GAME NINE || Saturday, October 30 || 1 PM

Fayette, Iowa || EB Eischeid Stadium

Wayne State @ Upper Iowa

This Week in Peacock Football...

The Upper Iowa Peacock Football team closes out the home portion of the 2010 schedule Saturday afternoon when the Wildcats of Wayne State visit Eb Eischeid Stadium in Fayette.  The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division matchup is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Last Time Out: The Peacocks dropped a heartbreaker last Saturday when Southwest Minnesota State scored the game tying touchdown with 1:02 to go in regulation before winning the contest in overtime, 40-34.

Scouting the Wildcats

The Wayne State College Wildcats enter Saturday’s matchup with a 5-3 record which includes a 4-3 mark in the NSIC.  The Wildcats have lost two games in row, falling at home to Concordia-St. Paul 17-14 two weeks ago and losing to Minnesota State 13-3 last week.

WSC ranks fifth in the NSIC in scoring offense as they tally nearly 30 points (29.2) per game.  They are very dangerous on kick returns by averaging 22.6 yards per return and have ran two kickoffs back for touchdowns.

The Wildcats are also the best punting team in the league (41.0 yards per punt) while their defense has allowed the second-fewest first downs (115) in the league this season.

Series History

The Peacocks won their first ever NSIC contest in football against the Wildcats of Wayne State, 24-14, back in 2006.  Since then, however; UIU is 0-3.

The Last Meeting

UIU and WSC last met on October 3, 2009 in Wayne, Nebraska.  The Peacocks recorded seven takeaways in the contest but lost the game, 24-21 to the then #18-ranked Wildcats.

Life on the Road

The Peacock Football team has racked up a few miles on the road this season in just their first three road contests.

Upper Iowa visited Commerce, Texas (1,659 miles roundtrip) for their first game and travelled to Moorhead, Minn. (946 miles roundtrip) for their first NSIC road trip.  Two weeks ago, the Peacocks travelled another 842 miles roundtrip for the game against Bemidji State.

The Peacocks added another 390 miles round trip two weeks ago when they visited Mankato.

Upper Iowa have travelled 3,837 miles after this weekend.  To put that in perspective, if you were able to drive a car from Fayette to Honolulu, Hawaii, you would drive just over 4,000 miles.

The last two road contests against Concordia-St. Paul and Augustana will add a few more miles to the road tally this season.  However, they are two of the shorter drives at 383 miles and 629 miles round trip.

Connecting to Hubbard

Upper Iowa’s Jessie Hubbard ranks as the third most targeted receiver in the NSIC this season.  The junior wide receiver averages 4.88 catches per game and gains on average 12.8 yards per catch.

Protecting the QB

The Peacock quarterbacks are the third least sacked in the NSIC.  The Upper Iowa offensive line has allowed just seven sacks all season.  Only Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth have allowed less.

Radio

Upper Iowa Peacock football can be heard throughout the 2010 season courtesy of AM 950-KOEL.

Play-by-play announcer Joe Stasi is in his eighth season as the “Voice of the Peacocks” and will be joined by KOEL’s Chad Allen for all of the Peacock home games this season.

The pre-game show is scheduled for 12:40 p.m.

Live Stats and Web Cast

Live stats and a Web Cast will be available for Saturday’s contest.  Visit www.upperiowaathletics.com for further details.