Panthers Fall to SDSU 24-20

Friday, February 19

Cedar Falls, Iowa

7 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

0-1 , 0-1

South Dakota State

1-0 , 1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota St.

UNI

Photo by: Malory Henze

Panthers Fall to SDSU 24-20

2/20/2021 2:38:00 AM | Football

Box Score

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Pierre Strong caught a one-yard pass from Mark Granowski with just 19 seconds to play and that would be the difference as No. 5 South Dakota State came away from the UNI-Dome with a 24-20 win over No. 3 UNI in the 2020 spring season opener Friday evening.

The two teams traded leads five times in the shootout. SDSU scored on its first drive, a 24-yard field goal by Cole Frahm with 10:16 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers answered with a seven-yard run to the pylon by Will McElvain. The touchdown capped a seven-play 53-yard drive to give UNI a 7-3 lead after one.

SDSU scored two touchdowns in the second quarter, the second after a blocked punt that gave the Jackrabbits the ball at the five-yard line. SDSU scored three plays later to take a 17-7 lead into the break.

The Panthers scored on a 43-yard field goal from Matthew Cook in the third and added three more by from a Cook field goal in the fourth.

UNI scored after the defense forced a turnover to UNI a short field. Jared Brinkman sacked Gronowski for a loss of 20 and stripped the ball. Benny Sapp recovered the fumble at the South Dakota State 19. Three plays later, McElvain found Tysen Kershaw for his first career touchdown to give the Panthers a 20-17 lead, the first since the first quarter.

SDSU took over possession with 5:59 remaining and converted on three first downs en route to the go-ahead score in the final seconds. The Panthers regained possession, but couldn't score and fell to 0-1 on the year.

UP NEXT
The Panthers travel to face Youngstown State at Staumbaugh Stadium in Youngstown, Ohio on Saturday, Feb. 27. Staumbaugh Stadium is affectionately known as the "Ice Castle" among penguin fans. The current 10-day forecast is calling for mid-30s and sunny at kickoff.

NOTES

Several transfer Panthers made their presence known.
- Quan Hampton led the team with seven catches for 65 yards, despite going out with an injury in the fourth quarter.
- Kyle Fourtenbary two catches for nine yards
- Benny Sapp III was third on the team with seven tackles and recovered a fumble that led to a fourth-quarter UNI touchdown.
- Antione Frazier was a bright spot on the offensive line where he started at right tackle.
Korby Sander jumped right back into spotlight after missing the 2019 season. He led the team with 13 tackles, grabbed half a sack and forced a fumble.
Will McElvain tallied a .655 completion percentage. It was the first time since playing Southern Utah a year ago.