GAME NINE || Saturday, November 1, 2014 || 6:00 PMFayette, Iowa || Harms-Eischeid Stadium || Senior DayUpper Iowa University vs. Wayne State College
LIVE OPTIONS
LIVE STATS | LIVE WEBCAST | NSIC SCORES | AM 950 KOEL
WEEKLY NOTES
UPPER IOWA | WAYNE STATE | NORTHERN SUN | TWO DEEP
THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK FOOTBALL... Upper Iowa had one of the best overall quarters of the season after halftime last week holding the Concordia offense to just a pair of first downs while scoring 24 points to rally from a three-score deficit to take a three-point lead. However, the Golden Bears used a 56-yard field goal early in the fourth to tie the game and a 37-yard game winner in overtime to defeat UIU, 37-34. This week, the Peacocks welcome the Wildcats of Wayne State College, who boast one of the top offenses in the NSIC led by quarterback Zach Osborn. Wayne State struggled against their opponents from the NSIC North, but have things going the right way as they have posted three wins in four games against the NSIC South. Last week, WSC outlasted Southwest Minnesota State 48-45 in overtime on the road. Fans should buckle up for what is setting up to be a wild shootout between two teams that are making a habit of playing close ball games with each other. The last five meetings have been decided by a combined 13 points.
THE SERIES... The Peacocks won last year's match up in Wayne, Neb. after trailing 13-0 in the first quarter. UIU scored 24 straight points and held on for a 24-21 win to secure their first winning season since 1999. Upper Iowa earned their first-ever NCAA Division II and Northern Sun victory at Wayne State, 24-14, in 2006. The Wildcats won the yearly meeting in 2007, 2008 and 2009, but in 2010 Upper Iowa won on senior day in Fayette by a 21-20 count. Three years ago, the Wildcats outlasted the Peacocks winning a 44-41 overtime game despite 287 rushing yards from Chris Smith, a true-freshman at the time. Two seasons ago, Wayne State won 17-14 thanks to a field goal with just over two minutes to play. The Wildcats lead the series 5-3.
REWRITING THE NSIC RECORD BOOKS... Peacock fans have witnessed an assault on the UIU football record book over the past few years, but now names like
Cole Jaeschke,
Chris Smith,
Shay Gutman,
Derek Giesking and
Lucas Hefty are being etched into the Northern Sun Conference and the NCAA Division II record books. As this year's senior class begins to put a close on their careers in Peacock blue, their legacy will live on for decades to come. Jaeschke is the Northern Sun's all-time leader in passing yards with 10,699 in 40 NSIC games and is second on the NSIC all-time list for total offense with 11,125 yards; he needs 184 yards of total offense to pass Phillip Klaphake of St. Cloud State. Smith has rushed for 4,120 in 31 NSIC games, which ranks third all-time needing just 97 yards to climb to second behind Winona State's Rayon Simmons (4,805). Last week Gutman became UIU's leader in career receiving yards with 2,700 and now needs 12 receptions to become the Peacocks' all-time leader in that category as well; he is fourth all-time in NSIC history with 182 receptions in 35 NSIC contests. Giesking is just behind his fellow receiver with 175 catches, fifth all-time in the conference currently. Hefty's 158 receptions are the eighth highest total in NSIC history.
PEACOCK LEADERS IN THE NCAA DIVISION II AND NSIC... Many of the Peacock players are ranked among the nation's best this season. Here is a quick look at the some of the top marks with NCAA and NSIC ranks in parentheses. Cole Jaeschke... Completions/Game (3rd NCAA/1st NSIC), Completion % (58th/5th), Passing TD's (48th/6th), Passing Yds. (10th, 2nd), PY/Game (13th, 2nd) and Total Offense (23rd, 2nd). Chris Smith... All-Purpose Yds (10th, 1st), Points Responsible For/Game (33rd, 6th), Rushing TD's (4th, 1st), Rushing Yds (20th, 2nd), RY/Game (4th, 1st) and Scoring (2nd, 1st). Shay Gutman... Receiving TD's (49th, 5th), Receiving Yards (25th, 4th), RY/G (33rd, 4th) and Receptions/Game (22nd, 4th).
Alex Wahl... Forced Fumbles (13th, 1st), Solo Tackles (3rd, 1st), Tackles for Loss (75th, 8th) and Total Tackles (13th, 3rd). Derek Giesking... RY/Game (47th, 6th) and Receptions/Game (6th, 1st).
Chayz Holt... Interceptions (4th, 2nd) and Passes Defended (12th, 3rd).
Tyler Fisher... Tackles for Loss (75th, 8th) and Total Tackles (63rd, 7th).
Trey MacTaggart... Combined Kick Returns (68th, 8th) and Punt Return TD's (4th, 1st).
Zach Gardner... Fumbles Recovered (21st, 1st). Team... Passes Intercepted (8th, 2nd), Red Zone Defense (29th, 1st), 4th Down Conversion % (14th, 2nd), 4th Down Conversion % Defense (16th, 1st) and Turnovers Gained (23rd, 2nd).
THE BROADCAST TEAM... Play-by-play announcer Joe Stasi is in his 12th season as the "Voice of the Peacocks." For the third consecutive year he will be joined on the broadcast by Zach Carlyle, a senior sports communication major at UIU. The pre-game show is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
LAST WEEK FOR WSC AT SMSU: Junior running back Ryan Ludlow scored on a 10-yard run on the second play in overtime to give Wayne State a thrilling 48-45 overtime win at Southwest Minnesota State last Saturday night. The Wildcats won the game with 461 yards of total offense and was out-gained for the first time all season (SMSU had 521 yards).
Sophomore quarterback Zach Osborn completed 23 of 38 passes for 336 yards and three scores with one interception. It was the fourth straight 300-yard passing game for Osborn and the fifth in six games with two of the contests over 400 yards (443 vs. MSU Moorhead and 499 vs. Augustana).
Senior wide receiver Adam Stark has caught at least one pass in 29 straight games. He is the sixth player in school history with over 2,000 career receiving yards and currently ranks fourth on the all-time receiving yards list with 2,200.
Senior wide receiver Cole McDaniel has seven or more catches in seven of eight games this season with five 100-yard receiving contests.
Sophomore quarterback Zach Osborn became the fourth quarterback in school history to throw over 20 TD passes in a single season, joining Brett Salisbury (29 in 1993), Silas Fluellen (26 in 2009, 21 in 2007) and Ed Jochum (24-1984).
ABOUT WAYNE STATE: The Wildcats are 5-3 on the season and 3-1 in the NSIC South (3rd place) following last week's 48-45 overtime win at Southwest Minnesota State. It marked the third straight game that the Wildcats have scored more than 40 points while also seeing Wayne State out-gained in a game for the first time in 2014. The Wildcats are 3-1 in road games and 2-2 at home this season.
The Wildcats lead the NSIC and rank eighth in NCAA Division II averaging 347.1 yards per game passing with the 'Cats eighth in the league in rushing offense at 150.9 yards a contest. Defensively, WSC is fifth in rushing defense (140.9) and ninth in passing defense at 240.8 yards per game.
On special teams, WSC is now second in the league in net punting average (35.8) while ranking eighth in kickoff return average (21.0), 11th in punt return average (7.9) and seventh in kickoff coverage giving up 20.7 yards per return.
Wayne State has allowed a league-low three sacks, which ranks sixth in NCAA Division II, while the Wildcats lead the NSIC and rank fifth nationally in sacks with 29 for 167 yards. The Wildcats' turnover margin of -4 is tied for ninth in the NSIC.
Sophomore quarterback Zach Osborn leads the Wayne State offense, completing 208 of 336 passes for 2,769 yards with 21 TD's and 10 interceptions. The Harlan, Iowa native has the fifth-most passing yards in NCAA Division II and leads the NSIC in passing yards per game at 346.1. Osborn also leads the NSIC in total offense at 358.1 yards per game and is fourth in the league in pass efficiency rating at 145.8.
