BEAUMONT, Texas – After opening the 2022 season with two road games, the Lamar University Cardinals will finally get the opportunity to play in front of their own fans Saturday when they step on the field to take on Norther Colorado. The contest will be LU's lone home night game of the season.
 
Saturday's contest will see two teams square off in similar positions. Both schools are 0-2, and both played a close game against an FCS opponent in week one (UNC lost to Houston Baptist in Greeley) and both followed that up with strong showings against FBS opponents last week. The Cardinals dropped a hard-fought game at SMU, while Northern Colorado hung tough at Wyoming.
 
Saturday will serve as the second all-time meeting between the two programs as Big Red traveled to Greeley last season and recorded a 17-10 overtime victory. That was a game that saw UNC take its first lead with 2:30 remaining in the contest, only to watch the Cardinals respond with their best drive of the game to set up a Bailey Giffen field goal with :06 remaining, and force overtime. In the extra period, the Cardinals scored a touchdown on their opening possession and forced the Bears into a turnover to cap the victory.
 
The Cardinals' offensive is averaging 262.0 yards per game behind starting quarterback Mike Chandler. Despite being in his third year with the program, Chandler maintains freshman status after the COVID season and redshirting last season. He has completed 18-of-49 passes on the year for 331 yards and two touchdowns. He is also averaging 3.2 yards per carry.
 
Chandler's top target is former quarterback Jalen Dummett who has six catches for 117 yards and a touchdown, while Sevonne Rhea has five catches for 140 yards and a score.
 
Big Red is averaging 86 rushing yards per game on the ground, led by newcomer Khalan Griffin's 21 carries for 70 yards (3.3 ypc) and one touchdown.
 
Defensively, the Cardinals are surrendering 448 yards per game this season, including 197 on the ground but those numbers were skewed a bit following last week's game at SMU. Junior Tyler Jackson currently leads the Cardinals with 17 tackles on the year.
 
The Bears are averaging 22 points per game this season while allowing nearly 40. UNC is also averaging nearly 350 yards of total offense but has giving more than 400 to its opponents in the first two games of the year.
 
Saturday's contest will serve as the team's lone home game during the season's opening month of play. The game is slated to kick off at 6 p.m. from Provost Umphrey Stadium and will be broadcast live on Newstalk 560 KLVI and streamed live on ESPN+.