The 2021 Northern Colorado Bears football team represented the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

as a member of the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...

during the

2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season The 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. After the pri ...

. They were led by first-year head coach

Ed McCaffrey Edward Thomas McCaffrey, Jr. (born August 17, 1968) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. McCaffrey played college football for Stanford University and ea ...

and played their home games at

Nottingham Field Nottingham Field is an 8,533-seat multi-purpose stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. It is home to the Northern Colorado Bears football and track and field ...

Previous season

The Bears finished the 2019 season 2–10, 2–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a five-way tie for ninth place. On November 24, head coach

Earnest Collins Jr. Earnest Collins Jr. is an American college football coach, most recently for the University of Northern Colorado, a position he held from 2011 to 2019. Collins also served as the head football coach at Alcorn State University for the 2009 and 20 ...

was fired after nine seasons. He finished at Northern Colorado with a record of 28–72. The Bears opted out in the 2020 fall season and 2021 spring season.

Preseason

Big Sky preseason poll

On July 26, 2021, during the virtual Big Sky Kickoff, the Mustangs were predicted to finish in the Big Sky last in the media and twelfth in the coaches.

Preseason All-Big Sky team

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

Schedule

*Source
Schedule
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Game summaries

At Colorado

At Houston Baptist

Lamar

Northern Arizona

At No. 11 Montana State

No. 4 Eastern Washington

At No. 13 UC Davis

At Southern Utah

No. 15 Sacramento State

No. 11 Montana

At Weber State

References

Northern Colorado Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of Colorado and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado. Region Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of Colorado. It borders northwestern Colorado, nort ...

Northern Colorado Bears football seasons

Northern Colorado Bears football The Northern Colorado Bears football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Northern Colorado located in Greeley, Colorado. The team competes in the Big Sky Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Champio ...

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