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THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK FOOTBALL… Upper Iowa opens the 2017 home schedule at Harms-Eischeid Stadium with a matchup against the No. 21 Bulldogs of the University of Minnesota Duluth. The Peacocks are coming off a dominant, 44-7 opening-day win last Thursday in Crookston, Minn. against the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles. UIU allowed just 226 total yards of offense, including just 95 yards through the air in the win. The Peacocks are now 1-0 for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Upper Iowa will honor their five new Hall-of-Fame members as well as host Youth Day and Educator Appreciation Day at the stadium.

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PEACOCK STORYLINES

THE SERIES... The Bulldogs own a 6-0 record against the Peacocks since Upper Iowa moved up to NCAA Division II. The last time the two teams got together, the squads had to fight through the fury of Lake Superior, which unleashed a thick fog prior to the game making visibility a major issue throughout the whole contest. The fog was constant from mid-afternoon through the end of the game and made it hard on players and fans alike. After falling behind 18-0 at halftime, Upper Iowa rallied with 24 points in the second half taking a 24-21 lead midway through the fourth quarter. UMD scored the go-ahead touchdown with less than four minutes to play and UIU's final drive stalled at midfield as the team fell despite a great effort 28-24.

FEEL THE "RATH"… The Northern Sun Conference named senior linebacker Keith Schwickerath the Special Teams Player of the Week after he blocked two punts on back-to-back Golden Eagle possessions and returned the second one for a touchdown in UIU's 44-7 victory in week one. Schwickerath was also named D2Football.com Special Teams Player of the Week as well. Schwickerath blocked the first punt in the third quarter, and teammate Brandyn Tulloch scooped it up and took it to the end zone. On the next possession, Schwickerath did it all himself, blocking, scooping, and scoring UIU's final touchdown of the day. It marked the first time in program history the Peacocks blocked two punts and returned them both for scores in the same game. Schwickerath also became the first UIU player in their NCAA Division II history to block a pair of punts in the same game. He led the defense in tackles with seven, including 0.5 tackles for loss, and forced a fumble as well.

GROUND GAME PRODUCES… Upper Iowa rushed for 300 yards and three touchdowns last Thursday evening at Minnesota Crookston averaging 6.2 yards per attempt on the ground. In total, eight different players took part in the 300-yard total. Quarterback Brent Lammers led the group with 110 yards on 14 carries for a 7.9-yard average. Starting running back Ryan Parmely found paydirt three times including a 62-yard run to tally 90 yards on 13 attempts. Newcomers Jon Deprey and Antoine Connor got a handful of carries and made the most of it as well registering 64 and 24 yards, respectively. This week's opponent, Minnesota Duluth, only allowed the University of Sioux Falls to pick up 107 rushing yards during their 26-7 home loss.

TELEVISION CONTRACT HITS FOURTH YEAR... Upper Iowa is entering the fourth year on television across the eastern half of Iowa. This year marks the second with the Gray Television Group, Inc. and fourth with KCRG-TV with exclusive coverage on KCRG 9.2 and KCRG 9.3 out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Peacock football is in its second season of full broadcasts on the KCRG 9.2/9.3 menu this season.  All six home football games will be broadcast in their entirety, but some may be tape delayed due to scheduling conflicts.  The football live production has developed from a condensed 30-minute recap in year one to a 60 minute recap in year two to the full broadcast last season.

UIU ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME... On Friday night, five Peacocks were inducted into the Upper Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame including Cindy Dell'Anno (Softball, Women's Basketball, 1993), Brent Meyers (Wrestling, 2003), Jesse Montalto (Football, 2004), Mitch Walser (Baseball, 2007) and Angie Weber (Softball, 2006). With the five new additions, the UIU Athletics Hall of Fame is now 197 members strong.?

THE BROADCAST TEAM... Play-by-play announcer, and Upper Iowa alum, Joe Stasi is in his 15th consecutive season as the "Voice of Peacock Football" and 17th overall.  This week he will be joined by Chris Shaw, who graduated from Upper Iowa with a Bachelor's degree in sports communication and a Master's degree in Higher Education Administration. He also worked in the UIU sports communication office for six years during his undergrad and graduate time in Fayette. The AM 950 KOEL pre-game show is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

NEW FACES ON COACHING STAFF... The Peacocks and Head Coach Tom Shea announced a few new coaches to the staff in 2017, including new offensive and defensive coordinators. Justin Wyatt has been promoted to the defensive coordinator position, while still coaching the defensive line. UIU brought in new offensive coordinator Mitchell Kleinschrodt, who enters his first season at Upper Iowa, to call the plays and coach the quarterbacks. Chance Alberswerth enters his first year at UIU as the linebackers coach, while Mike Caniglia, Ryan Hansen, and Andy Merfeld return to the staff from 2016.
 

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ABOUT MINNESOTA DULUTH…

LOOKING TO BOUND BACK... Looking to bounce back from a rare season-opening home loss, UMD takes its show on the road to UIU. The Bulldogs lost to the No. 17 Sioux Falls Cougars, 26-7, to snap its 22-game home winning streak.

START ME UP... Eight Bulldogs received their first collegiate starts last Thursday night. That group included junior center Jason Anderson, junior nose tackle Dre Greer, junior outside linebacker Alex Helmer, junior cornerback Jared Karow, junior inside linebacker A.J. Naatz, sophomore quarterback Joe Rybarczyk, redshirt freshman running back Austin Sylvester and junior offensive guard Joe Yernatich.

START ME UP II... After reeling off 15 straight season-opening victories between 2000 and 2014, the Bulldogs find themselves sporting an 0-1 record for the third year in a row.  The last time a UMD club started a season with back-to-back losses was back in 1999.

QUITE THE CATCH... Senior wide out/return specialist Nate Ricci, a 2016 All-NSIC North Division first team pick who hauled in the sixth-most passes (61) for the fourth-most receiving yards (1,047) in program history last fall, made five catches in the setback to Sioux Falls to become the 13th Bulldog to hit the 100 career reception mark. Both he and current UMD offensive coordinator Noah Pauley have an even 100 catches. Ricci has made at least one receptions in 13 consecutive games starting with the 2016 season opener.

GROUND AND POUND... UMD, which  finished 13th in NCAA II rushing offense last fall (averaging 233.4 yards per outing), has outgained the opposition on the ground in 22 straight games with host Sioux Falls (Sept. 19, 2015) being the last team to do the honors.

SOME LOW MILEAGE... The 195 yards of total offense Sioux Falls mustered in the season opener was the second lowest output by a Bulldog opponent since the 2015 season finale, and exceeded only by Minot State University's 181-yard effort on Oct. 8, 2016.

KING ME... Cornerback Justic'e King was  the lone true UMD freshman to see playing time against Sioux Falls and was credited with a pair of tackles.

FUMBLE!... The Bulldogs, who recovered more fumbles (17) than any team in the nation, pounced on three Sioux Falls miscues in the 2017 opener. All three of those fumbles Thursday were forced by senior strong safety Kegan Wirtz.

STILL DOMINANT... With last Thursday night's loss at the hands of Sioux Falls, UMD is now  62-2 versus NSIC competition (league games and NCAA II postseason) at Malosky Stadium since  Oct. 21,2000. The other setback was inflicted by Minnesota State-Mankato (21-17) on Sept. 21, 2013 and was, before the 2017 season opener, the last time the Bulldogs had failed to win in Duluth.

HEAD COACH... Curt Wiese has won 43 of 52 games since taking over the Bulldog program four-plus seasons ago. Only two other NCAA II head coachs -- Colorado State University-Pueblo's John Wristen and Shepherd University's Monte Cater (both with 46) -- have accumulated more victories during that the time period. Of Wiese's nine lifetime losses, six have come against NSIC South Division members.

NEGATIVE YARDS... Last Thursday, the Bulldogs managed negative-16 yards of rushing offense (aided by eight Sioux Falls quarterback sacks). It marked the first time UMD had finished in the red for ground yardage since its opening-round NCAA II playoff loss (23-13) at the University of North Dakota on Nov. 12, 2005  (negative-13 yards on 15 carries).

TOP THIS... Since the 2008 season opener, only one NCAA II team in the country has racked up more victories (105) and posted a higher winning percentage (.868) than UMD. That club, top-ranked Northwest Missouri State University, is the two-time the defending NCAA II champion, and owns the nation's longest winning streak at 31 games, having not lost since falling 25-21 to host UMD in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA II playoffs (Nov. 22).