UNI Opens Home Schedule With Victory, 38-35 [Video]

The UNI Panthers kicked off their 40th season of football at the UNI-Dome with an upset victory Saturday afternoon (Sept. 12, 2015).

The 14th-ranked Panthers beat No. 7 Eastern Washington, 38-35, securing the victory by scoring 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

Eastern Washington quarterbacks Jordan West and Reilly Hennessey combined to complete 37-of-47 passes for four touchdowns, but the Eagles (0-2) couldn't capitalize on a 526-yard passing performance that broke the school record.

Aaron Bailey started the game at quarterback for UNI (1-1), going 7-13-0 for 91 yards and two touchdowns while also adding a career-high 134 yards on the ground. Sawyer Kollmorgen led the charge in the fourth quarter, finishing 10-13-0 for 103 yards and one score.

Darrian Miller added another 112 rushing yards on 18 carries to the Panther stat book while Tyvis Smith contributed the only rushing touchdown of the game. Daurice Fountain scored his second career touchdown and brought in 61 yards to lead the receiving corps.

On the defensive side of the ball, Jared Farley led both teams in tackles with a career-high 10 with Brett McMakin adding nine and Tim Kilfoy racking up eight. Deiondre’ Hall also had six tackles and his first pick-six of the season.

The Eagles tacked on the first points of the game in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead at the 5:30 mark. Jordan West found Cooper Kupp for an 18-yard pass into the end zone, taking 4:49 off the clock for a 12 play, 81-yard drive.

The Panthers evened the score in the second quarter when Smith jumped over the pile for a one-yard rushing touchdown. The drive that ended with 10:01 left in the quarter burned 3:15 from the clock for 10 plays and 80 yards.

Eastern Washington took its second lead of the game after West and Kupp linked up again, this time taking it 73 yards down field and into the end zone to make the score 14-7. The drive was only three plays long for 73 yards and 49 seconds off the clock.

The shootout continued less than a minute later when Bailey found Fountain down field for a 41-yard passing touchdown. Fountain’s second career score with 8:15 on the clock ended a three play, 75 yard drive.

UNI added to the score when Michael Malloy notched his first-career touchdown with 4:32 left in the first half. Bailey found Malloy open in the end zone for a quick two-yard pass to put the Panthers up 21-14. The drive took 1:31 off the clock for five plays and 47 yards.

The score was tied 21-21 with less than five minutes to play in the third quarter when Hennessey completed a six-yard pass to Kendrick Bourne for a touchdown. The drive lasted five plays for 64 yards and 1:15.

The Eagles put themselves up by seven points early in the fourth quarter after Bourne scored his second touchdown of the game on a seven-yard pass from West to make the score 28-21. The 70 yard drive burned 2:19 off the clock for seven plays.

UNI didn’t wait long to tie the score again, making it 28-28 with 9:54 left in the game. Logan Cunningham grabbed his first-career receiving touchdown after Kollmorgen connected with the junior for a 16-yard pass. The drive took 2:31 off the clock for seven plays and 73 yards.

Taking the lead with 5:40 on the clock, the Panther All-America kicker Michael Schmadeke, converted on a 24-yard field goal to put UNI up 31-28. The drive lasted 2:38 for 10 plays and 58 yards.

The Panthers weren’t done yet, getting an interception on Eastern Washington’s second play of their drive to up the score 38-28. Hall took his pick-six to the end zone for 16 yards and his third-career touchdown with 5:19 left to play in the game.

Eastern Washington was able to score the final touchdown of the game with 3:20 left on the clock when Jabari Wilson notched a one-yard rushing score, but the seven points weren’t enough, securing the UNI win.

The Panthers will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 19 when they travel to the West Coast to take on Cal Poly. The game is set to kick off at 9:30 p.m. CT and will air on KGAN-TV (CBS2).

Courtesy: UNI Athletics via YouTube