Upper Iowa exploded for 29 points in the second quarter of their NSIC showdown with Wayne State College on Senior Day in Fayette en route to a 58-29 victory.  The Peacocks ran for 226 yards in the game after two straight weeks of less than 40 yards on the ground.  The run game allowed Cole Jaeschke and his receivers to dominate in the passing game as UIU racked up 357 yards through the air.  The Peacock defense also stood tall with four interceptions and a fumble recovery as they turned the Wildcats over five times.  With the win,  UIU improved to 6-3 on the season and secured their second straight winning season, while Wayne State fell to 5-4 overall and 3-2 against the NSIC South.  The Peacocks are now 2-3 in the NSIC South.

Running back Chris Smith returned to the Peacock backfield after missing two straight games due to injury.  Smith scored UIU's first touchdown on a 41-yard touchdown rush down the sideline capping off an 8-play, 79-yard drive that brought UIU back within two, 9-7.  After the Wildcats retook their nine-point lead, 16-7, Upper Iowa's offensive explosion dominted the remainder of the second quarter.  The scoring started when Jaeschke found Derek Giesking on a middle screen that UIU's receiver ran in for a 16-yard touchdown.  Minutes later, Smith scored his second touchdown on a five-yard draw play and Jaeshcke found Trey MacTaggart for the two-point conversion to put the home team ahead 22-16.  Jaeschke found MacTaggart for the team's third straight touchdown; this time the score was from 10 yards.  Lucas Hefty also caught a pass over the middle and then turned it upfield for a 27-yard touchdown giving the Peacoks a 36-16 lead. 

Upper Iowa was the only team to scratch the scoreboard in the third quarter when Cole Stephen made a tackle in the endzone for a safety and a 38-16 lead heading to the fourth.  Wayne State scored on 4th and Goal from the one-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter, but Upper Iowa answered with Chris Smith's third touchdown of the night and added a Jaeschke to Giesking touchdown catch for 32 yards on the first play after UIU's fourth interception of the day.

Wayne State added a touchdown with four minutes to play in the game, but UIU's Vincent Otdoerfer broke free for a 57-yard run off left tackle as the home team was looking to run out the clock.  The score gave Upper Iowa 58 points on the scoreboard, which is the team's highest point total in a game since a 65-6 win at Lincoln University to open the 2009 season.

Jaeschke moved to the top of a second all-time list in Northern Sun Conference history with 376 yards of total offense.  The senior quarterback is now the NSIC's career leader in total offense with 11,501 yards and passing with 11,056 yards in 41 NSIC games.  Jaeschke passed Phillip Klaphake of St. Cloud State University for the total offense mark tonight.

Derek Giesking pulled in 15 catches for the second straight week.  The senior from Cedar Rapids scored twice and registered 177 yards in receiving, while Lucas Hefty had 9 grabs for 113 yards and a score and MacTaggart and Shay Gutman each made 5 catches.  Both Giesking and Gutman are closing in on the all-time receptions lead at Upper Iowa; Giesking is in the lead after pulling down 30 catches in the last two weeks.  Dwayne Croker (2004-07) caught 194 passes; Giesking sits with 192, while Gutman has 188.

Smith made his return to the lineup in style running for 148 yards and three touchdowns on just 18 carries for an 8.2 yards per carry average.  The three scores give the senior rusher 19 touchdowns on the season, one shy of the Upper Iowa single-season record of 20 set by Warren Pierce in 1966.  Smith also went over 1,000-yards in a season for the third time in his career.

The Peacock defense turned the Wildcats over five times on the night and now owns the rights to 25 turnovers this season; 18 by interception and 7 by fumble.  Stephen led the defense with 14 tackles including 3.5 for loss, while Javon Moore intercepted two passes and registered 7 tackles while breaking up two more passes.  Chayz Holt made 9 tackles and added 3 breakups; as a team, UIU broke up 9 passes.  Jeff Arends and Tyler Fisher picked off the other two passes, while Garrett Johnston fell on a fumble for the home squad.  UIU claimed 3 sacks led by 1.5 for Jevell Rollins and 11 tackles for loss including 2 from Alex Wahl. 

The Peacocks will be on the road for their final two road games of the season.  Upper Iowa will travel to the University of Sioux Falls next Saturday, Nov. 8, for a big game against the #10 Cougars.