Nov. 16, 2002

Final Stats

WEST HAVEN, Conn. - On a cold, wet and muddy Saturday, the No. 7 ranked University of Northern Colorado Bears completed a perfect regular season against Division II competition, and won for the 10th time in 11 overall games in 2002, defeating the University of New Haven 18-7.

UNC's (10-1 overall) only blemish on the season was a 31-14 setback against Division I-AA defending national champion Montana, who entered this weekend with a 25-game overall winning streak, which is tied for the longest ever in I-AA history.

The Bears, who had already clinched the North Central Conference championship and a perfect 8-0 NCC record last weekend, seem to enjoy playing New Haven, as UNC now owns a 3-0 all-time advantage over the Chargers (4-6) including a 51-0 demolishing of UNH in the 1997 Division II National Championship game in Florence, Ala. UNC won for the ninth consecutive time in 2002 and won its 14th straight game against Division II competition dating back to the 2001 season. The Bears also became only the second UNC football squad to win 10 games during the regular season, joining the 1969 squad that finished 10-0.

"It was a nice game and just beautiful weather," UNC Head Coach Kay Dalton joked after the game. "It's too bad the conditions were like there were today. I don't know how well we played exactly but we got a win and we're happy with that."

Due to the wet conditions, neither team was able to establish much of an offensive threat in the first quarter. The Bears were finally able to get on the board when senior quarterback Mark Passard hit tight-end Justin White on a five-yard strike that capped a six-play, 65-yard drive and put UNC on top 6-0 with 12:14 remaining in the second quarter. Redshirt freshman Mike Swim's point-after attempt was blocked and UNC held that 6-0 advantage until late in the second quarter.

Junior running back Adam Matthews capped a 10-play, 61-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run with 1:56 remaining before halftime to put the Bears up 12-0 as a two-point conversion attempt failed. The touchdown was Matthews' ninth rushing score of the season 10th overall touchdown in 2002.

Matthews failed to reach the 100-yard mark for the first-time in seven games, after being slightly injured in the third quarter and not returning to the game due to the poor weather conditions and the UNC lead. Matthews ran for 32-yards and went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season, becoming only the seventh UNC player to reach the 1,000-yard plateau in a season. Matthews had set the school record with six consecutive games of 100-plus yards of rushing when he recorded 167 yards last weekend. As his replacement, sophomore running back Ty'Ray Thompson ran for a game-high 59-yards.

Swim closed the second quarter with a 24-yard field goal as the half expried to push the halftime advantage to 15-0. That field goal was set up by a 20-yard pass from Passard to sophomore wide receiver Vincent Jackson.

Swim added his record setting 16th field goal of the season with 8:38 remaining in the third quarter to extend the Bears lead to 18-0. With the kick, Swim set the UNC single season record for field goals, breaking the record of 15 set by each Ryan Anderson (1995) and Mike Schauer (1997).

New Haven added its only points of the day when junior quarterback Rob D'Innocenzio connected with senior wide receiver Matt Marcks for a 13-yard touchdown with 3:45 remaining in the third quarter to cut the lead to 18-7.

But the strong UNC defense would not allow the Chargers any more points, and limited UNH for most of the day. The Chargers gained only 60 total yards on the afternoon on 59 plays. The Bears, on the other hand, gained 322 total yards of offense in the poor conditions.

"Its was hard to block, run and catch in these conditions," said senior wide receiver Eric Nelson who caught a game-high eight passes for 115-yards. "It has been a great season. We knew we were going to have a good team going into the season."

"It feels good to go out there and win the last game of the regular season," said senior defensive back Ephraim Hilliard. "We have a long way to go still. Our ultimate goal is to get to the national championship game. We treated this game like it was a playoff game today and went out and took care of business."

UNC will now await its fate to see how its playoff future unfolds tomorrow. The Bears, ranked No. 2 in the Midwest region entering this week, seems to be a lock to host a first-round playoff game at Nottingham Field next Saturday. If the Bears do finish as one of the top two teams in the region, they will host either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in Greeley for a Noon kickoff on November 23.

The No. 1 ranked team in the region, Northwest Missouri defeated nationally ranked Emporia State 34-5 on Saturday and should remain in that number one position. No. 3 ranked team, Central Missouri, hosts Top 25 Pittsburg State while fourth ranked Minnesota-Duluth defeated Winona State 42-25 and fifth ranked St. Cloud State is at North Dakota State.

Stay tuned to UNCBears.com for complete playoff coverage, including brackets, matchups and ticket information, all of which should be available Sunday evening.