Woods carries Bears' load

SAN DIEGO -- The University of Northern Colorado's running back roulette appears to be over. With David Woods carrying the ball 17 times for 96 yards during UNC's 49-13 loss at San Diego, it appears he will be the Bears' No. 1 running back when they open Big Sky play at Northern Arizona on Saturday.

"I think that's fairly obvious," Northern Colorado head coach Scott Downing said. "He ran the ball fairly well and made a lot of yards and did a good job. I think it's obvious that he's been productive for us, and we're going to continue to ride that horse and see what happens."

The junior college transfer from Hutchison Community College also had three receptions for 7 yards and returned four kickoffs for 77 yards for a total of 180 all-purpose yards. By contrast, sophomore Tyrone Wilson only carried the ball two times for 6 yards while freshman Dan Freismuth had one carry for two yards.

After UNC's 49-13 loss to San Diego on Saturday night, offensive coordinator Dennis Darnell left no doubt that Woods was his workhorse.

"That's settled," Darnell said. "He's definitely the No. 1 guy."

Darnell added, though, that Wilson will continue to get into the mix at tailback to help keep everybody fresh, especially if Woods continues to return a lot of kicks.

Like any good teammate, Woods realizes the Bears need contributions from all their running backs to be successful.

"If coach's decision is to leave me back there, I'm totally happy with that. I work hard. You like to see benefits of your hard work, but we've still got good running backs behind me and they're able to carry the load as well," Woods said. "It's still a group effort."

Like any good tailback though, Woods wants to get his touches. And he realizes the advantages of getting the bulk of the carries.

Certainly, the Bears hope Woods success running translates to success in the win-loss column. The Bears enter the Big Sky Conference season riding an 11-game losing streak, which ties a school record set between 1900 and 1917.

"It's not new to me. My junior college went 0-9 so I know how it feels, but it's come to the point where I feel this team's tired of it," Woods said. "I think this week we're really going to come to work, because no one wants to sit here and come to every game losing because winning's what's expected.

"That's not what this team's all about. We didn't give up in any of our games we've been in, so we're not going to stop now. But I think our team is now confident. We've seen everybody on our offense and defense play well, so I think we're going to put it all together."