Cyclones Defeat Panthers to Open 2017 Season

Saturday, September 2

Ames, Iowa

7 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

0-1

Iowa State

1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UNI

Iowa State

Photo by: Mike Dunlop

Cyclones Defeat Panthers to Open 2017 Season

9/2/2017 11:38:00 PM | Football

Box Score

FINAL STATS

AMES, Iowa – Despite a hard-fought effort in front of a hostile crowd of 61,500, the Northern Iowa Panthers (0-1) fell to the Iowa State Cyclones (1-0) 42-24 to open the season on Saturday night in Ames.

"We made too many mistakes in the first half of the football game," head coach Mark Farley said. "We couldn't overcome that, but this is a type of game you have to have to mature and grow. I was watching our guys in the fourth quarter and I was very pleased with how they finished the game. Overall, I'm proud of the effort our guys showed tonight."

UNI took an early 7-0 lead after scoring on the opening drive, but turnovers shifted the momentum to ISU as the Cyclones took a 21-10 lead into halftime. ISU would push the advantage to as much as 35-10, but the Panthers stormed back to outscore the Cyclones 14-7 over the last 16:36 of the game.

UNI finished the game with 378 yards of total offense, to ISU's 405. The Panthers and Cyclones were almost neck-and-neck in every other statically category with UNI rushing for 119 yards and throwing it for 259 yards.

"We drove the field on ISU, systematically we made plays on the ground and in the air and we felt pretty good," Farley said. "We stopped them for most of the first half, but the interceptions hurt because they were for touchdowns."

Junior Eli Dunne finished Saturday's opener going 23-for-38 for 259 yards, while throwing three touchdowns and three interceptions. Sophomore Trevor Allen was the overall leading rusher in the game, going for 87 yards on the ground.

"I believe in Eli," Farley said. "I believe in our wide receivers, so we kept throwing the football and he threw himself out of a slump. He grew up tonight, the only way you get that experience is playing in games like these though."

Three different receivers caught touchdown passes for the Panthers as Isaiah Weston (four catches, 72 yards), Jaylin James (three catches, 44 yards) and Aaron Graham (two catches, 24 yards) all had scores.

On the defensive side, Jared Farley was the leading tackler with 14 stops while Duncan Ferch finished the game with nine tackles and an interception.

UP NEXT
The Panthers will open the home slate at the UNI-Dome on Saturday, Sept. 9 when the Purple & Gold hosts Cal-Poly (0-2) at 4 p.m. CT. The game will be televised live Panther Sports Network and ESPN3.

TICKETS
Fans can purchase season and single-game tickets to UNI football home games through UNITIX. Call 319-273-4849 or visit www.UNITIX.uni.edu.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on the UNI football program, follow the Panthers on Twitter at "@UNIFootball" and on Facebook at "UNI Football."

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Seniors Jared Farley, Daurice Fountain, Adam Reth and Preston Woods were captians for Saturday's game against Iowa State.
UNI is now 58-52-7 all-time in season openers.
Under head coach Mark Farley, the Panthers are 8-9 in season openers.
Saturday's multi-touchdown game was Eli Dunne's fourth of his career.
Isaiah Weston's 18-yard score in the first quarter was his first touchdown catch of his career.
Duncan Ferch now has four career interceptions as a Panther.
Sam Drysdale's 43-yard field goal in the second quarter was a career long.