997 GREELEY (COLO.) TRIBUNE Bi 1

Micus might be go-to man 'Great guy' ready to lead Bears to elite of Division II By SAMUEL G. MUSTARI Greeley Tribune

PITTSBURG, Kan. - Nine months ago, the things Cone McGuffey knew about Dil- lon Micus would hardly fill up a note pad.

Now, the Univer-sityofNorthernCol-orado quarterback could speak volumes about his favorite wide receiver. 'v'C

"What a great guy," said McGuf- fey, who will led the Bears (9_2*, ranked 11th) in a Division II first-round playoff • Game essentials game today against I B4 Pittsburg State Uni- versity (9-I, ranked eighth). "Dillon is a funny guy who always lightens things up."

Micus, who came to UNC via Mullen High School and the University of Hawaii, has lit up his share of defensive backs this season, finding a niche on a national championship team he knew very little about a year ago.

"He fit in real easily last spring." said McGuffey. a 6-foot-I, 205-pound sopho-more. "It was great to see a guy come in from somewhere else and get right into the swing of things."

After leading the Rainbows in receiving in

University of Northern Colorado wide receiver Dillon Micus has developed into a go-to guy for the Bears in their drive to repeat as champions of Division II football. Micus and the rest of his teammates need to have a good game today in the first round of the playoffs.

Tribune tie photo

his sophomore season, the 5-11, 190-pound Micus figured that his happiness by playing closer to home was more important than his numbers.

Now, he has both. "This has been a lot more than! could have

imagined," said Micus, the Bears' leading re-ceiver with 33 catches for 588 yards and sev-en touchdowns. "Being here is a lot of fun, and,football is also fun."

Micus' ability has made the second half of

1980— Lost 21-14 in first round to Eastern Illinois

1990— Lost 17-7 to North Dakota State in the first round

1991 - Lost 28-24 to Portland (Ore.) State in the first round

1995 Lost 36-17 to Pittsburg State in the first round

1996— Beat Pittsburg State 24-21

in the first round: beat Northwest Mis-souri State 27-26 in the quarterfinals Beat Clarion (Pa.) 19-18 in the semifi-nals: Beat Carson-Newman (Tenn,) 23-14 for the Division II national cham-pionship.

UNC's season fun for a lot ut players. It was his 86-yard punt return for a score against South Dakota that gave the Bears a needed lift and started a six-game win streak.

Ironically, McGuffey also turned in some big numbers that day, including a 92-yard touchdown pass to guess who? Micus.

Micus, who runs a 4.4 40-yard dash, is the

See BEARS, Page B3

for last season's Division II national title game in Florence, Ala., and took a liking to the UNC pro-gram.

The pair followed the Bears via newspaper stories throughout the season and decided to make the nine-hour drive to Pittsburg, Kan., to cheer them on as they attempt to make their way back to Florence, Ala.

"I'm on the championship committee in Flo-rence, and he's (Lee) on the host committee, so

we got to know these folks pretty good last year," Killen said. "We followed them long distance all season and decided to come up here to watch them. They're a classy outfit."

Flattered by their arrival in Pittsburg, UNC head coach Joe Glenn told the UNC players to shake hands with Lee and Killen as they exited Brandenburg Field/Carnie Smith Stadium and headed to the practice field.

-Samuel G. Musfarr

I Saturday, November 22, 1997

FROM PAGE 131

BEARS _____ __ Ni

Bears' leading punt returner, averaging 15.7 yards per return, He also leads the Bears in kickoff returns with a 39.3-yard average.

"You know, last spring I heard we were getting a transfer receiver from Hawaii, but at UNC you learn to just wait and see what happens." McGuffey said. "You hear things like that and then a guy doesn't ever show UP."

Micus showed up, almost on the move. "He fit in right away, picked up the offense and had

a big impact on our spring drills." said McGuffey, a bi-ological science major. "You had to figure that if he could contribute at a Division I school, he could con-tribute here too. And he has."

Micus was well aware of UNC's national title, and also

PITTSBURG, Kan. —The University of North-ern Colorado football team ran into a couple of unexpected fans Friday afternoon in Pittsburg, Kan.

Waiting to greet the Bears as they went through their walk-through workout in preparation for today's playoff game with Pittsburg State were Steve Lee and Danny Killen - all the way from Florence, Ala.

Lee and Killen were the Bears' personal hosts

knew the Bears would be in need of a starting quarterback with McGuffey and sophomore Dean Grable battling for the top spot.

"I knew about Dean because he was a Colorado guy," Micus said. "All I knew about McGuffey was that he was from Wyoming. And he was a couple of years younger than me."

Being from Riverton, Wyo., hardly left McGuffey obscure.

He was the Cowboy state's high school Athlete of the Year for 1994-95 as an All-State performer in football and basketball. He was also Sports Illustrated's Player of the Week after completing 27 of 34 passes for 419 yards and four touchdowns in the state title game.

"I knew he was good," Micus said. "Now. I also

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know that he's a great competitor and sort of a genius.

"He'll end up being Dr. Cone or something." Micus added. "I know he's real smart and is a chemist or some-thing like that. He's a chemist who plays quarterback."

Added McGuffey: "I can't say too many personal things I know about Dillon, but I do know that I can go to him and he'll give it everything he has to make a catch. He's funny and lightens things up, but on game day, he comes to play. That's what I like about him the most.

* UNC had to forfeit the Mesa State win. That forfeit, which drops the team's record to 8-3. is currently under appeal.

F FLORENCE HOSTS STILL. FOLLOWING THE BEARS, LITERALLY