Winless Bears look messy, but UI’s not taking them lightly

The theme this week at practice for Idaho’s football team has been simple: Don’t concern yourselves with the so-far shoddy record.

That’s in regards to Northern Colorado (0-4), which will stage its first-ever matchup with the Vandals, in both teams’ Big Sky opener, at noon Saturday at Nottingham Field in Greeley (Eleven/PlutoTV).

“They’ve been in close games,” UI offensive coordinator Kris Cinkovich said. “I told my guys, ‘Don’t worry about the record, they’ve hung around. They hung around (on Saturday, a 14-6 loss to South Dakota).’

“(They) gave Washington State probably all they wanted.”

Despite a bottom-tier total offense and defense in the Football Championship Subdivision (113th and 111th, respectively), the Bears have played well enough in first halves to give themselves a chance, although their second-half blunders generally have wound up costing them.

On Sept. 7 in Pullman, UNC went into the locker room trailing just 24-10 to the Cougs, who were a 44-point favorite.

But then came a third-quarter meltdown indicative of the Bears’ toils. They buried themselves promptly with a series of drives that went as follows: punt, fumble, turnover on downs, fumble.

In a one-score game last week against USD, Northern Colorado’s second half featured three three-and-outs and a turnover on downs, which preserved the Coyotes’ lead and eventually, their win.

In all, the Bears have one touchdown in two games with FCS teams, and have fumbled 10 times in all. They manage 258 yards per game, the second-worst in the league.

“They’ve played pretty good defense; offense has struggled at times, put the defense in some bad situations,” UI coach Paul Petrino said. “Defensive side of the ball, they’ve got some big, tall, long guys up front on the D-line. Their corners are long. Their safeties are good tacklers. They play with really good effort defensively.”

UNC’s defense is what kept it in games against San Jose State and — in the first half — against Sacramento State, a rising Big Sky team that only led 7-0 with five minutes until halftime before capitalizing post-intermission on a stalling Bears offense to claim a 50-0 win.

It comes from a tough-love, hard-nosed approach from defensive coordinator Marty English, who retired from coaching in 2017, only to reverse his decision a year later and return to his alma mater, which he helped guide to nine Division II playoff appearances and consecutive national titles in 1996-97 — the Bears joined the Big Sky in 2006, and since, have only posted two winning seasons.

Petrino undoubtedly was happy with that choice.

It was English who directed the Colorado State defense in 2016. The Vandals exploited it on all ends en route to their 61-50 Potato Bowl victory.

According to an article from the Coloradoan, some reports indicated the six-year CSU assistant was “forced out” of his job after a couple of below-average defensive seasons.

But it’s been the seldom-rushing defense (five sacks) — albeit, still an average one — that UNC relies on, despite an offense that was expected to be commendable with an NFL prospect at quarterback in Jacob Knipp.

Knipp, a sixth-year senior who’s battled injuries during his career, is completing 56 percent of his passes. He’s thrown for only 552 yards (138 per game) and one score to two interceptions.

Petrino expects the Bears to attempt stretching the field early, in hopes of hitting one deep and sparking their tepid offense.

Yet, “a lot of that will be determined by how well their offensive line is protecting,” Petrino said. UNC hasn’t been great in that respect. It’s allowed 11 sacks and the rushing game averages about 100 yards per outing, most of it coming from Wyoming transfer Milo Hall (71 yards per game).

As of Wednesday, the Vandals (2-2) are a 10-point favorite, according to 5Dimes. Considering UI’s 37-25 upset of No. 11 Eastern Washington on Saturday, it might not seem like enough, but the Vandals aren’t taking it that way.

“Game in and game out, they’ve played some good football,” Petrino said. “We’ve gotta be really ready to play.”

Clark may be reached at cclark@lmtribune.com, on Twitter @ClarkTrib or by phone at (208) 848-2260.