Aug. 28, 2008
Final Stats
The 2008 Upper Iowa football team traveled to Des Moines, Iowa to open their season against the Bulldogs of Drake University, an NCAA Division I-Football Championship Subdivision member. Tonight's game was the third meeting between the Bulldogs and Peacocks. The teams met in 2004 and 2006; Drake got the better of both outcomes 45-27 and 40-7, respectively. Upper Iowa claimed a 10-0 lead, but Drake used two turnovers to score two touchdowns on the way to a 17-13 victory over the Peacocks.
Upper Iowa got on the board on their first drive of the game on the foot of sophomore Jason Price. After a 70-yard, 15-play drive that took 7:58 off the clock, Price knocked home a 30-yard field goal to give the visitors an early 3-0 lead. The Peacocks were led by the offensive line and junior running back Sam Epsteen. Epsteen tallied 45 yards on the first drive on 9 carries as he found a multitude of wholes thanks to the veteran offensive line. Sophomore quarterback Ben Curran completed three of four passes for 23 yards and rushed once for 9 yards.
After a Bulldog three and out, the Peacocks sent Jordan Otdoerfer, the local freshman from Strawberry Point and Starmont High School, back to return the punt. Otdoerfer did not disappoint with his first touch. Otdoerfer took the punt and returned it nearly 80 yards to the goalline, but a block in the back penalty brought the sensational return back to just a five yard return in the official stats.
Both defenses began to play a bit tougher as the offenses stuggled to gain much ground. In the second quarter, the Peacock defense held their ground after the Bulldogs started their drive in UIU territory. Drake was forced to punt the ball and Upper Iowa sent junior Dominique Jackson back to return. Jackson, one of the Peacock's two returning All-NSIC performers, received the ball at the 11 yard line, shot through a hole in the middle of the field, sprinted to the sideline and then outsprinted three Bulldogs to the endzone. Jackson's 89-yard touchdown return gave Upper Iowa a 9-0 lead and the Price extra point put the Peacocks up 10-0 three and a half minutes into the second quarter.
On the Peacocks' next possession, Curran threw an interception on second down deep in Upper Iowa's own territory. The turnover set up the Bulldogs with a first down at UIU's 20-yard line. The Bulldogs needed only two plays to cover the twenty yards and get right back into the game trailing 10-7 with more than half of the second quarter to play. Drake's scoring play came on a Cole Ingle 8-yard completion to Zach Brower.
With 1:49 to play in the half, Upper Iowa sent their punt team onto the field. The long snap was mishandled by the Peacock punter. He picked the ball up and tried to run for the first, but was tackled and fumbled the ball on the way down. The Bulldogs' Andrew Asbell picked the ball up and sprinted into the endzone from 15 yards out. The touchdown put the home team back into the lead, 14-10.
The teams headed to the locker room separated by just four points. In the first half Upper Iowa held an 8-3 advantage in first downs, an 80-20 yard advantage in rushing yards, and a 19:18-10:42 advantage in time of possession. The difference in the first half was simple... turnovers. Two Peacock turnovers led to both Drake touchdowns.
Epsteen ran well in the first half behind the veteran offensive line picking up 67 yards on 12 carries. Curran threw 7 for 15 for 53 yards but did throw one interception. Lawrence Hellams caught 3 balls for 21 yards in the first half.
Drake took the ball first in the third quarter and on third down sophomore Nate Curran intercepted an Ingle-pass to the UIU sideline and returned it 7 yards to the Drake 30-yard line. The Peacocks used three runs to pick up five yards and sent Jason Price onto the field for a three-point attempt. Price hit a low line drive just over the crossbar from 42-yards out to pull Upper Iowa to within one point, 14-13, with 12:26 on the clock in the third.
The Bulldogs turned the offense over to Ingle, their senior quarterback, and he slowly began to move Drake down the field hitting crossing route after crossing route over the middle picking up 53 yards on five completions. The drive stalled out at the UIU 15-yard line as Drake reclaimed their four-point advantage, 17-13, when Logan Rees hit a 32-yard field goal for the home team.
Upper Iowa began their next drive at their own 43-yard line after Kyle Hosch picked up 37 yards on the kick return. Curran then connected with Hosch on a 16-yard route over the middle that put UIU in Drake territory. The Peacocks drive was stopped by the Bulldogs and forced to punt. Drake took over at their 20 after the touchback.
The game moved to the fourth quarter and both defenses seemed to feed on the emotions of the close game. The Upper Iowa offense started to move the ball with a drive that started with just 9:37 to play. Curran completed four passes to cover 27 yards. The Peacocks faced a 3rd and 10 from their own 47, but failed to convert and punted the ball away with 6:33 on the clock.
The Bulldogs faced a 3rd and 7 when Ingle completed a 14-yard pass over the middle for a first down in Upper Iowa territory. Two plays later Ingle found another open receiver that gave the home team a fresh set of downs at the UIU 33-yard line. The Peacock defense set up a 3rd and 4 from the 27 and held up as they kept the Bulldog running back from picking up the first down. On 4th and a long 1 with 1:52 to play, Drake's offense stayed on the field looking to close the game out. The Peacock defense held strong and gave the ball back to the Upper Iowa offense at their own 23-yard line with 1:47 to play.
The Peacock offense needed five yards on the third down; Curran completed a pass to Epsteen for 13 yards for a first down at the UIU 41-yard line. Upper Iowa faced another third down needing one yard. Curran once again came through as he found Hosch over the middle for another first at the Drake 46 with just over a minute to play. A sprint draw by Epsteen over the middle gave the Peacocks another first down to the Drake 33-yard line. On the next play, Curran went over the middle looking for Hosch, but the pass was tipped and landed on the chest of a Bulldog defensive back laying on the ground for a game ending interception.
The Peacocks lost their season opener to Drake by a 17-13 final score. Upper Iowa can look to a lot of good things, but can look at this game and know that they held the difference in their own hands. In the end, Drake used a three to one advantage in turnovers and a fourteen to three advantage in points off turnovers to take the victory.
Epsteen finished the game with 78 yards on 18 carries, while Curran rushed for 31 yards on 9 carries. Curran also completed 18 of 31 attempts for 130 yards, but threw two interceptions. Hellams pulled in seven catches for 42 yards, while Hosch and La'Mont Williams each caught four passes for 40 and 24 yards respectively. The UIU defense was led by Cameron Copeland (7 tackles), Dominique Jackson, Shane McComb, and Marcus Morishige (all with 5 tackles).
After the game, Head Coach Mike Knoll had the following thoughts, "The first problem tonight was our negative turnover ratio. The kicking game got us a touchdown, but that means that our offense only scored six points tonight and that's not good enough. We played hard for 60 minutes and I am proud of the players' effort. To be that close on the road... it really hurts. We had a lot invested in the result tonight. But we also have a lot invested in the rest of the games this season. We will do what it takes to get our first win next week against U-Mary. We will take an extra day of work to get ready for our home opener next Saturday. Even at the end, I still saw us putting that ball in the endzone for the win. I believe in the young men on this team. In a season opener, the team that makes fewer mistakes wins... tonight we made more mistakes."
Upper Iowa will open their home season on Sept. 6 in Eischeid Stadium against the Marauders of the University of Mary. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The game will be the Northern Sun Conference opener for both teams.
