FAYETTE, Iowa - Peacock football (3-3, 2-1 GLVC) aims to keep its two-game winning streak going against the high-octane offense of Southwest Baptist (Mo.) (4-3, 3-1 GLVC). Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. at Plaster Stadium in Bolivar, Missouri. 

The Peacocks are aiming to shake off their road woes, losing their last four road games dating back to last season. UIU's three road losses this season are by a combined five points. The Bearcats are 2-2 at home this season.

Upper Iowa is 3-0 against Southwest Baptist all-time, with all three games taking place since joining the GLVC. UIU won the first matchup in 2023, 35-13, the second in 2024, 21-7, and last season's, 39-2. 

LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend the games 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.

LAST TIME OUT
Upper Iowa picked up a huge homecoming win this past Saturday against Truman State (Mo.), handing the Bulldogs their first conference loss. Despite being outgained 324-175, the Peacocks forced four turnovers and scored 14 points off of them to win the game, 21-19. 

Trailing 10-0 in the second quarter, a 20-yard completion to Camden Hungerholt finally sparked the Peacock offense. UIU capped off the 53-yard drive with a Jayden Gordon seven-yard rushing touchdown for the team's first score. 

Two plays into the following TSU drive, defensive end Daniel Robinson forced a fumble, which was scooped up by senior Brycen Hendrix, who took it back for a 47-yard score. This marked the first scoop-and-score for the Peacocks since Christian Ruff in 2018 against Augustana (S.D.). 

Defensive back Aaron King got UIU's first interception of the game on the opening Bulldog drive of the second half. The Peacock offense took advantage with their best drive of the day, a nine-play, 84-yard march that was topped off by a two-yard touchdown run by Gordon to lead 21-13. 

Truman State put together one more drive in the fourth quarter, completing a 28-yard pass to Luke Allen for a touchdown. Evan Dorn and Braylon Kammrad sandwiched Truman State's Adam Hall in the end zone to force the incompletion and keep UIU in the lead, 21-19. 

After a Peacock punt, Jalen Hodo recorded Upper Iowa's third interception of the game. The offense was able to run out the final 1:41 and seal the game. 

Gordon led Upper Iowa with 12 carries for 56 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Zamar Wise was 11-of-19 with 82 yards through the air, and 17 carries for 40 yards rushing on the ground. 

UIU's defense was led by Dorn with 10 tackles, including five solo. Hodo totaled seven tackles, four solo tackles and an interception. Yashua Pettis-Taylor totaled seven tackles with a pass breakup. King and Jackson Wacha each had an interception. 

AS SEEN IN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
After five straight games decided by two points or fewer, the Peacock football team was featured in Sports Illustrated's "College Football Week 6 Winners and Losers" article by Patrick Andres. The Peacocks were dubbed "the most exciting team in college football" and were also featured on the Sickos Committee X page. UIU's last five games have an average margin of victory of 1.8 points. 

This is an exceptionally rare stretch not just among program history, but amongst college football in general. The closest the Peacock football program has come to matching this historically would be in 1956, when the team had five one-score games to end the season. The average margin of victory in those games was 6.6 points, with UIU winning two of them. The Peacocks had four straight one-score games to start the season in 2008 with an average margin of victory of 4.75 points.

In all of college football, there have been two streaks in the modern era that have come close to UIU's last five games. In 2002, Utah State had five consecutive games decided by three points or fewer, with an average margin of victory of two points. 2021 Miami (Fla.) had five consecutive games decided by four points or fewer, with an average margin of victory of 2.6 points.

AROUND THE GLVC. 
Southwest Baptist and William Jewell (Mo.) (4-1, 3-1 GLVC) maintained one-loss conference records with competitive wins. The Bearcats won a shootout against McKendree (Ill.) (2-4, 2-2 GLVC) by a score of 55-45. William Jewell used a 10-point fourth-quarter comeback with kicker Bleu Renfrow knocking in a game-winning 21-yard field goal to defeat Quincy (Ill.) (2-4, 1-2 GLVC), 20-17.

After losing four straight games, UIndy (3-4, 1-2 GLVC) has won back-to-back games by a combined margin of 69 points. The Greyhounds posted a 48-14 victory over Missouri S&T (0-6, 0-4 GLVC) for homecoming on Saturday. 

Individually, McKendree quarterback Kendrick Lyons leads the GLVC in passing with 1,612 yards and 14 touchdowns. Quincy's Bradyn Little has totaled 1,475 yards and 15 passing touchdowns. The Hawks have the league leaders in rushing and passing, with Collin Parsons averaging 125.2 rushing yards per game and Derrick Miller averaging 69.7 receiving yards per game. 

Southwest Baptist leads the conference in offensive scoring, averaging 41.6 points per game. UIndy's defense gives up the fewest points, allowing 20.6 points per game. 

STATISTICAL SUMMARY
Wise is the team's leader in passing and rushing. On the ground, he's totaled 473 yards and seven touchdowns on 104 carries. The senior quarterback is ranked fifth in the GLVC in rushing, averaging 78.8 yards per game and is tied for third in rushing touchdowns.

Through the air, Wise is 89-of-145 (61.4%) with 1,030 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. He has a 129.67 quarterback rating, ranking sixth in the conference. Wise has also totaled the sixth-most passing yards in the GLVC. 

He ranks fifth in the GLVC in total offense, averaging 250.5 yards per game. Wise has scored 42 points this season, tying for ninth in the conference. 

Gordon has added 163 yards rushing with three touchdowns on the ground. Ronald Wilson Jr. has totaled 142 yards and a touchdown while Damon Head Jr. has 113 yards and four rushing scores. 

Freshman receiver LJ Nyenow Jr. has caught 20 passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns. He averages 54.33 receiving yards per game, ranking eighth in the GLVC. Wilson Jr. has caught 18 passes for 157 yards, Hungerholt has caught 13 passes for 128 yards and Logan Rosauer has caught 12 passes for 124 yards.

On defense, Dorn leads the Peacocks with 53 tackles (19 solo) along with 1.5 tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble. Michael Mulherin has totaled 50 tackles (15 solo) with two tackles-for-loss. Dorn is tied for fifth in the GLVC in tackles per game, and Mulherin is eighth. 

Hodo has 29 tackles (14 solo), three tackles-for-loss, a sack, a pass breakup and three interceptions. He is tied for the GLVC lead in interceptions this season, and ranks 11th nationally in interceptions per game. 

Sophomore defensive back Dominic Salibi has two interceptions and a conference-high nine pass breakups. Salibi ranks third nationally in passes defended and leads the conference. King has four pass breakups and two interceptions, ranking third in passes defended per game in the GLVC.

Despite not making any field goals vs. Truman State, junior kicker Nathan Behne continues to lead the conference in field goals per game at 1.33. He also ranks 14th in the nation in this category. Behne's 72.7% field goal percentage ranks seventh in the conference and 32nd nationally.

The Peacocks are averaging 28.8 points per game, ranking fifth in the GLVC, and allowing 26.2 points per game, ranking fourth in the GLVC. Upper Iowa leads the conference in passing yards allowed at 180.3 per game. 

UIU's nine interceptions are the second-most in the conference. The team's five fumbles recovered are tied for the most in the conference. The Peacocks have scored two defensive touchdowns this season, which leads the GLVC and ranks ninth nationally.

ABOUT THE BEARCATS
Southwest Baptist has scored 50 or more points in the last two games, with a 52-17 win over Lincoln (Mo.) (2-3, 1-2 GLVC) and a 55-45 win over McKendree. The Bearcats have totaled over 500 yards of offense in both games. SBU's other win was a 31-28 comeback win over Missouri S&T, and its GLVC loss was in the conference opener to William Jewell, 27-17. 

Graduate quarterback Jaron Saunders started the season playing the majority of the snaps for the Bearcats, but freshman quarterback Cooper Owens has taken the reins the past few weeks. Owens won GLVC Offensive Player of the Week after his performance against McKendree, going 24-of-32 with 441 yards and four touchdowns. It was the most passing yards by an SBU quarterback since 2022. 

Owens is 72-of-98 with 1,092 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions this season. He has a 201.36 quarterback rating, which leads the GLVC and ranks second in the nation. The freshman has the fifth-most passing yards, fourth-most passing touchdowns and the highest completion percentage in the GLVC. That completion percentage also ranks second nationally at 73.5%. 

Graduate running back Jobe Smith is second in the GLVC in rushing yards per game, averaging 97.4. He's totaled 682 yards on 119 attempts (5.7 yards per carry) with three touchdowns. Sophomore Tyrone Scyrus has added 390 yards and a team-high five touchdowns on the ground to average 55.71 yards per game. 

Redshirt freshman wideout Jaden Mays leads the team in receiving with 19 catches for 419 yards and six touchdowns. Keivon Flint has added 20 catches for 371 yards and three scores. Mays leads the GLVC in receiving yards, while he and his teammate, Marcus Rhoden, lead the league in receiving touchdowns with six each. They both rank 17th nationally in that category as well.

Rhoden has 24 catches for 370 yards. Sophomore tight end Peyton Rasmussen leads the Bearcats in catches with 30 while adding 249 yards and two scores. Smith has 19 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, 2025 First Team All-GLVC linebacker Ricky Woodhouse is back and playing well during his senior season. He has totaled a league-high 80 tackles (21 solo) with four tackles-for-loss, two quarterback hurries, a pass breakup and a forced fumble. Woodhouse ranks fifth in the nation in total tackles.

Sophomore defensive end Cirron Harrison has added a team-high nine tackles-for-loss with four sacks. Defensive end Evan Buchanan has added 6.5 tackles-for-loss with 3.5 sacks, and also has eight quarterback hurries. Harrison is tied for first in the GLVC in tackles-for-loss, and he and Buchanan are second and third in sacks, respectively. 

Defensive backs Maxwell Kates and Joel Beshore are tied with Hodo for the league lead in interceptions with three each. Sophomore Hayden Wolfe has added two interceptions. Southwest Baptist leads the GLVC in interceptions with 11 and fumbles forced with seven. 

Kicker Kaleb James is 8-of-11 on field goals with a long of 49. He and Behne lead the GLVC in field goals made this season. 

SBU's offense is putting up all sorts of GLVC-leading numbers, starting with points per game at 41.6 and yards per game at 466. The Bearcat offense leads the league in rushing yards per game at 191.3 and passing yards per game at 274.7 per game. 

The Southwest Baptist offense was not a factor in Upper Iowa's 39-2 win in Harms-Eischeid Stadium last season. UIU's defense posted a shutout, as SBU only scored on a blocked extra point return. Upper Iowa held the Bearcats to 36 rushing yards, while Gordon posted 99 yards himself and two touchdowns on the ground. The Peacocks also won the turnover battle 3-0. 

Head coach Paul Hansen is in his second season with the Bearcats in 2026. Last season he had 10 all-conference players with three First Team All-GLVC selections. He has a 7-10 record at SBU entering Saturday's game.