The Northern Colorado football team is nearing the end of its spring practice season. The next time the Bears get together, it will be late summer and the 2024 season will be only weeks away.

UNC caps its month-long spring workouts with an intra-squad game Saturday at Nottingham Field. The game begins at 2 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

As the Bears close out the spring, at least one player said he sees a different atmosphere around the team compared to a year ago — when the program was only four months into its life under head coach Ed Lamb.

Since the end of 2023 — Lamb’s first season as coach after his hire in December 2022 — Lamb has restructured the coaching staff, in addition to assembling recruiting classes in December 2023 and February this year.

A number of athletes have also left through the NCAA transfer portal.

The portal alone leaves college athletic programs in general in different places from one year to the next. UNC is no different there.

Bears running back David Afari said he’s seen no divide between the offense and defense this year. So far, the Bears are living together in one big den.

“The team chemistry is there for sure,” said Afari, who was the leading rusher in 2023 with 651 yards. “This year, we’re all together as one team and I like that.”

Afari also said the practices this spring are faster and a lot more aggressive. He’s seen more opportunities for him and the other backs to run the ball.

“I’m excited because last year we did run the ball, but not as much as this year,” Afari said.

O-line, D-line among team’s strengths

In a recent podcast with local radio host Brady Hull, Lamb said he sees the offensive and defensive lines as strengths of the team, which wasn’t the case a year ago.

“It’s an older, more mature group,” Lamb said of the linemen. “It’s a bigger, stronger group. As a group, I’m not sure there are any more committed groups, if you grade a position group by consistent attendance in the weight room, if you grade a position group by grade point average, the guys who stay after, the guys who watch the most film.

“Right now, it’s the offensive line and defensive line that’s the most consistent top to bottom.”

Last season, UNC scored 14 points per game while allowing 33.3 points to use only a couple of basic numbers to illustrate the team’s status. The Bears’ 14 points per game was last among 12 schools playing football in the Big Sky. UNC’s points allowed ranked ninth.

UNC averaged 286 yards per game on offense, which was the lowest among Big Sky teams. The Bears allowed 469 yards per game on defense, which was 11th of 12 schools.

The Bears have 11 athletes on offense and 11 athletes on defense. With the season UNC had in 2023, it’s safe to say there were plenty of breakdowns on both sides of the ball from the front to the back.

Line play, though, is a big part of the game in football. Offensive linemen in particular should receive more credit than they do when, for example, a quarterback throws for 300 yards and four touchdowns, or when a back busts out for 150, 200, 300 yards rushing in a game.

When this happens, there are five linemen — plus likely tight ends, receivers and running backs contributing to the effort.

But a lot starts up front, so it seems noteworthy if a head coach says he sees the lines as the team’s strengths.

Among the offensive and defensive linemen Lamb mentioned as significant contributors during the spring are defensive linemen Sam Iongi-Amituanai, Brooks Maile, Marcus Howard and Keyvon Lakes; and offensive linemen Isaias Sierra, Aidan Moe and Levi Johnson.

Lakes is the top returning tackler. Now a redshirt senior linebacker, Lakes had 56 in 2023 finishing behind Dustin Johnson (85), Jacob Stanton (70) and Jordan Knapke (67).

Austin Lawrence, a redshirt junior and experienced member of the offensive line, announced earlier this month he was entering his name into the NCAA transfer portal to leave UNC.

Moe, a 6-foot-8, 305-pounder from Parker and Ponderosa High, is going into his third season with the Bears. He played in two last season because of injuries. Moe said the offensive line has grown closer as a group.

Moe also said the offensive line worked “really hard” over the winter to get bigger and stronger. Lamb is a proponent of strength training.

“We knew last year, we could have been a lot better than we were,” Moe said. “So we wanted to make sure we weren’t a weakness and that we were a strength. We’re working our way to it.”

Iongi-Amituanai, a senior, said the defensive line has more motivation this year — the team as a whole is motivated — because UNC didn’t win a game last season. The players are trying to put in extra work.

Iongi-Amituanai, Michael Jordan Jr. and Solomon Wacays spent about 30 minutes after practice earlier this week working with a tackling sled.

“We got that from (defensive line) coach (Aaron) Fernandez. He pushed us to do more,” Iongi-Amituanai said. “And it’s actually helping us to be better. It translates on the field. When we’re in practice. We’re getting better as a unit.”

Iongi-Amituanai had 37 tackles last year.

Wacays said the defensive line should be deep, too, with guys from all three units contributing.

Jordan Jr. said one of the main points of emphasis among them is establishing trust among the players — that when a guy is called on, he’s going to go out and do his job.

“We’re out here every day getting extra work and everybody notices that, and I think it’s contagious for the rest of the team,” he said.