Bears football places 7 on ‘22 All-big Sky teams

The University of Northern Colorado football team earned 10 individual Big Sky awards, the conference announced on Wednesday.

Two players received second team honors, two earned third team recognition and three — with a duplicate player — received honorable mention. League coaches vote for the awards and cannot vote for their own players.

Graduate student Elijah Dotson received All-big Sky second team for the running back position and honorable mention for all-purpose, punt returns and kick returns.

Dotson, the Sacramento State transfer, led UNC in rushes and receptions. He added six rushing touchdowns and two receiving. He also set a new Bears Division I record for 1,567 all-purpose yards.

During the season, Dotson averaged 84.4 rushing yards per game (No. 4 Big Sky) and 928 overall (No. 3).

Dotson finished with 1,003 rushing yards to become the second player in UNC Division I history to top 1,000. The last time that happened was in 2006.

The graduate student finished the season with four straight games with more than 100 allpurpose yards. In total, he had eight on the year.

One of his most memorable performances came against Idaho State, when Dotson returned a punt for 82 yards and a touchdown.

Sophomore Elijah Andersontaylor earned second team honors for inside linebacker. He finished No. 1 in the league for total tackles (111) and tackles per game (10.1).

Anderson-taylor led the league in forced fumbles (5) and fumble recoveries (3).

The coaches placed sophomore defensive back Jordan Knapke and graduate offensive lineman Brady Odom on the third team.

Knapke contributed 90 tackles, 8.2 per game, and two fumble recoveries. Odom started all 11 games on the offensive line, one of the only players to stay healthy the entire season.

Graduate student Dylan Mccaffrey, sophomore Devin Bale and sophomore Kurt Gallup received honorable mention.

Mccaffrey finished No. 9 in the league with 1,905 passing yards for an average of 173.2 yards per game.

Bale earned honorable mention for punting duties. The secondyear starter finished with 2,095 yards for fourth in the conference.

Gallup gained 12 yards this season on special teams, including a fake punt and kick return.