University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Minnesota-Duluth
Panthers Top Bulldogs, 49-14, Move to 2-0
9/10/2005 8:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 10, 2005
PANTHERS TOP BULLDOGS, 49-14, MOVE TO 2-0
Cedar Falls, IA--The Panther offense delivered another flurry of points with quarterback Eric Sanders leading the way in a 49-14 drumming of the Minnesota-Deluth Bulldogs. The sophomore completed 12 of 14 attempts for 311 yards and three scores to lead the Panthers to victory.
An 11-minute stalemate opened the contest, with neither team budging or taking advantage. The Panthers broke the trend with a one-yard Terrance Freeney touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead as the first quarter came to a close.
UNI opened the second quarter with a 41-yard touchdown strike from Sanders to Brian Cutright to top off a five-play 63-yard sprint to pay dirt.
Sanders found Patrick Hunter with a 57-yard touchdown connection just five minutes later, putting the score at 21-0 with over nine minutes remaining in the half.
The Bulldogs found the end zone with just over four minutes remaining to bring the score to 21-7, but Sanders found Justin Surrency with a 26-yard TD toss to put the Panther advantage back at 21 points.
Freeney ended the first half with his second one-yard touchdown lunge, putting the score at 35-7.
The running game took center stage in the second half, eating up over 100 yards helping to kill the clock and preserve the Panther lead. David Horne scampered 33 yards for the sixth UNI touchdown of the day, putting the score at 42-17 early in the third.
Freshman Corey Lewis topped off a 13-play 56-yard drive with a one-yard TD run with under a minute to go in the third.
The Panthers and Bulldogs went back-and-forth for the bulk of the fourth quarter with UMD scoring with five seconds remaining in the game to put the final score at 49-14.
Sanders was efficient and flashed a strong arm with his 12-14, 311 yard performance, throwing touchdown passes of 41, 57 and 26 yards.
"Eric is so calm and composed as a quarterback," head coach Mark Farley said. "The best thing about Eric is that he balances out our offense and runs the offense the way it should be ran."
Sanders delivered Surrency, Hunter, Cutright and Jamie Goodwin over 50 yards each, with Surrency, Hunter and Cutright catching a touchdown as well.
Horne led the rushing attack with 57 yards on 4 attempts and also caught a 24-yard pass. Freeney and Lewis carried the ball 11 times each, rushing for 33 and 43 yards, respectively. As a team, the Panthers rushed for 204 yards on 42 attempts.
Clifford Waters led the defense with 7.5 tackles on the night, with Brett Koebcke turning in 5.5 tackles, including 1.5 sacks.
"The best thing that has evolved from these pass-heavy football games has been the timing between Eric (Sanders) and Jamie (Goodwin) and Patrick (Hunter)." Farley said. "That also allows us, as coaches, to go back and find the packages that work."
The Panthers travel to Iowa City, IA to battle the Iowa Hawkeyes. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m.
