David Johnson bulldozed his way to 129 rushing yards, 255 all-purpose yards, and three touchdowns this past week. Those yards not only cemented the victory over the seventh-ranked Illinois State Redbirds 42-28, it also cemented his place in the record books as UNI’s all time leading rusher and placed him second on the rushing touchdown list with 40.
The game started off poorly for the Panthers as quarterback Brion Carnes mishandled the ball and fumbled it away on the first play of the drive.
The following play, ISU running back Marshau Coprich scored his first of three touchdowns. The first quarter was ran down by way of strong defense on both sides and the score stood 7-0 ISU.
Nick Aussieker missed his lone field goal attempt of the day from 46 yards out to start the second quarter. Despite good field position the Panthers couldn’t advance the ball and went three-and-out. On ISU’s following drive Xavier Williams recorded one of the team’s five sacks.
“We had one objective this week, get after the quarterback,” said Williams.
The defense forced the punt and for the first time and the special teams came up big as Tate Omil blocked the punt and Charles Brown returned it for his first touchdown.
“That blocked punt put us at 7-7 or back to 0-0 basically,” UNI Head Coach Mark Farley said. “Then it was keeping your composure and working the plan.”
The rest of the half was pure defense and ended 7-7.
The offenses opened up in the second half as Carnes hooked up with Kevin Vereen for a 28-yard touchdown.
Later in the third, Coprich’s lone mistake occurred as he fumbled the pitchout and had it recovered by Karter Schult of UNI. Johnson capitalized on his mistake on the next play as he ran it in for a 31-yard touchdown.
Coprich answered two drives later with an eight-yard rush for his second touchdown on the day and put the Redbirds within seven, 21-14.
Coprich drew the two teams even early in the fourth with a 76-yard rush, benefitting from a Carnes interception.
Not to be outdone in this apparent running back battle, Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown.
“I knew we needed to score and we needed the yards and I was happy to get the opportunity,” said Johnson. “I’d seen there was a huge hole and I ran that way and ended up scoring.”
After a strong three and out by the defense. Johnson scored his third touchdown on a 18 yard scamper. ISU attempted a late comeback, scoring on a long drive that ended in a touchdown to draw it to 35-28.
They got the ball back with a 1:40 left, Tim Kilfoy spoiled their potential comeback by picking off Tre Roberson and returning it for a touchdown to go up 42-28.
“We were back in cover,” said Kilfoy. “Play for tips and overthrows and that’s what happened. I was just trying to score right away.”
Roberson was injured on the play and backup Blake Winkler went in for the final minute. Different QB similar story as Kilfoy got his second pick, but kneeled it instead of attempting a second return and effectively ending the game.
“Our backs are against the wall,” Kilfoy said. “And we need to take it one Saturday at a time.”
The Panthers will look for another upset next weekend as they take on top-ranked North Dakota State on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the UNI-Dome. NDSU has won their last 33 games while winning three straight national championships.
They got the ball back with a 1:40 left, Tim Kilfoy spoiled their potential comeback by picking off Tre Roberson and returning it for a touchdown to go up 42-28.
“We were back in cover,” said Kilfoy. “Play for tips and overthrows and that’s what happened. I was just trying to score right away.”
Roberson was injured on the play and backup Blake Winkler went in for the final minute. Different QB similar story as Kilfoy got his second pick, but kneeled it instead of attempting a second return and effectively ending the game.
“Our backs are against the wall,” Kilfoy said. “And we need to take it one Saturday at a time.”
The Panthers will look for another upset next weekend as they take on top-ranked North Dakota State on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the UNI-Dome. NDSU has won their last 33 games while winning three straight national championships.
