Penguins doomed at the UNI Dome: Northern Iowa turns back YSU, 28-7

The Penguins must win two straight to finish with a winning record.

By PETE MOLLICA

Vindicator Sports staff

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The Youngstown State football team played one of its better games of the season Saturday, but the Northern Iowa jinx continued to haunt the Penguins.

The Penguins suffered their ninth consecutive loss to the Panthers, 28-7, before just over 11,000 fans at the UNI-Dome.

YSU (4-5, 2-4 Missouri Valley Football Conference) was trying to end a streak that dates back to the 2000 season, but the Panthers (6-3, 4-2), after a week off, snapped a two-game losing streak of their own. The loss was the third straight for the Penguins, who now need to win each of their remaining to games to finish with a winning record.

“We played hard and we played well at times, but unfortunately there were a couple of plays that just didn’t go our way today,” said YSU coach Jon Heacock.

“Northern Iowa is a very good football team and that offensive line is better than anything we’ve seen this year.”

The Penguins allowed 230 rushing yards on 48 carries, while YSU gained just 74 yards on 27 carries.

The Panthers kept alive their hopes for a postseason berth. To get in, the NCAA would have to take three teams from the MVFC, since Southern Illinois and South Dakota State both are assured of getting in and both defeated the Panthers.

The Penguins played nearly errorless football for more than 58 minutes until senior QB Brandon Summers threw his 14th interception in the final minute. The Penguins also didn’t play extremely well on special teams, especially the kickoff team.

Twice the Panthers, with redshirt freshman Carlos Anderson carrying the ball, almost broke a kick return. Anderson’s first one of 48 yards came right after the Penguins had narrowed the Panthers’ lead to 14-7 and he raced the ball out to the YSU 33. The Panthers scored just before halftime to build a 21-7 lead.

Anderson also returned the second half kickoff 43 yards to midfield but the Panthers failed to score.

Northern Iowa scored the first time it touched the ball with an 80-yard drive in 12 plays.

Led by senior quarterback Pat Grace, the Panthers marched right up the field with both running and passing plays until Anderson scampered the final 12 yards untouched right up the middle.

The Panthers had another 80-yard drive to open the second quarter. This one came with the help of an Anderson run and a 15-yard facemask penalty that turned the opening play of the drive into a 30-yard gain.

Grace connected on one big pass play and then carried the ball over from the 2-yard line for his seventh rushing touchdown of the season.

The Penguins got a break late in the second quarter when junior Nick Gooden got a hand on a punt by UNI’s Kyle Bernard that traveled just 24 yards to the UNI 47.

From there the Penguins finally moved into the red zone and got on the scoreboard when Summers fired over the middle from 10 yards out and junior wide receiver Dominique Barnes went high in the air to pull it down at the back of the end zone for the score.

But then came the first Anderson kick return with 1:47 left in the half and Grace took it from there, completing four straight passes and then running the final three yards on a quarterback draw to build the lead back to 14 points.

The Penguins held the Panthers scoreless in the third quarter, although they did try a 51-yard field goal by Billy Hallgren, which was wide right. The Penguins stopped another rally when sophomore linebacker David Rach intercepted a Grace pass at the YSU 40 yard line.

The Panthers put the game away early in the final quarter with a 74-yard drive on 15 plays and used up more than eight minutes on the clock. Reserve tailback Matt Strathman carried the ball five straight times before diving over from the 1-yard line.

Summers then took the Penguins down to the UNI 13 yard line on their final drive before being picked off by James Ruffin at the 3-yard line with 1:02 remaining.

The Penguins will now return home next week to play Illinois State on Senior Day in a 1 p.m. kickoff at Stambaugh and will finish the season Nov. 21 at North Dakota State.

mollica@vindy.com