SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – UNI struggled to slow down the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s (MVFC) top-passing offense and establish its own passing game as the Panthers fell to the Missouri State Bears on Saturday afternoon in a 35-16 loss at Robert W. Plaster Stadium.
Northern Iowa totaled just 299 yards of offense and committed 12 penalties for 103 yards on a day where Missouri State scored on five-of-six trips to the redzone.
The Panthers opened the game with a key play on defense as Cannon Butler forced and recovered a fumble on a sack of Bears’ quarterback Jordan Pachot on MSU’s opening drive. On the ensuing UNI drive, a pair of pass interference penalties by the Bears put the Panthers into great field position before momentum for UNI was halted by an interception by P.J. Hall at the Missouri State 13-yard line. Northern Iowa would get another big stop as Caden Houghtelling sacked Pachot with the Bears pinned in their own territory to force a punt.
UNI would turn the ball over on downs on their following drive, which would set up a five-play, 61-yard scoring drive by the Bears with Pachot connecting with Jmariyae Robinson on a 19-yard touchdown pass for the game’s first points. Tye Edwards notched runs of 17 and 16 yards to help drive the Panthers down the field on the ensuing possession, setting up a 29-yard field goal for Matthew Cook to cut the deficit to 7-3.
Missouri State would add on to its lead as the Bears converted on a fake fourth-down punt to drive down the field and score on a 14-yard touchdown reception by Raylen Sharpe from Pachot. UNI quarterback Theo Day would be intercepted for a second time in the opening half at the Panther 35-yard line on its following possession, leading to a three-yard touchdown catch by tight end Gary Clinton.
The Panthers would be forced to punt on its fifth possession of the half despite a 13-yard catch by Logan Wolf, giving the Bears the ball back with 4:09 remaining. MSU would attempt a 38-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, but Butler would get a hand on the ball to deny the Bears an additional three points, sending the Panthers to the locker room trailing 21-3.
UNI took just over two minutes to drive down the field in its first possession of the third quarter as Cook drilled a 48-yard field goal to cut the Missouri State lead down to 15. Dalesean Staley grabbed his second interception of the season after a Tate Sander tipped pass on the following MSU drive after just three snaps, setting up a short field for the Panthers. Northern Iowa would drive all the way to the five-yard line but would be backed up by an offensive pass interference call, settling for a 38-yard field goal for Cook to cut the score to 21-9.
Missouri State came out looking to chew up some clock and did so with a seven-minute, ten-second drive capped by a 10-yard touchdown catch by Sharpe, his second score of the day. The UNI offense struggle to find a spark offensively as MSU mounted another scoring drive, finished off by a 14-yard touchdown run by Jayden Becks.
A Panther turnover on downs and a Bears punt led to Northern Iowa’s lone touchdown of the day on a Sam Schnee 66-yard reception from Day on Schnee’s third catch of the afternoon, but it would not be enough in a 35-16 loss for the purple and gold on the road.
Sam Schnee led the receiving core with 98 of the Panthers’ 182 receiving yards and one, while Edwards finished with 79 rushing yards. Staley led the defense with ten tackles including four solo tackles, one interception and one pass break up.
UNI leads the all-time series 35-8 after Saturday’s loss, and is now 16-5 all-time playing the Bears in Springfield.
Sam Schnee became the 11th player in school history to eclipse 2,000 career receiving yards, and also broke into UNI’s top-ten all-time list in receptions (131).
Matthew Cook became just the second player in MVFC history to score 400 career points after a ten-point game (three field goals; one extra point), joining South Dakota State running back Zach Zenner (2011-14) who notched 416 career points. Cook has scored 404 points in his five-year career.
Cook also extended his streak of made PAT kick to 152, having not missed a kick attempt in his career.
Cannon Butler’s forced fumble on the game’s opening drive was the first of his career, and second career recovery. His blocked field goal at the end of the first half was also his first career blocked kick.
The Panthers wrap up the regular season inside the UNI-Dome next Saturday, Nov.18 with a matchup against the Bison of North Dakota State on Senior Day. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT with live coverage also available on ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network.
