Upper Iowa opened their 2023 campaign Thursday night against non-conference competitor Concordia, St. Paul. The home team's offense was persistent, striding upfield through white and blue jerseys, collecting a number of touchdowns throughout the entirety of the game. The Peacocks fell in a 43-20 final, scoring twice in the second quarter and once in the fourth. UIU fell to 0-1 on the season, while the Golden Bears earned their first victory, accelerating to a 1-0 mark. 
 
CSP challenged the UIU offense as they executed a takeaway on their first defensive play of the game. Peacock receiver fumbled the ball at the 31-yard line, allowing the Golden Bears to take over and score a few plays later as their quarterback slipped out of the pocket and found his receiver in the back of the end zone. 
 
They scored again in the first period after executing a 58-yard punt return down the sideline, bringing to the three-yard line, scoring on the very next play. The extra point was missed, putting CSP up 13-0.
 
The next period was heavy in scoring from both sides. Upper Iowa's first touchdown of the night came early in the second quarter. A handful of consecutive tosses from Darryl Overstreet Jr. connected with Monte Morrow, moving the Peacocks up field and propelling them into the end zone on the third pass. 
 
CSP was successful in breaking down the UIU defense with several pass plays for big gains, leading to their third touchdown. Their next offensive scheme came up a bit short from the end zone, but led to a successful field goal attempt from the 26-yard line. 
 
UIU capitalized on their last chance to score before the half expired. Overstreet launched a 21-yard pass to Willy Camacho to get things going and the team took advantage of a targeting penalty on that same play, giving them an additional 15 yards. 
 
The Peacocks broke out the trick-read to punctuate the drive as Jayden Mitchell received the handoff from Overstreet, lofting the ball into the end zone to the hands of Isaiah Gray before crossing the line of scrimmage, cutting the deficit to 23-12 at the half. 
 
Concordia scored their fourth touchdown nearly halfway into the third period for the 30-12 lead. 
 
Upper Iowa scored once more in the last quarter of the game after Overstreet completed a 33-yard pass to Morrow into the end zone. The Peacocks were then successful in their two-point conversion to Eddie Burgess.  
 
The Golden Bears scored two more times in the fourth period, breezing to their 43-20 victory. 
 
Both sides struggled to play a clean game of football, as the teams combined for a total 19 penalties on the night. 
 
Overstreet completed 18 of 33 pass attempts for 216 yards. Morrow and Camacho together caught 11 passes for just over 150 yards. Trevor Thompson, Avery Dixon and John Butsch each tallied seven tackles. 
 
The Golden Bears totaled 281 rushing yards, while the Peacocks accumulated 73. However, UIU clipped the home team in passing yards with 218 to their 191.
 
Upper Iowa hosts their home opener next Saturday Sep. 9 at 3 p.m. versus Saint Ambrose University.