The Peacock football team opened the season in a big way on Thursday evening in Crookston, Minn. against the Golden Eagles of the University of Minnesota Crookston. Upper Iowa opened up a 27-0 first-half lead, and then used big plays in the second half to run away from the Golden Eagles, 44-7. With the win, the Peacocks open the season 1-0 for the fourth time in the last five seasons, while the loss sends UM Crookston to 0-1.
 
Any questions there were about the Peacock running game were answered immediately on Thursday. Upper Iowa rushed for 300 yards on 48 carries as a team, and were led by junior quarterback Brent Lammers and junior running back Ryan Parmely. Lammers used the read-option to his advantage and carried the ball 14 times for 110 yards to lead UIU. Parmely got the tough yards early, and then broke open a 4th-and-1 play for a 62-yard touchdown and finished with 90 yards and a career-high three scores.
 
Lammers was efficient through the air, completing 18-29 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown. His favorite target on the night was senior Jarred Edmonds, who caught five balls for 70 yards. Skylar Lehman hauled in four passes for 60 yards and a score as well. For the night, eight different Peacocks caught a pass.
 
Defensively, Keith Schwickerath might have been the story for the Peacocks. The senior linebacker led the team with seven tackles, including 0.5 tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Nic Patterson matched his teammate with 7 stops, while safety Jordan Rommes tallied six and Mitchell Seich, Austin Buck, and Jojo Simpson each recorded five.
 
Upper Iowa opened the scoring with a 12-play drive that was capped off by the first of Parmely's three scores, this one from a yard out. The missed extra point made it 6-0 to start the night, but UIU was far from done putting points on the board. Lehman caught the 32-yard score on a quick hit that broke open with the big receiver breaking tackles and diving to the end zone to give the visitors a 13-0 advantage.
 
Parmely opened the second quarter by capping off a long drive with his second one-yard plunge, and the game was breaking open at that point. Parmely's 62-yard scamper at the 4-minute mark of the half was the capper to a dominate first 30 minutes for UIU.
 
The Golden Eagles were able to hold the Peacocks to just three points offensively in the second half, but Upper Iowa found other ways to score in the final 30 minutes. On consecutive drives, the Peacocks blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown to blow open a 41-0 lead. Schwickerath blocked both punts, while Brandyn Tulloch scooped the first one up and took it in from 14 yards away. Schwickerath then did it all himself on the second one, blocking, scooping, and scoring from 32 yards away. Thursday marked the first time in program history the Peacocks blocked two punts and returned them both for scores in the same game.

Special teams, a side of the ball in year's past that has hurt the Peacocks, got off to a good start in 2017. Punter Nate Skare averaged 45.2 yards per punt on five swings of the leg, while kicker Brady Beuschel went 5-6 on extra points and connected on his lone field goal from 18 yards away.

Newcomers Jon Duprey and Antoine Connor saw time in the backfield, and Duprey broke open a 56-yard that ended one yard short of the endzone. The ball was poked loose by the Golden Eagles at the one-yard line and was recovered by the home team for a turnover. Duprey finished with 59 yards, while Connor ran for 24 yards on the day.
 
Minnesota Crookston scored their lone touchdown late in the game to get the game to 44-7, and the score was significant. It was the first time the Golden Eagles had scored a touchdown on the Peacocks since 2011. UIU shutout UM Crookston, 47-0, in 2013, and then crushed the Golden Eagles, 45-3, two seasons ago in Fayette. UIU is 9-0 all-time against UM Crookston.
 
The Peacocks return to the gridiron in nine days, as they open up the home schedule on Saturday, Sept. 9 against the Bulldogs of the University of Minnesota Duluth (0-1). Upper Iowa will host Hall of Fame Weekend on Friday, Sept. 8, and then will kickoff the game at 1:07 p.m. at Harms-Eischeid Stadium. The game will be available online on UIU TV as well as broadcast in eastern Iowa on KCRG TV 9.2. The game will also be available to stream online on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV.