No. 14-Ranked UNI Turns Over No. 5-Ranked Youngstown State, 31-23

Saturday, October 21

Youngstown, OH

3:00 PM

University of Northern Iowa

5-2 , 3-0

Youngstown State

6-2 , 3-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UNI

Youngstown State

No. 14-Ranked UNI Turns Over No. 5-Ranked Youngstown State, 31-23

10/21/2006 8:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

By: UNI Athletics Communications

Oct. 21, 2006

Final Stats | Notes

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The No. 14-ranked University of Northern Iowa Panthers secured a dramatic 31-23 victory over No. 5-ranked Youngstown State in Stambaugh Stadium in front of a homecoming crowd of 19,321.

UNI was able to secure the victory when senior Dre Dokes intercepted his second pass of the game with 1:02 left to play in the fourth quarter.

The Panthers improved to 5-2 on the season and a perfect 3-0 in the Gateway Football Conference. The Penguins fell to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Gateway.

The UNI victory also snapped YSU's 11-game home winning streak. UNI was the last team to win at Stambaugh Stadium and it occurred in 2004. It was also UNI's sixth straight victory in the series with Youngstown State.

The story of the game was turnovers. In the first half, neither squad committed a turnover. But the second half included eight total turnovers, Youngstown State turned the ball over five times (four interceptions, fumble) and UNI turned it over three times (two fumbles, interception).

Junior quarterback Eric Sanders began the game by hitting on his first nine pass attempts on his way to 291 yards and three touchdowns on 19-of-27 passing.

Sophomore returner/wide receiver Eric Sanders at the 11:49 mark of the first quarter. UNI running back Darian Williams, who started for the first time in his career, carried four times for 37 yards in the opening drive.

Youngstown State answered the Panthers' first drive with a score of its own on a 28-yard field goal by Brian Palmer. The Penguins drove inside the Panthers' 10-yard line before the UNI defense stiffened and turned them away. Palmer's field goal came at the 6:34 mark of the first quarter. YSU running back Marcus Mason carried the load on the drive as he tallied 45 yards on seven carries.

UNI junior Terrell Allen mishandled the YSU kickoff and it left the Panthers trapped inside their own 10-yard line to start the next drive. But Sanders continued his perfect start and drove the Panthers to their second score of the game, a 27-yard field goal by Brian Wingert at the 14:24 mark of the second quarter. Wingert's kick gave UNI a 10-3 advantage.

The Panthers' defense held and forced the first punt of the game. But on the punt, Youngstown State was flagged for kick catch interference and it put the ball into UNI's hands at the UNI 48-yard line.

Sanders wasted little time as he hooked up with Gray on a 39-yard pass on the next play to put the Panthers deep into YSU territory. Sanders connected again with Gray on a 15-yard scoring pass play to give the Panthers a 17-3 lead with 10:06 to go in the second quarter.

Through the first three drives of the game Sanders was 10-of-11 passing for 124 yards and two touchdowns. Gray had four catches for 70 yards and two scores in the same stretch.

The Penguins scored their first touchdown of the game at the 6:10 mark of the second quarter on a nine-yard run from Marcus Mason. Mason's score capped an eight-play 80-yard drive and cut UNI's lead to 17-10.

Gray continued his fine day on the ensuing kickoff as he returned it 41 yards to the UNI 44-yard line to set up the Panthers with another short field. But Youngstown State linebacker Jeff Koval came up with a sack to thwart the Panther drive and forced the first Panther punt of the game with just under three minutes to go until halftime.

UNI had one final chance prior to the half when Wingert lined up for a 42-yard field goal with two seconds left. However, the Penguins' Jim Phelan blocked the field goal and the game went to half with the Panthers on top, 17-10.

The Penguins wasted little time knotting the score in the third quarter as Mason scored his second touchdown of the game on a one-yard plunge with 12:15 left in the third. The Penguins marched 80 yards in six plays to tie the game at 17-17.

The Sanders-to-Gray connection continued in the third quarter when Gray caught a 70-yard touchdown pass from Sanders to put UNI back on top, 24-17. The 70-yard score came at the 10:51 mark of the third quarter and capped a four-play 96-yard drive that took only 1:15 off the clock.

Senior Dre Dokes came up big on the Penguins's next drive as he intercepted a Tom Zetts pass at the UNI five-yard line to end a YSU threat. It was Dokes' fourth interception this season and 15th of his UNI career.

UNI committed its first turnover of the game when junior running back Whitney Lewis coughed up a loose ball to give the ball back to YSU deep in UNI territory. But the Panthers' defense responded by forcing its second turnover of the third quarter. Junior Chris Parsons picked off a Zetts' pass in the endzone for a touchback. It was Parsons' third interception of the season.

The teams traded punts at the third quarter came to an end and the fourth quarter started. But it was YSU interception by Codera Jackson that turned the momentum back to the Penguins. Jackson returned the pick 43 yards to the UNI 14-yard line with 13:44 remaining in the game. YSU then turned the UNI miscue into six points on the third touchdown of the game by Mason. Mason scored from a yard out with 11:02 left in the fourth quarter.

But the Panthers' Mark Huygens recorded another huge play when he blocked the extra point by YSU's Brian Palmer to keep the UNI lead at 24-23.

UNI's Johnny Gray fumbled after catching his seventh pass of the game and the Penguins recovered inside Panther territory, but Parsons tallied his second interception of the game to end another YSU drive with 7:28 left in the game.

The Panthers were forced to punt with just over five minutes to go in the game but YSU turned the ball over again when Jason Perry fumbled an Adam Kos punt and senior Dave Schratz recovered the football at the YSU 18-yard line with 5:05 left in the game.

This time the Panthers made the Penguins pay for their mistake when Williams rushed over the right side for a 16-yard touchdown run to cap a two-play 18-yard drive with used up 58 seconds on the clock. Williams' run gave UNI a 31-23 lead.

YSU then drove down and appeared to score with just over a minute to play, but a penalty for an ineligible player down field erased the score. Then Dokes secured his second interception of the game with 1:02 to go to clinch the victory.

Darian Williams led the UNI rushing attack with his third straight 100-plus rushing effort as he carried 19 times for 106 yards and one touchdown. Gray tallied a career-high seven catches for 160 yards and three scores.

Parsons led the defensive charge with 11 total tackles and two interceptions.

UNI will play at home next Saturday against Western Illinois University at 4:05 p.m. in the UNI-Dome. The game will be broadcast live on Cedar Falls Utilities Channel 15.