Panthers Sack No. 9 Penguins at Home, 19-14

Saturday, October 21

UNI-Dome

1 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

4-3 , 3-1

Youngstown State (Family Weekend)

3-4 , 1-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Youngstown State

UNI

Panthers Sack No. 9 Penguins at Home, 19-14

10/21/2017 5:50:00 PM | Football

Box Score

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Fueled by a dominating pass rush, Northern Iowa (4-3, 3-1 MVFC) knocked off another top-10 foe on Saturday after beating No. 9 Youngstown State (3-4, 1-3 MVFC), 19-14.

UNI has now downed back-to-back top-10 opponents for the first time since 2014's upsets of No. 6 Illinois State (Nov. 1) and No. 1 North Dakota State (Nov. 8).

The Panther defense recorded 10 sacks on Saturday, coming within one quarterback takedown from tying the program record. The 10 sacks are tied for the most by any FCS team this season, with Eastern Washington also earning 10 against Fordham on Sept. 16.

Junior Rickey Neal earned a career-high 3.5 sacks for UNI, while Keelon Brookins and Hezekiah Applegate added 2.0. Duncan Ferch earned 1.0 sack, along with Elijah Campbell, while Seth Thomas rounded out the stat sheet with a half sack.

UNI held YSU well below its season average for rushing yards, as the Panthers only gave up 47 on the ground. Coming into Saturday, the Penguins sported the ninth-ranked rushing attack and earned 248.5 yards per game.

Junior Marcus Weymiller poured in 133 on the ground for the Panthers, while scoring both of UNI's touchdowns. Weymiller became the first Panther to rush over 100 yards in back-to-back weeks since 2015 when Aaron Bailey achieved the feat against Missouri State (Nov. 14) and Southern Illinois (Nov. 21). Quarterback Eli Dunne had another mistake-free day throwing the ball, with 151 yards on 9-of-20 passing.

Much like last week's upset of No. 7 South Dakota State, the Panthers jumped out to an early lead against their top-10 foe. This time, UNI plowed ahead for a 10-0 lead with 11:31 remaining in the second quarter following Weymiller's 1-yard plunge.

The Penguins bounced back to score a touchdown of their own after a deep throw from Nathan Mays to Damoun Patterson found the end zone. With the lead trimmed to 10-7, UNI went back to Weymiller as he bounced outside for a six-yard score to extend the lead to 16-7 following the failed extra point.

Midway through the third quarter the Panthers capped a seven-play, 55-yard drive with a 28-yard field goal from Sam Drysdale (his second of the day) to push the lead to 19-7. A late surge from the Penguins through the air scored another touchdown – this time from Ricky Davis to Alvin Bailey – for 15 yards. YSU attempted a last gasp outside kick to follow, but Weymiller pounced on the ball and UNI went into the victory formation.

UP NEXT
UNI continues its stretch against top-10 foes as the Panthers travel to No. 2 North Dakota State on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 2:30 p.m. CT.

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

Today's win marked UNI's first back-to-back victories over top-10 foes since 2014's upsets over No. 6 Illinois State (Nov. 1) and No. 1 North Dakota State (Nov. 8).
Head coach Mark Farley is 13-2 all-time against Youngstown State.
YSU has not won at the UNI-Dome since 1999.
UNI held YSU to its lowest rushing total on the season.
YSU's previous low was against 107 against Pittsburgh to open the season.
Senior wide receiver Daurice Fountain has caught 123 passes for his career at UNI.
Marcus Weymiller has racked up 71 carries over the last two games alone.
Weymiller has also earned 302 yards rushing and four touchdowns over that stretch as well.
Hezekiah Applegate earned a career-high in sacks after earning 2.0 on Saturday.
Keelon Brookins also set a career high with 2.0 sacks against YSU.
Attendance for Saturday's game was 12,146.