THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK FOOTBALL... Upper Iowa welcomes the Wolves of Northern State University to Harms-Eischeid Stadium on Saturday night for the 2021 Military Appreciation Game. The Peacocks are looking to secure their first win under Head Coach Jason Hoskins this weekend, while the Wolves are looking to build on their win in week two over Southwest Minnesota State University and first-week, overtime loss to No. 2 Minnesota State University, Mankato. UIU's offense has struggled to gain momentum and string drives together, while the University of Minnesota Duluth and Concordia University, St. Paul both found success attacking the Peacock defense through the air. Upper Iowa has allowed nearly 350 passing yards per game; the team will need to shore up the back end of their defense to battle the Wolves, who average almost 320 yards in the air per game.
 
LIVE OPTIONS... The game will be broadcasted live on AM 950 KOEL and will air on Eastern Iowa's CW 9.3. The game can be streamed through most mobile devices at NSICNetwork.com/UIUPeacocks or through the NSIC Network app on Roku and Amazon Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android televisions. Live stats, live audio and more are all available online at UIUPeacocks.com/Live.
 
DIGITAL GAMEDAY PROGRAM… Upper Iowa will not be printing gameday programs this season. Fans can access the interactive and digital gameday program at any time at UIUPeacocks.com/Programs. The digital programs are available to fans both at our games and those at home listening to or watching the action. QR Codes will also be located around the stadium to scan with your cell phone's camera that will link you directly to that game's specific digital gameday program.
 
THE SERIES... Upper Iowa owns a 5-3 record against Northern State since UIU moved up to NCAA Division II. The Peacocks and Wolves met four times from 2006-09 including a pair of games at each team's home stadium, but have only seen each other four times in the last ten seasons.  Northern State earned 26-20 and 55-35 wins over the first two years, but Upper Iowa bounced back with 31-26 and 42-35 wins to even the series at two wins apiece. After a three-year break in the series, UIU traveled to Aberdeen, South Dakota in 2013.  The Peacocks forced a fumble late in the fourth quarter and scored the go-ahead touchdown and two-point conversion with 35 seconds to play to win 24-17. UIU made it four in a row with a home win, 17-6, to open the 2015 season. The Peacocks made it five straight wins in 2017; Upper Iowa pulled away from their hosts after dominating statistically on both sides of the ball. The Peacocks converted turnovers into touchdowns and allowed just 154 yards of total offense to the Wolves for a 31-14 win. NSU broke the UIU winning streak in Fayette in 2019 with a 24-22 decision.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET... In UIU's Homecoming Game in 2019, Northern State took advantage of four UIU turnovers and kept the ball in their possession with 284 rushing yards to escape Harms-Eischeid with a 24-22 victory. The big turn in the game came at the end of the second quarter. After UIU had grabbed a 15-10 lead, Northern State took over at their own 34-yard line and converted a pair of short third downs to keep their drive alive. A 19-yard touchdown strike allowed the Wolves to steal momentum back heading into halftime. A second turning point came on NSU's only scoring drive in the second half. UIU's Daniel Ruffin Jr. forced a fumble on the 16-yard line and it looked like the home team got on the ball, but when the pile cleared NSU had the ball and scored on the next play.
 
REMEMBERING GREATNESS... Prior to Saturday's singing of the National Anthem, the Peacocks will take a moment of silence to honor the passing of Peacock football alum and 2010 All-Northern Sun Conference performer Preston Spencer and Upper Iowa alum and Athletics Hall of Famer Diane Harms.
 
PEACOCK LEADERS... Running back Willy Camacho ranks sixth in the Northern Sun with 72 yards per game, while his 5.2 yards per carry average is the 11th highest. Camacho is also third in the NSIC in kick return average with a 25.4-yard average. Jack Beulke ranks ninth in punt average with 37 yards per punt; he has punted 11 times with three fair catches and three inside the 20-yard line. DJ Emsweller has 92 yards receiving (22nd NSIC) on five catches, while Ryan Pritchard (2-62), Lane Canny (2-59) and Alexander Stevens (4-59) are close behind. Brody Bazile's 13 tackles rank 23rd in the conference, while Erik Hansen has lived in the back field recording an NSIC-best 8.5 tackles for loss. In fact, four Peacocks are in the top-17 for tackles for loss in the conference including Bazile (4th-4), Kyle Domin (9th-3) and Samson Tufui (14th-2.5). Hansen also leads the conference in sacks with 4.
 
TIES TO THE WOLVES... Upper Iowa Head Coach Jason Hoskins came to Upper Iowa from Aberdeen, South Dakota prior to the 2014 season. Hoskins spent five seasons as an assistant coach with the Northern State football team running the secondary and recruiting efforts for the Wolves.
 
NEXT UP... Upper Iowa is headed north to the Minnesota-North Dakota border to face the Dragons of Minnesota State University Moorhead on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 12 p.m.
 
HOMECOMING... The Peacocks returns to Harms-Eischeid Stadium in two weeks for Homecoming Weekend. Upper Iowa will host the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State University at 3 p.m.