a scoring threat as punts, failed fourth down conversations and blocked field goals were the order of the day. UNC was the first to break through when senior quarterback Mark Passard found senior wide receiver George Carroll for a six-yard touchdown pass to put the Bears up 7-0 late in the opening quarter. The touchdown catch moved Carroll into 10th on the UNC all-time receiving touchdowns list with 10. On the day, Carroll caught six balls, pushing his career total to 97, which places him in a tie for fifth place on the Bears all-time leaderboard.

UNC struck again with 6:04 remaining before halftime, as senior tailback Tyler Hawkins rushed three yards for a score to increase the lead to 14-0. Hawkins rushed for 60 yards on the day, moving him past Chuck Snowden and into 10th place on the UNC career rushing list with 1,362 total yards for his career.

The Bears, however, were not done scoring before the half, as Passard hit Justin White for a 37-yard scoring strike with only eight seconds remaining before the break to push the advantage to 21-0 at halftime.

Northern Colorado added its fourth score on the day early in the third quarter, as junior transfer Steve Cutlip found senior receiver Eric Nelson for a 65-yard touchdown pass that increased the lead to 28-0. For Nelson, the touchdown reception was the 12th of his career, placing him in a tie for seventh place on the school's all-time list.

UNC added its final points with 14:42 remaining in the game in the form of a 28-yard field goal by redshirt freshman Mike Swim.

UNC rolled up 444 total yards of offense on the day, 317 of which came through the air. Western State was limited to only 120 total yards, 117 of which came in their passing attack.

"Their (UNC) defense was dominant," said Mountaineers head coach Jeff Zenisek. "You have to run the football to win games and we couldn't. UNC's front seven was better than our front seven."

"All three units (offense, defense, special teams) played pretty good today," said Bears head coach Kay Dalton. "It was a pretty smooth effort overall, especially for our first game."

In his first collegiate game after sitting out last season as a redshirt, Littleton native Dusty Hoffschneider, a two-time Colorado High School Defensive Player of the Year, recorded two and a half sacks totaling 23 yards.

The victory in the season opener marked the seventh time in the past eight seasons the Bears have opened their annual campaign with a win.

The Bears will be back in action next weekend as they travel to Missoula, Mont. to face the defending NCAA I-AA champion University of Montana at 1:05 p.m.