Aug. 29, 2009
Final Stats
The Upper Iowa football team won its third season opener in the last four years with a dominating victory over Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. The Peacocks scored 44 points in the first half of the game en route to a 65-6 win.
UIU tallied their 65 points thanks to eight rushing touchdowns and a defensive fumble return, and a safety. Sam Epsteen and Kinon O'Neal found the endzone twice each on rushes. Calvin Darling picked up a Blue Tiger fumble and returned it 78 yards to put UIU's defensive touchdown on the board.
The Peacocks opened the game's scoring with a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter after the defense stopped the Blue Tigers and forced two poor punts that resulted in great field position for UIU. Kinon O'Neal took his first carry for Upper Iowa one yard into the endzone for the first score and Jordan Otdoerfer scored the second touchdown from two yards away.
Upper Iowa blew the game open in the second quarter putting an impressive 30 points on the scoreboard. Bobby Davis and Sam Epsteen scored touchdowns early on in the quarter to push the Peacock lead to 28-0 with 12:58 to play in the half.
The Blue Tigers began to move the ball on their next drive, but the Lincoln quarterback was hit from behind and fumbled; Calvin Darling scooped up the pigskin and rumbled 78 yards to score a defensive touchdown for the Peacocks and extend the advantage to 35-0. On the next Lincoln drive, the UIU defense stifled a drive early and forced a punt. The snap sailed over the punter's head and he was forced to kick the ball out of the endzone before the Peacocks could fall on it.
Prior to the end of the quarter, Upper Iowa pushed the ball over the goal line again; this time in the hands of Mike Moser from one yard out. The Peacocks looked poised to put more points on the board right before the half, but a 97-yard interception return gave the Blue Tigers their only highlight of the first half. The teams headed to the locker rooms with UIU leading 44-6.
Upper Iowa added three more touchdowns in the second half to run away with the victory. Epsteen and O'Neal added their second touchdowns of the day and backup quarterback Kirby Hovden rushed in his first game as a Peacock.
The Peacocks picked up a 27-12 advantage in first downs for the game. Upper Iowa tallied 440 yards of total offense, while holding Lincoln to just 95 yards of offense. The Peacock rushing attack was dominant picking up 261 yards on 51 attempts (a 5.1 yard average), while the Blue Tigers were held to just 65 yards on 53 carries.
Beyond all the offense that Upper Iowa displayed on the day, perhaps the greatest site for Peacock fans was the play of the Peacock defense, who not only held Lincoln to less than a hundred yards but set up the UIU offense with excellent field position all evening. Shane McComb (8 tackles, 4 for loss), Traimain Johnson (6 tackles), Cameron Copeland (5 tackles, 2 for loss), Marquise Figueroa (4 tackles, 1 for loss), Steven Hale (4 tackles, 2 for loss), Eric Addy (4 tackles), and Aaron Miller (4 tackles) led the UIU defense. Upper Iowa recovered two fumbles on the day; the one returned for a touchdown by Darling and the other was picked up by Casey Poppenfoose.
The Peacock offense was led by Otdoerfer and his 81 yards on 9 carries; the sophomore also caught two balls for 6 yards. Moser rushed for 67 yards on 17 attempts, while Epsteen picked up 65 yards on 12 carries and 22 yards on his one pass reception. Along with O'Neal's two touchdowns, he also registered 35 yards on 7 carries.
Starting quarterback Ben Curran completed 11 of his 17 passes for 152 yards, but did throw two interceptions. Curran led the Peacocks on the field for their 44 first half points. Hovden quarterbacked the team in the second half completing 3 of his 7 attempts for 27 yards, while his total rushing yards were negative, he did manage to cross the goal line for the Peacocks final touchdown on the day.
The wide receivers were led by La'Mont Williams (3 catches for 52 yards), John Baldwin (3 for 45), and Jesse Hubbard (2 for 41).
Jason Price was perfect in his six extra point attempts, while newcomer Tim Eulitz drove his first three collegiate extra points through the uprights to cap off the Peacock touchdowns in the second half.
Next Saturday, Sept. 5, Upper Iowa will play their Northern Sun Conference opener in Bismarck, N.D. at the University of Mary. The Marauders were handed a 30-14 loss at Chadron State earlier today. Last season, the Peacocks and Marauders played a very tight ball game in Fayette with U-Mary landing on the better side of a 34-31 tilt. Upper Iowa and U-Mary will kickoff their conference opener at 2:30 p.m.
