Jackrabbits come up short at UNI

Saturday, October 20

Cedar Falls, Iowa

4 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Northern Iowa

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

10/20/2018 8:17:00 PM | Football

Box Score

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Northern Iowa held South Dakota State out of the end zone to send the Jackrabbits to their second loss of the season, 24-9, Saturday at the UNI-Dome.

The 25^th-ranked Panthers improved to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Jackrabbits, ranked second in the STATS FCS media poll and third by the Football Championship Subdivision coaches, dropped to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in league play.

SDSU took the opening kickoff and put the first points on the board, capping a nine-play, 55-yard drive with a 37-yard field goal by Chase Vinatieri.

The Jackrabbits crossed midfield each of their next two possessions, but came up empty. Vinatieri missed a 48-yard field goal attempt on SDSU's second drive of the game and had to punt on its final possession of the first quarter.

UNI, meanwhile, grabbed the lead midway through the second quarter on back-to-back big plays. The first was a swing pass to Deion McShane from Eli Dunne that covered 38 yards, while the second was a 27-yard touchdown pass deep over the middle from Dunne to Jalen Rima.

The Jackrabbits moved into scoring territory on their opening drive of the second half, but again came up empty. On the first play, Christion hooked up with Cade Johnson for 28 yards to the UNI 28. Three plays later, however, Christion was picked off by Korby Sander at the 15-yard line.

The Panthers converted the lone turnover of the game by either team into points on the ensuing drive. Turning to a single-back attack, Marcus Weymiller ran three times for a total of 41 yards before Dunne hit Briley Moore over the middle for 26 yards to the SDSU 1. One play later Trevor Allen went over the top for a 1-yard touchdown run that pushed the UNI lead to 14-3.

SDSU put together back-to-back scoring drives in the fourth quarter, both of which ended on Vinatieri field goals. His first field goal was a 47-yarder that finished off a nine-play, 61-yard drive.

Vinatieri then tied an SDSU record with a 57-yard field goal with 6 minutes, 34 seconds remaining to pull the Jackrabbits to within 14-9.

The Jackrabbits opted for an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but the ball rolled out of bounds and was placed at the SDSU 46. UNI answered with a 32-yard field goal by Austin Errthum to push the lead back to eight at 17-9.

SDSU turned the ball over on downs on its next possession, but got the ball back one final time at its own 9 with 32 seconds to play. The Panthers' Xavior Williams provided the final tally when he came up with a one-handed interception and rolled down the left sideline for a 30-yard touchdown.

The Jackrabbits finished with a 376-326 advantage in total offense. Christion ended the day 25-of-50 passing for 325 yards, while Cade Johnson led the receiving corps with seven catches for 121 yards. Mikey Daniel gained 36 yards on the ground on 10 carries.

Weymiller led the Panther offense with 108 yards on 20 carries, with Dunne completing 13-of-22 passes for 172 yards.

Duncan Ferch tallied a game-high 13 tackles and also broke up three passes for UNI. Christian Rozeboom led SDSU with nine tackles, followed by seven by Dalton Cox.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits close out their two-game road swing by traveling next Saturday (Oct. 27) to Illinois State. Kickoff is set for noon at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois.

NOTES

Northern Iowa leads the all-time series, 31-21-2
Saturday's game marked the first time the home team won in the last five regular season matchups
SDSU has scored in 20 of 24 quarters – plus an overtime session – in 2018
The Jackrabbits were 5-of-17 on third-down attempts, while UNI was 3-of-13
Vinatieri is 14-of-14 on field goals between 30 and 39 yards in his Jackrabbit career
Vinatieri's 57-yard field goal tied Parker Douglass' record, set on Sept. 29, 2007, against Stephen F. Austin
Christion had his streak of consecutive games throwing a touchdown pass end at 17
Christion posted the 13^th 300-yard passing game of his career
The Jackrabbits failed to force a turnover for the first time in 21 games dating back to 2016
SDSU was held without a touchdown for the first time since a 20-0 loss to North Dakota State in 2013 (67 games)
Attendance was 12,013