Northern Iowa 22, ISU Sycamores 14

ISU Sycamores' comeback attempt falls short against Northern Iowa, 22-14

CEDAR FALLS, IA - (10-11-2003) — For the first two and a half quarters of Indiana State's dual with Northern Iowa the Sycamores could not get anything going against the homestanding Panthers. That was the case until sophomore defensive end Kyle Mitchell returned an intercepted pass 72-yards for a touchdown on a play that sparked a furious comeback attempt for Indiana State, which fell to 3-4 (0-2 Gateway) on the season with the 22-14 loss to UNI before 14,018 fans at the UNI Dome.

UNI out-rushed ISU 166-48 as well as dominating the passing game by completing 13 passes for 156 yards compared to ISU's seven completed passes for 94 yards. The defense was critical in the game for the Panthers only allowing the Sycamores one third-down conversion out of 11 tries.

Indiana State had a chance early to pounce on the Panthers as they forced the Panther quarterback, Tom Petrie, into a fumble some 30 yards behind the line of scrimmage, but just as it seemed that Mitchell would recover the ball and possibly return it for a Sycamore touchdown, the Panthers fell on the ball. While the play backed up the Panthers 36-yards, the Sycamores were not able to convert on the early opportunity.

With special teams play excelling for UNI throughout the first half, the Panthers had to move just 36 yards after a solid punt return when Terrence Freeney scampered into the endzone with 6:09 remaining in the first stanza to take a quick 7-0 lead.

All UNI could muster the remaining of the first half was two Brian Wingert field goals to take a 13-0 lead into the half.

After taking over following a Sycamore punt, UNI took its first drive of the second half down the field when Freeney found paydirt again for a 10-yard run, giving the Panthers a 19-0 lead. The ensuing two-point conversion failed leaving the Panthers with just a 19-0 cushion.

Following yet another Sycamore punt, Indiana State found its lightning in a bottle with 6:41 left in the third quarter when Mitchell intercepted the Petrie pass and raced down the Sycamore sideline to move the game back to 19-7.

UNI answered with a nine-play, 43-yard drive that took almost five minutes off the clock and culminated with a 44-yard Wingert field goal.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Sycamores defense was trying to stall another UNI drive when Mitchell again came up with a big turnover. Following a Petrie fumble, Mitchell recovered at the UNI 41, giving the Sycamores a chance to stage a comeback. (See also Kyle Mitchell Named Gateway Football Co-Defensive Player of the Week.)

It took just three plays for Sidney Montfort to scamper in from eight yards out, moving ISU closer with a 22-14 score.

It took two series of downs for ISU to stop UNI, but they got the ball back at their own 15-yard line with 2:46 remaining in the game.

Schiff completed a pass for 12 yards to Carl Berman, then completed a nine-yarder to Sam Logan to move the ball to the ISU 40 yard line. Facing a fourth and one situation, Montfort got just enough the keep the drive alive. Following an incomplete pass, Schiff hit Scott Penick in stride as he raced down to the Northern Iowa 25-yard line, setting up a chance to tie the contest.

Schiff then threw to Chris Lewis for a nine-yard gain before heaving a ball into the endzone intended for Ryan King. The ball was incomplete but the Panthers were flagged for pass interference, giving the Sycamores a first and goal at the UNI two-yard line.

On the next play, Schiff's pass into the right corner of the endzone was intercepted by Dokes with 51 seconds left in the game.

In a contest in which Jake Shields did not play due to bruised ribs, the Sycamores were led in rushing by Thomas Plummer, who gained 44 yards on 15 carries. Schiff finished the game seven of 23 with an interception and 94 yards of passing offense. ISU's leading receiver was Montfort who caught two passes while Scott Penick led the team with 34 yards receiving.

Scoring Summary: 1st 06:09 UNI - Freeney 17 yd run (Wingert kick), 4-36 1:29, ISU 0 - UNI 7

2nd 06:35 UNI - Wingert 35 yd field goal, 12-57 6:41, ISU 0 - UNI 10

00:00 UNI - Wingert 40 yd field goal, 9-39 3:48, ISU 0 - UNI 13

3rd 08:18 UNI - Freeney 10 yd run (Petrie pass failed), 11-67 4:35, ISU 0 - UNI 19

06:41 ISU - Mitchell, K. 72 yd interception return (Hooper, K. kick), ISU 7 - UNI 19

01:51 UNI - Wingert 44 yd field goal, 9-43 4:50, ISU 7 - UNI 22

4th 05:29 ISU - Montfort, S. 8 yd run (Hooper, K. kick), 3-41 0:44, ISU 14 - UNI 22

The Sycamores return home for their next two games, the first of which is against Youngstown State at 1:05 p.m. (CDT) at Memorial Stadium on October 11. USA-365.com provides live Internet audio streaming with Brian Fritz providing the play-by-play and Ben Wagner with the color commentary. The pre-game show starts at 12:40 p.m., with the kick-off set for 1:05 p.m., CDT / EST on www.USA-365.com.

New to USA-365.com this season is a special audio archive of the previous Indiana State University Football game. MP3 audio file downloads are updated each week and are now free at ISU Football MP3 Audio Archives.

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