UNI Tops The Sycamores, 39-6

Saturday, November 5

Terre Haute, Ind.

12 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

4-5 , 3-3

Indiana State

4-6 , 2-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UNI

Indiana State

Photo by: Mike Dunlop

UNI Tops The Sycamores, 39-6

11/5/2016 3:44:00 PM | Football

Box Score

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The University of Northern Iowa football team posted a dominating performance on the road today at Indiana State, coming away with a 39-6 win over the Sycamores. UNI is 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the Valley.

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 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.

The answer was Weymiller, who came in the wildcat formation to rush 57 yards to the Indiana State 17-yard-line. Weymiller stayed in as the UNI quarterback, eventually handing the ball off to Malloy who scored 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 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. It was the end of an eight-play drive that went down field for 60 yards, taking 3:06 off the clock.

UNI kept the points coming in the third quarter, adding a 27-yard field goal through the uprights to the stat line. Sam Drysdale scored his first career field goal 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.

UNI returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 11 when they head to Macomb, Ill. to take on top-15 ranked Western Illinois. The game is set for a 1 p.m. kick.

Post-Game Notes vs. Indiana State

Captains against Indiana State: #93 Karter Schult, #72 Robert Rathje, #30 D'Shawn Dexter.
Jalen Rima's 94-yard punt return for a touchdown is a school record for longest punt return. It beat the previous record of 93 yards set by Joe Fuller against Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1984.
The last time UNI returned a punt for a touchdown was in 2015 against Southern Illinois when Makinton Dorleant took it to the end zone for 90 yards.
Marcus Weymiller's 57-yard rush in the second quarter is the longest rushing play this season.
Michael Malloy finished the game with three touchdowns against Indiana State, his second game this season with multiple rushing scores. He also had two rushing touchdowns against Missouri State.
Karter Schult finished the game with 2.5 sacks, moving into third all-time at UNI in career quarterback sacks (31.5). He passed Andre Allen who had 31.0 from 1991-94.
Sophomore Marcus Weymiller rushed for 171 yards against the Sycamores, a career-high for the Waukon, Iowa, native. It is the most one individual has rushed for in 2016 with Tyvis Smith putting up 130 against Montana.
With Rickey Neal's first-career interception in the first quarter and Elijah Campbell's pick in the third, UNI has had at least one interception in seven consecutive games. UNI has also had two or more interceptions in four straight games.
UNI finished the game with 307 yards on the ground. The last time UNI rushed for over 300 yards was in 2015 against Eastern Illinois when the Panthers posted 323 in the playoffs.
Sam Drysdale scored a career-high four field goals in UNI's win over Indiana State, including a career-long 40-yarder. It is the first time a Panther has kick four field goals in a game since UNI's playoff win over Eastern Illinois in 2015.