University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Western Kentucky
UNI Falls on Homecoming to Sixth-Ranked Western Kentucky 17-10
10/9/2004 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 9, 2004
Cedar Falls - For the third game in a row, the University of Northern Iowa football team lost in the final minute of play 17-10 to sixth-ranked Western Kentucky in the UNI-Dome. The Panthers are now 1-4 on the season and 0-2 in Gateway Conference play.
On paper, it would appear that UNI won the contest. The Panthers out-rushed the Hilltoppers 154-150 and out-passed them 205-192. Time of possession was also in UNI's favor at 31:33 compared to WKU's 28:27. UNI was 5-of-13 on third-down conversions, while WKU was 5-of-12.
The Panthers went scoreless in the first half, and Western Kentucky was able to get on the board first with a 21-yard field goal at the 11:17 mark in the first period. The Hilltoppers would then score in their final drive of the first half on a 2-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Brian Porter.
The Panthers bounced back in the second half. Redshirt freshman quarterback Eric Sanders (Oelwein, Iowa/Oelwein) had his starting debut after the loss of senior quarterback Tom Petrie (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) in last week's game at Southern Illinois due to a broken clavicle. Sanders threw his first touchdown pass of his career at the 9:26 mark in the third quarter on a one-yard pass to senior wide receiver Ben Spellman (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley/Iowa Central CC). Sanders completed 18 of 26 passes for 205 yards and threw two interceptions.
"I thought Eric Sanders did an exceptional job," UNI head coach Mark Farley said. "I'm very proud of how Eric played. For a redshirt freshman to go against one of the better defenses and with everything on the line... what that kid did today was really extraordinary when you think about it because he led our football team. He made plays. He made plays with his feet, he made plays with his head, and he made plays with his arm. What he did, I thought was very good."
Sophomore kicker Brian Wingert (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls) tied the score at 10 on a 20-yard field goal with 4:49 left on the clock in the third period. The final nail was put in the Panthers' coffin when WKU's junior defensive back Dennis Mitchell returned a punt 68 yards to the end zone with 13:23 left to go in the game. UNI fell short in its last attempt to score with one second left on the clock.
Leading UNI in rushing was senior tailback Richard Carter (Lansing, Mich/Sexton) with 15 carries for 65 yards. Junior tailback Terrance Freeney (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls/North Dakota State School of Science) also carried 11 times for 56 yards after being out of practice most of the week due to bronchitis. UNI senior tight end Andy Thorn (Waterford, Mich./Mott/Iowa) was the Panthers' number one receiver with three catches for 48 yards.
On the defensive side, junior linebacker Brett Koebcke (Rensselaer, Ind. (Rensselaer Central/William Rainey Harper CC) led the Panthers with five solo tackles and five assisted.
UNI had to play without the help of sophomore linebacker Justin Overman (Rock Rapids, Iowa/Central Lyon) due to an injured shoulder suffered in practice. Senior strong safety Tyler Johnson (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) was also out of action in the first half due to injury.
"This is nothing that we're ever used to," Farley commented. "But yet, we have to go back and look at it realistically. We've played number one, number five and number six to the goal line. We could have won each one of those games just as much as we could have lost them. We can go back and look at ourselves and say, `We could have done this if we could have corrected our own errors.' If we can do that, then we can take off and do what we want to do the rest of the season."
UNI returns to action Saturday (Oct. 16th) at Youngstown State for a 3:05 kick-off.
