THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK FOOTBALL… The Peacocks get their first taste of GLVC opponents on Saturday as they begin conference play on the road versus William Jewell. The game against the Cardinals is set for 4 p.m. and will be held at Liberty North High School, not on the campus of William Jewell College. This is the first matchup in program history between these two teams. 
 
LIVE OPTIONS… Fans unable to make it to William Jewell on Saturday have several options for following the action. The game will be streamed on the GLVC Network at https://glvcsn.com/jewell/ with pay-per-view access. Live stats (free) can be found through the link attached with this story. Both options can be found every game day at UIUPeacocks.com/Live. 
 
RECAP OF LAST WEEKEND… Upper Iowa football suffered a heart-wrenching 34-31 loss to Michigan Tech after surrendering the lead late in the fourth quarter. The Peacocks led 24-0 halfway through the second period, but ended up being outscored by the visitors 34-7 in the remainder of the game. UIU dropped to 2-2 on the season while MTU improved to 3-0.
 
The Peacocks relied heavily on the passing game as Orr completed 26 of 31 attempts for a total of 328 yards, his longest toss being 58-yards. Morrow grabbed 11 receptions for 141 yards while Burgess nabbed four receptions and collected 111 yards. Wells led the ground game for UIU as he rushed 50 yards on 12 attempts.
 
The Peacock defense picked up three interceptions as Tyler Owen grabbed two of them and Zaracius Murray had the other. Eder Bellegarde led the team with seven tackles, while Trevor Thompson recorded six. 
 
ENTERING GLVC TERRITORY…  Football in the GLVC consists of eight teams across four Midwest states: Indianapolis, Truman State (Mo.), Southwest Baptist (Mo.), Missouri S&T, McKendree (Ill.), Quincy (Ill.), Upper Iowa and William Jewell (Mo.). Conference play begins this weekend and goes through the week of Nov. 11. The 2023 GLVC Champion will be determined by the results of the round-robin league schedule. Co-Champions will be named in the result of a tie, which has happened once since football became a Conference-sponsored sport in 2012 when Southwest Baptist and Truman shared the crown in 2016.
 
PLAYING THE PASSING GAME… The Peacocks have found success behind their passing game in the early part of their schedule. They lead the GLVC with total yards, averaging just over 282 per game. UIU also is at the top of the conference in pass completions with 96 and passing touchdowns with 13. Marcus Orr leads the lead in pass completions with 52, as he completed 29 last weekend versus Michigan Tech for a total of 328 yards. Darryl Overstreet Jr. threw a season-high of 310 yards versus St. Ambrose earlier this season. Monte Morrow is third in the conference for receiving yards with 97 per game. 
 
INSIDER REPORT ON THE CARDINALS… William Jewell comes into this weekend with a 1-2 record on the season. They defeated Fort Lewis College in their home opener 42-6, but fell to Kentucky Wesleyan (41-34) and #21 Davenport University (55-27). Keaundre McCullough leads the league in rushing with an average of 108 yards per game. Deldrionn Amos is second in the conference for receiving yards, as he averages just over 100 per game.  

DOWN THE ROAD… The Peacocks are on the road again next weekend as they head to Missouri S&T to face the Miners for the second time this season. Kick off is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 7 at 6 p.m.