Upper Iowa hosted Concordia University, St. Paul for Hall of Fame Weekend in Fayette. The Peacocks rallied from an 18-point deficit in the third quarter to pull with 5 points midway through the final quarter, but dropped the decision to the Golden Bears 28-23.
Jake Schuman led the offense down the field on Upper Iowa's opening drive that covered 75 yards. Schuman capped off the drive with a 5-yard pass into the end zone to Alex Stevens. The score marked UIU's first points of the season, and the drive took over five minutes.
The Golden Bears answered with a touchdown on their first drive and then scored two more touchdowns on their next three possessions to pull ahead 21-7 midway through the second quarter. While the CSP offense was taking control, the UIU offense struggled to regain their stride. Upper Iowa, who had picked up 75 yards on their first drive only gained 12 yards on their next three possessions. After the Golden Bears' third touchdown, Upper Iowa put together a drive prior to the half. The home team put together a 16-play, 70-yard drive that stalled in the red zone, but Jonathon Argueta-Herrera was able to knock in a 30-yard field goal cutting the margin to 21-10 at halftime.
Concordia-St. Paul extended their lead with a touchdown on their second possession on the third quarter moving ahead 28-10. The Golden Bears took the ball on their next turn back deep into UIU territory, but
Mitchel Siech made a quick break on a sideline route and picked off a pass to stop the visitors' drive.
After the interception, UIU drove the field in 10 plays to score their second touchdown on a 10-yard pass and catch between Schuman and Stevens. The drive was highlighted by a 14-yard catch by Tre'dious Thompson and a 10-yard run by
Matt McDonald.
Trailing 28-17, the Peacock defense came up big again on as the third quarter clock wound down. UIU held the Golden Bears to a field goal try from 38 yards and the kick sailed wide right to keep Upper Iowa within striking distance. The missed field goal closed a drive that included a 51-yard sprint down the sideline by Shaq Johnson.
With ten and a half minutes to play in the game, UIU took the ball at their own 18-yard line still trailing by 11 points. Upper Iowa covered the 82 yards to the goal line in 10 plays including a 20-yard completion between Schuman and
Bralin Simon. The drive ended with a perfect throw from Schuman as he threaded a needle to get the ball into Stevens for the pair's third touchdown of the night. The Peacocks went for two points, but were denied and kicked off down 28-23.
It seemed as though Upper Iowa's momentum was unstoppable when the Golden Bears fumbled the ball on their second play.
Laith Smith popped the ball out and
Austin Buck was able to jump on it setting up the Peacocks with the ball just 24 yards away from the end zone.
The clock showed 6:38 as Upper Iowa took over looking to take the lead. UIU drove the ball to the 7-yard line, but the Golden Bear denied them entry to the end zone and forced a turnover on downs after a pair of incomplete passes.
After the Peacock defense stood tall one last time, UIU took the ball for the last time with 2:42 to play from midfield. Upper Iowa came up empty on the final drive which included three incomplete passes and CSP took over and closed the game in the victory formation.
TURNING POINT... The game could have had quite a few turning points… but in the end it came after UIU's
big forced fumble. The Peacocks took over at the CSP 24-yard line with momentum fully on their side after Laith
Smith punched the ball out and Austin Buck fell on it. Harms-Eischeid
Stadium was electric as the home team looked as if they would take the lead late in the fourth quarter. Matt McDonald rushed for 6 yards on first down from the 13-yard line giving UIU a second and four from the 7-yard line. Unfortunately, a rush up the middle gained no yards and a pair of incomplete passes gave the ball back to Concordia-St. Paul with less than four minutes to play.
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME...
STATS OF THE GAME...
- Upper Iowa forced two turnovers without giving up the ball. UIU did fumble twice, but did not lose possession.
- Concordia-St. Paul held a 306-109 advantage in rushing yards, but Upper Iowa scored a 239 to 94 advantage in passing yards.
- UIU held onto the ball on offense chewing up over 32 minutes of possession
- The Peacocks racked up 22 first downs on offense, but only allowed 16 first downs to the Golden Bears.
QUOTABLES...
UP NEXT... The Peacocks won't have time to think about this loss for long as their week three game is coming up quickly on Thursday. Upper Iowa will visit Winona State University in Winona, Minn. on Thursday night for a 7 p.m. kick. The game will be the featured NSIC
Thursday Night Game of the Week.
