CEDAR FALLS – The University of Northern Iowa handed No. 3 Southern Illinois its first loss in the Missouri Valley Conference, 23-16.
UNI improved to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the MVFC. SIU falls to 6-2, 4-1.
UNI’s defense forced two fumbles and notched two interceptions from Caden Houghtelling and Benny Sapp III. The squad’s three sacks added up to a loss of 23 yards for the Salukis. UNI is ranked third in the FCS for turnovers gained, which leads the MVFC.
Sapp led in solo tackles, and Jared Brinkman led in overall tackles with seven assists.
UNI had a fairly balanced offense with 182 yards in rushing and 103 receiving yards. Bradrick Shaw led the team rushing with 128 yards, and Deion McShane was the receiving leader with 41 yards. Matthew Cook is on a streak with 14 consecutive field goals. He went 3-3 today.
Q1: A 39-yard pass from Nic Baker to Avante Cox moved SIU up to UNI’s 28-yard line. A sack by Rice pushed SIU back, and the Salukis had to settle for a 49-yard field goal. On UNI’s second possession, Devin Rice forced a fumble, and UNI recovered it to take the ball. Multiple unsportsmanlike penalties, including one on SIU’s head coach Nick Hill set up UNI on the three-yard line. UNI had to settle for a 38-yard field goal to tie up the score 3-3.
Q2: Baker found Landon Lenoir on a 52-yard pass to give SIU its first touchdown and the second lead of the day, 10-3. The Salukis extended their lead to 13-3 with a 48-yard field goal from Nico Gualdoni. Cook’s second field goal of the day was good from 31 yards to end the half, 13-6 Southern Illinois.
Q3: Bradrick Shaw opened up the second half with a 38-yard run to set up the Panthers’ first touchdown of the day. Theo Day connected with Sam Schnee for 19-yard pass to tie it up 13-13. A 33-yard field goal from SIU’s Gualdoni put the Salukis up 16-13. UNI racked up 14 plays on a 79-yard drive to score off a 10-yard touchdown pass from Day to Kyle Fourtenbary to give UNI its first lead of the day, 20-16.
Q4: Panthers extended the lead with a 44-yard field goal from Cook to make it 23-16.
UP NEXT:
UNI will hit the road for two games before returning to wrap up the regular season at home against Western Illinois on Nov. 20. The Panthers face the Redbirds of Illinois State at noon CT Nov. 6. In addition to the Panthers Sports Radio Network, fans can tune into ESPN+ for the game.
UNI has won the last three matchups with Illinois State. In the last game, UNI won 20-10 March 6, 2021. Illinois State (3-5 overall / 1-4 MVFC) is coming off a 38-31 loss to Western Illinois.
