Sept. 20, 2008
Final Stats
Upper Iowa and Southwest Minnesota State got together for the fifth installment of their football series on Saturday in Fayette, Iowa. The teams entered the match up having each won two games in the series. The combined scores of the four games prior to today was 98-93 in favor of Upper Iowa. It should have been no surprise that the two teams were tied at 31 with 21 seconds to play. The big surprise came just 11 seconds later when Josh Shudlick found Sean O'Leary streaking down the sideline for a game winning, 54-yard touchdown with 10 seconds to play. The Mustangs claimed the 38-31 victory and improved to 2-2 on the season and 2-1 in the NSIC, while the Peacocks fell to 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the NSIC. The three losses for Upper Iowa in 2008 have come by four, three, and seven points.
The Mustangs got on the board first with their opening drive. The visitors went 69 yards in just 6 plays but their drive stalled out and they had to settle for a 20-yard field goal. After the score, the momentum would turn in the favor of the home team in a huge way.
Upper Iowa scored the next 21 points on three touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback Ben Curran. Curran found Sam Epsteen on an 8-yard shovel pass with 3:37 to play in the first quarter to cap off a 12-play, 72-yard drive. The drive was highlighted by a 16-yard rush by Zay Shepherd and a 15-yard completion from Curran to Jessie Hubbard.
On the ensuing kickoff, DeJon Creeks forced a Mustang fumble which was recovered by fellow freshman Brad Doerring. Doerring raced down the sideline and was pushed out of bounds just five yards short of the endzone. On the Peacocks second play, Curran found his fullback, Justin Michaels, for a short 5-yard touchdown pass and a 14-3 lead with 2:43 to play in the first.
After the UIU defense forced a SMSU three and out, the offense marched 76 yards in just four plays and 55 seconds. The Peacocks scored on a touchdown pass from Curran to a wide open Shepherd from 19 yards out. The drive was fueled by two connections between Curran and Shepherd and a 20-yard rush by Epsteen. After the score, the Peacocks led 21-3.
The Mustangs were able to find their stride on offense in the second quarter. Quarterback Josh Shudlick got the visitors started with a 5-yard pass and catch to Derek Townsend to cap off a 66-yard drive. Shudlick then engineered a 67-yard drive that ended when Zach Wysong found the endzone from 3 yards out. With the two scores, SMSU cut the UIU lead to 21-17.
Upper Iowa reestablished their offense midway through the second quarter to push their lead back to eleven points. Curran led a 9-play drive that covered 65 yards and ended when the UIU quarterback dove across the goal line to extend the lead to 28-17. The drive was highlighted by a great diving grab by Zach Schaeffer on a crossing route over the middle for a 25-yard pickup.
Southwest Minnesota State used their two-minute drill to make sure that Upper Iowa couldn't run away with the lead. Shudlick and Wysong once again led the visitors as they took 58 yards in just over a minute to cut the lead to 28-24 with under a minute to play in the first half. Shudlick found Blake Wilson for the 5-yard touchdown.
After the two teams combined for 52 points in the first half, the game's scoring slowed drastically in the second half. The Mustangs scored the only points of the third quarter when Wysong ran in a touchdown from 7 yards out. Wysong rushed for 40 yards in the 9-play, 75-yard drive that gave Southwest Minnesota State a 31-28 lead.
That lead held up until the Peacocks' Jason Price was able to knock home a 24-yard field goal with just 21 seconds to play in the game. The Upper Iowa game tying drive lasted 13 plays and covered 73 yards. UIU took over with 3 minutes to play in the game. Curran found Schaeffer over the middle for a 21-yard hook up to get the drive moving. Shepherd was busy on the drive as he rushed four times for 37 yards. Upper Iowa earned a first and goal at the SMSU 5 yard line, but after three plays the home team had lost two yards. Price came on and hit the field goal seemingly pushing the game towards an overtime period.
After a short squib kick was returned to the Mustang 46-yard line by Levi Bullerman, the Peacocks just needed to defend one more play to force the game into OT. Shudlick was pushed out of the pocket by a hard charging Mike Slaughter. The Mustang quarterback set himself long enough to fire a long pass down the sideline. Sean O'Leary got behind the Peacock defense and made a tough catch before hopping on one leg twice to maintain his balance and lay out into the endzone. The Peacocks and their fans were stunned. A last Hail Mary pass from Curran was knocked down on the final play as the Peacocks dropped their third heartbreaking loss of the year, 38-31.
Shudlick threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns on 23 completions in 35 attempts. Wysong carried 21 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns and caught 5 passes for 39 yards. Wilson and Townsend each caught a touchdown pass for the Mustangs. The SMSU defense was led by Tyler Reed (10 tackles), Aaron Diggs, Brad Wolf, and Derek Klinkner (8 tackles each).
The Peacocks were led by Curran on offense. Curran accounted for four touchdowns on the day; three through the air and one on the ground. The sophomore from Cedar Falls threw for 202 yards on 19 completions. Epsteen rushed 23 times for 84 yards, while Shepherd rushed 8 times for 54 yards. Schaeffer led the receivers with 7 catches for 84 yards. Craig Burns had to step in for two possessions to move the Peacocks when Curran went to the locker room after being taken down on a pass attempt. Burns threw three completions for 26 yards and rushed four times for 14 yards.
The UIU defense was led by Shane McComb, who racked up 9 tackles, while Traimain Johnson tallied 8 tackles. Slaughter and Andrew Teeter were both able to make 6 tackles. Joe Nix picked up the only sack of the day for the Peacocks. Jason Price's missed field goal from 42 yards in the third quarter was the first miss of Price's career. The sophomore bounced back nicely as he hit the game tying field goal.
The Upper Iowa football team will take to the road next Saturday to battle the Huskies of St. Cloud State University. The Peacocks and Huskies will kickoff at 1 p.m. in St. Cloud, Minnesota on Sept. 27, 2008
