FAYETTE, Iowa - The Upper Iowa football team (7-2, 5-1 GLVC) takes on Quincy (Ill.) (5-4, 3-3 GLVC) in Harms-Eischeid Stadium at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8. With a win, the Peacocks will finish undefeated at home for the first time in the Division II era. UIU's best home record in Division II is 4-1 in 2014.
LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend the game in Fayette this weekend can stay connected with a pair of live options available at UIUPeacocks.com/Live, featuring access to live stats and a pay-per-view webcast through GLVCSN. Fans can also refer to the links attached to this story for all live options.
In addition to GLVCSN.com, viewers can catch the Peacocks on the GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile app, as well as the GLVCSN app on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.
TICKET INFORMATION
New this year, tickets for all Peacock home events can be purchased digitally at tickets.uiu.edu. Single game tickets are now available online and at the ticket booth on gameday. If you want to pay in person, both Harms-Eischeid Stadium and Dorman Memorial Gymnasium are now accepting all major credit cards, checks and cash.
TICKET PRICES…
Upper Iowa Students … Free Admission after showing UIU Student ID
Upper Iowa Faculty/Staff … Free Admission after showing 24-25 Season Pass
Football General Admission Sales … Adults - $10, Youth (Grades K-12) - $5, Kids (Age 5 and under) - Free
DIGITAL GAMEDAY PROGRAMS
Fans can access the interactive and digital gameday program any time at UIUPeacocks.com/Programs. The digital programs are available to fans at our games and to those watching at home. QR Codes will be located around the stadium to scan with your cell phone's camera, which will link you directly to that game's specific digital gameday program.
SENIOR DAY
The Peacocks will celebrate 23 seniors on Saturday. Connor Andresen, Emerson Bennett, Eddie Burgess, Avery Dixon, Dionte Fliss, Koda Gates-Bridges, Eddy Latanauskas, Brady Leonard, Darrell Matchem, Ryan McDonough, Lonny Melvin Jr., Elon Mondy, Mante Morrow, Darryl Overstreet Jr., Tade Parsons, Braden Powers, Shaquille Roman, Klay Seehase, Gavin Sweeney, Trevor Thompson, Mason Walthart, Ben Werner, Caleb Williams and Wes Willis will be honored before the game.
LAST TIME OUT
Upper Iowa defeated McKendree (Ill.) (4-5, 4-3 GLVC), 57-7, this past weekend. The Peacocks totaled a season-high 580 yards, while holding the Bearcats to their season low in yards with 279.
Overstreet Jr. threw 23-of-29 (79%) with three touchdowns and 260 yards. On the ground, the senior quarterback totaled 54 yards and a touchdown. Morrow was his top target, catching seven passes for 126 yards and three touchdowns.
On defense, Roman totaled seven tackles, 2.5 sacks and an interception. This marked back-to-back two-sack games for the senior defensive lineman. Linebacker Evan Dorn led the Peacocks in tackles with 18.
Willis-Newell led the Peacocks in rushing with 81 yards on five attempts and a touchdown. Angelo Butts added three catches for 92 yards, and tight end Burgess had five catches for 83 yards.
Nathan Behne went 2-for-2 on field goals and 7-for-7 on extra points. He totaled 93 yards (46.5 average) on two punts and helped the Peacocks give McKendree an average drive start of its own 21-yard line.
The Peacocks scored the opening points of the game on a safety holding penalty by the Bearcats. That was the first time UIU has gotten a safety since 2014 against Wayne State.
The win gave Upper Iowa back-to-back seven-win seasons for the first time in program history. With a win over Quincy, the program will reach its highest two-year win total. The last time the Peacocks won eight games was in 1964.
GLVC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Peacock football swept the GLVC weekly awards for the first time in program history. Overstreet Jr. won the offensive award, Roman won the defensive award and Behne won the special teams award.
The Peacocks are now up to seven GLVC weekly awards this season, and have been featured in it for three straight weeks.
AFCA POLL
Upper Iowa received its highest vote total of the season in the AFCA Coaches' Poll. The Peacocks received six votes, getting the 32nd most votes in the nation. UIndy (8-1, 6-0 GLVC) stayed put at No. 12, ranking as the highest GLVC team in the poll.
NCAA SUPER REGION THREE RANKINGS
The NCAA Regional Rankings were released on Monday, and UIU was selected ninth in Super Region Three. The top eight teams in each region make the playoffs.
Defending National Champion Ferris State (Mich.) (9-0) was ranked as the top team in the region. UIndy came in at No. 3. The Peacocks are behind Truman State (Mo.) (6-3, 5-1 GLVC) in seventh and Minnesota State (7-2) in eighth.
STATISTICS SUMMARY
Overstreet Jr. remains the nation's leader in completion percentage at 74.9% (179-of-239). UIndy's Gavin Sukup is second in the nation with a 71.7% competition percentage in just five more attempts.
UIU's senior quarterback is up to 2,021 passing yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. He hasn't thrown an interception in the last three games, and he's averaging 224.56 yards per game. Overstreet Jr. ranks fifth in the GLVC in both passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Morrow has 43 catches for 766 yards (95.75/game) and 11 touchdowns this season. He leads the GLVC in receiving touchdowns and is second in receiving yards. Nationally, Morrow ranks seventh in receiving yards per game and fourth in receiving touchdowns.
Burgess is second on the team in receiving with 38 catches for 463 yards. Melvin Jr. has 23 catches for 268 yards, and Butts has 21 catches for 257 yards.
Damon Head Jr. leads the Peacocks in rushing with 435 yards and six touchdowns this season. Jayden Gordon is second on the team with 384 yards and five touchdowns. Head Jr. is tied for fourth and Gordon is tied for sixth in the GLVC in rushing touchdowns this season.
Dorn jumped into the team lead in tackles with 69 (31 solo). Thompson has 65 tackles (31 solo) and Parsons has 52 tackles (33 solo). Dorn ranks fifth in the GLVC in tackles, and Thompson ranks seventh.
Roman and Demontay Mack each have seven sacks, tying for the third most in the conference. Roman has 5.5 sacks in conference play, ranking second in the GLVC. Mack leads the team in tackles-for-loss with 10.5, tying for fifth in the GLVC.
Matchem is up to eight breakups, while Brycen Hendrix has seven breakups, ranking fifth and sixth in the GLVC.
Behne is 6-of-8 on field goals this season with a long of 51 yards. He's averaging 44.5 yards per punt, which leads the GLVC. Marrow leads the Peacocks in points with 66, Behne is second on the team with 53.
The Peacocks had a 48.1% conversion rating on third downs, ranking 17th nationally and second in the GLVC. The Peacocks have gained 202 first downs, ranking 24th nationally. UIU has allowed the seventh fewest tackles for loss nationally and also leads the conference in that category.
AROUND THE GLVC
UIndy, Truman State and Upper Iowa are still in contention for the GLVC football championship. UIndy is 6-0 in conference play while Truman State and Upper Iowa are 5-1. The Peacocks play the Greyhounds next week.
In the event of a three-way tie, there will be a tiebreaker to determine which team receives the GLVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The team that allowed the most points for games among the tied teams is eliminated, and head-to-head competition between the remaining tied teams breaks the tie.
ABOUT THE HAWKS
Quincy fell, 49-3, to UIndy last Saturday. The Hawks' three GLVC wins have been by a total of five points with a three-point win over Lincoln (Mo.) (2-7, 0-6 GLVC), a one-point overtime win over William Jewell (Mo.) (2-7, 0-6 GLVC) and a one-point win over Missouri S&T (5-5, 3-4 GLVC).
Freshman quarterback Bradyn Little has thrown for 1,955 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. He completes 65% of his passes. His top receiver is Troy TW Crozier with 310 yards and a touchdown.
Junior running back Kamrin Cox has totaled 328 yards on the ground while adding 303 receiving yards. He's ran for four touchdowns and caught three touchdown passes. Little also has four rushing touchdowns for the Hawks.
Linebacker Brock Wiley leads the Hawk defense with 88 tackles (43 solo) during his junior campaign. He ranks second in the GLVC in total tackles. Wiley has added eight tackles-for-loss, six breakups and three sacks.
Graduate linebacker Brock Inman has 72 tackles (42 solo), two interceptions and two forced fumbles. Senior defensive lineman Jaylin Vaughn is the team leader in sacks with six while adding three forced fumbles.
Head coach Jason Killday is in his second season with Quincy after spending eight seasons as the offensive coordinator at Truman State. Killday has an 11-8 record with the Hawks entering Saturday's game.
LAST SEASON'S MATCHUP WITH THE HAWKS
The Peacocks scored 22 points in the fourth quarter last season to win, 29-27, over Quincy. Upper Iowa trailed 20-7 entering the final 15 minutes of play, but a Gates-Bridges rushing touchdown and two Jayden Mitchell rushing touchdowns gave the Peacocks the comeback win.
After the final Mitchell touchdown with 1:53 left, head coach Jason Hoskins gambled with a two-point conversion attempt to take a two-score lead. Mitchell rushed in the conversion for the 29-20 lead. That ended up being the difference, as Quincy scored with 51 seconds left, but was unable to recover the onside kick.
Mitchell totaled 169 yards on 22 carries with three touchdown runs. Overstreet Jr. was 21-of-36 with 276 yards and an interception. He was also sacked five times. Gates-Bridges led the Peacocks in receiving yards with 99 on 13 catches.
The Peacock defense made some big plays with Dixon nabbing an interception in the endzone on the opening possession. Michael Mulherin had an interception, Xhavion Reese forced a fumble and Latanauskas blocked an extra point.
UP NEXT
Upper Iowa concludes the regular season on the road against No. 12 UIndy. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 15 at Key Stadium in Indianapolis.
