The phrase of the week, and what the University of Northern Colorado football team wants to fix, is self-inflicted wounds.

UNC (0-1) kept things scoreless in its first quarter against the University of Colorado (1-0) during the game last week. It allowed two touchdowns and less than 100 yards going into the break. Unfortunately, Northern Colorado couldn’t dig itself out of the deficit and gave up much-needed momentum.

“Like all teams, we want to make sure that we don’t help them out at all by beating ourselves; eliminate the mistakes that are holding us back a little bit,” UNC coach Ed McCaffrey said Wednesday during his weekly press conference. “It’s tough enough to go play a talented team that’s well-coached. You really have to eliminate those self-inflicted wounds, and I think that’s the emphasis this week.”

McCaffrey said the Bears missed some opportunities in the red zone and the field position overall was less than desirable. It crossed the 50-yard line a few times, but penalties impeded the progress. Had the team controlled those plays, the outcome could’ve been different or the final score could have been closer.

“If we get better in those couple of areas; we don’t allow that to happen next week, it gives us a chance,” McCaffrey said. “There’s no guarantees in this game, but it gives us a chance.”

Junior linebacker Jace Bobo said it takes discipline to not give up yardage via penalties. The Bears had some late hits and false starts; Bobo was also hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

He said not having played in at least two years definitely played into things, but those can’t continue.

“When was the last time we really had a true ref, true crowd and emotions high?” Bobo said. “As long as everyone keeps their head on straight and learns as we’re watching the film and as we see those penalties making such a big impact on the game, then we can move forward from there.”

Additionally, Bobo said the defense relied on the offense too much late in the game. Instead it needs to force turnovers, which changes the game.

Graduate running back Tru Wilson said the offense needs to “simply put points on the board” by finishing drives, and it needs to keep the defense off the field. The longer UNC is in control of the ball, the better. It gives more opportunities for the Bears to score, and preserves defensive energy.

Wilson hopes to see continual improvement this weekend and as the season moves forward.

“Many of our players hadn’t  played a full football game in five years. None of them have played in over two years. I thought it showed a little bit,” McCaffrey said. “We did a lot of good things, but fatigue set in in the second and fourth quarters, and we weren’t quite as on point as we were hoping to be, but the effort was there.”

UNC will be back in action this weekend at Houston Baptist. The game will begin at 5 p.m. Saturday and air on ESPN+.