Panthers upset No. 3 SDSU
CEDAR FALLS — Cal Twait and the Northern Iowa football team didn’t picture themselves as underdogs heading into Saturday’s game against third-ranked South Dakota State.
Twait, a Manson Northwest Webster graduate, and his fellow offensive linemen were discussing a plan to stop the Jackrabbits all week long.
“We were very confident going into the game,” said Twait, who plays on the offensive line for the Panthers. “Our offensive line talked all week about pounding the rock all game, and controlling the line of scrimmage and I felt we did a good job of doing that.”
The Jackrabbits were treated to a loud four quarters, as the Panther fans made the UNI-Dome a tough place to communicate late in the contest.
“The fan atmosphere was electric,” said Twait, who is the son of former Iowa Central football coach and current Athletics Director Kevin Twait. “You can really see opponents struggle on third downs in our building,” Twait said. “A lot of that is the great atmosphere the fans create in the UNI-Dome.”
The Panthers (4-3 overall, 3-1 Missouri Valley Football Conference) held the MVFC’s top-ranked offense out of the end zone. South Dakota State had been averaging 530 yards and 48 points per game and managed only 51 rushing yards and 376 total yards.
Chase Vinatieri gave the Jackrabbits (4-2, 2-2) a 3-0 first quarter lead on a 37-yard field goal. Vinatieri added a 47- and 57-yard field in the fourth quarter, cutting the Panther lead to 14-9.
Eli Dunne passed for 172 yards and a touchdown and Marcus Weymiller rushed for 108 yards on 20 carries for the Panthers.
Dunne started the Panther scoring with 27-yard scoring strike to Jalen Rima in the second quarter. Trevor Allen had a one-yard scoring jaunt to give UNI a 14-3 lead after three quarters.
Austin Erthum kicked a 32-yard field goal to push the Panther lead to 17-9 and Xavier Williams capped off the scoring, returning an interception 30 yards with 23 seconds left to put on the finishing touches.
“We have been hitting our stride in the last couple of weeks and continue to build momentum,” Twait said. “We are excited about going back to work and getting a little better day by day.”
Taryn Christion threw for 325 yards and two interceptions for the Jacks. Cade Johnson finished with seven catches for 121 yards.
Northern Iowa was coming off a 42-28 victory over South Dakota last Saturday.
The Panthers will head to Macomb, Illinois to face Western Illinois on Saturday. Game time is set for 1 p.m.