GREELEY, Co. — The Northern Colorado Bears used a fast start and a stingy rush defense to defeat #1 Montana Grizzlies this week 45-35. The Bears offense was scorching hot, scoring 17 points in the first quarter and taking a 24-7 lead into halftime. Montana made it a ballgame in the third quarter, eventually cutting the deficit to just 3 points, but Northern Colorado pulled away for the upset win. Interim Northern Colorado Head Coach Damien Jefferson landed at the Greeley-Weld Airport a half hour before game time and stepped up in a big way to lead his team to victory. He pointed to the quick start by the Bears as the key to the victory.

“The key was pounding them early. We knew that the win would only be possible with a early lead, so we went out to an early 24-7 advantage. We held up on defense, and excelled on offense.”

If Coach Jefferson was jet-lagged after the two-hour flight from Boise, Idaho, it didn’t show in the postgame press conference. He admitted that his team let up a little during the third quarter before getting their heads back in the game.

“We relaxed for a bit, which is never good. We then went for a trap game, and shut them down.”

Jefferson was ousted from his position in Northern Colorado mere minutes after the game but as he got into the stretch limo to head back to the airport a reporter asked if Northern Colorado could win the Big Sky Conference Championship. Damien paused as he was putting on his sunglasses and blinked in his last moments under the bright lights of the now-empty stadium.

“Short answer? Yes.”

Montana Head Coach Crimson Chin was very subdued in his press conference, as if he knew a loss like this was bound to happen. Earlier in the week some fans on the message boards had been calling this a “trap game” for the Grizzlies and he admitted that they made a lot of mistakes in the first quarter.

“Our trend of starting games slow finally caught up to us. Defense was not very good either seeing as we only made 2 stops all game.”

The Grizzlies gave up 531 yards, all on the ground, and Coach Chin was not happy. He grimaced when asked about the third quarter surged and shrugged during his response.

“Our offense found out what the scheme was. Once the pattern was clear we couldn’t be stopped until he readjusted in the 4th. Credit to their offense for being relentless.”

Coach Crimson was certain that his squad would bounce back from the loss and continue to play at a high level despite the small setback.

“We have a team that never gives up, and we have proved time after time that when are backs are against the wall, we respond well. It just wasn’t enough yesterday. Plenty of work to do during the week.”

#1 Montana drops to 7-1 and 2-1 in Big Sky play as they wait to see their new ranking in the polls before Week Eight when they are scheduled to host Portland State. Northern Colorado makes the case for a top 25 ranking as they improve to 4-2 and 2-1 in Big Sky play and face a tough Idaho squad next time out.