The UNI Panthers posted a dominating performance on the road at Indiana State, coming away with a 39-6 win over the Sycamores on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 5, 2016).

In his first-career start, Colton Howell finished with 112 yards on eight completions. Marcus Weymiller led the team in rushing with 171 yards, mainly from the wildcat formation, averaging 10.7 yards per carry. Michael Malloy added a career-high 84 yards on the ground, recording three touchdowns.

On defense, the Panthers (4-5 overall, 3-3 MVFC) held the Sycamores just 88 yards on the ground, the sixth game the Panthers have held their opponents to under 100 rushing yards. D’Shawn Dexter led both teams in tackles with 10 while Karter Schult came up with eight tackles, including 2.5 sacks that counted toward tackles for loss.

Howell got the Panthers going in the first quarter, thanks in part to a key interception from Rickey Neal to get the ball back in his hands. Howell and the Panthers drove down field for five plays and 53 yards, including a 40-yard pass to Jalen Rima to the INS five-yard-line. Malloy put the final touches on the drive, punching in a one-yard rushing touchdown to give UNI a 7-0 lead at the 7:25 mark.

The UNI defense gave Indiana State no wiggle room on their next drive, forcing a three-and-out thanks to sticky coverage from A.J. Allen. It forced the Sycamores to punt to Rima, who juked his way 94 yards down field to the house for UNI’s second touchdown in just two minutes. The 94-yard return gave UNI a 13-0 lead with 5:35 left in the quarter, setting a school record for longest punt return. It was Rima’s second touchdown of the season and his first on special teams.

Indiana State got on the board to start the second quarter, with the UNI defense forcing the Sycamores to settle on a field goal. Jerry Nunez hit a 39-yarder through the uprights, making it 13-3 with 14:10 on the clock. It ended a 14-play, 54-yard drive that took 6:25 off the clock.

Later in the second quarter, Howell’s helmet was knocked off, forcing him to come out of the game and putting UNI in a predicament with a quarterback core that has been plagued by injuries the last few weeks.

With Aaron Bailey sidelined and Eli Dunne suffering the effects of a concussion, the answer was Weymiller. The sophomore from Waukon entered the game in the wildcat formation and rushed 57 yards to the Indiana State 17-yard-line. Weymiller stayed in as the UNI quarterback to complete the drive, eventually handing the ball to Malloy for his second rushing touchdown of the game. The five-yard score ended a four-play, 75-yard drive that gave UNI a 20-3 advantage with less than seven minutes to play in the quarter.

Howell returned to the game and continued to get the Panthers in the red zone, this time with a 33-yard pass to Trevor Allen and an 18-yard rush from himself to land on the Indiana State seven-yard-line. Howell then handed it off to Malloy for his third score of the game, rushing it in for five yards, putting UNI up 27-3 to end the half.

UNI kept the points coming in the third quarter, adding a 27-yard field goal to the stat line. Sam Drysdale kicked his first three-pointer as a Panther, giving UNI a 30-3 lead with 9:19 on the clock. It ended a 14-play drive for 67 yards and 5:36 off the clock.

Indiana State tried to get their offense going with 5:04 left in the third quarter, but were again forced to settle on a field goal after Preston Woods made a third down stop at the line of scrimmage. Nunez was good from 33 yards for the Sycamores, making it 30-6 to end the seven-play drive.

The last nine points of the game came off the foot of Drysdale, who scored 40-yard, 28-yard and 30-yard field goals to end the game and give UNI the 39-6 win. His 40-yard field goal was the last points scored in the third quarter with his two in the fourth being the only points scored in the final quarter, giving UNI its 39-6 win.

UP NEXT: UNI returns to action on Saturday (Nov. 11) when the Panthers face Western Illinois on the road. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. in Macomb, Ill.

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