Box Score Oct. 11, 2014
Box Score
VERMILLION, S.D.—Northern Iowa quarterbacks Sawyer Kollmorgen and Brion Carnes both threw touchdown passes in leading the 21st-ranked Panthers to a 27-16 win against South Dakota in front of a sellout Dakota Days crowd of 10,219 Saturday in the DakotaDome.
Kollmorgen and Carnes rotated in and out throughout the game and during individual series. Kollmorgen was 7 of 16 for 154 yards. His 15-yard touchdown pass to Daurice Fountain with 7:49 left was the final score of the game and it countered a 99-yard touchdown drive by the Coyotes that had closed the gap to 20-16.
Carnes was 4 of 13 for 51 yards and was the Panthers' leading rusher with 55 yards on nine carries. He threw a 28-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter that gave UNI (3-3, 1-1 MVFC) its first lead, 10-7. Carnes, who began his collegiate career at Nebraska, had attempted five passes all season entering Saturday's contest.
Coyote quarterback Kevin Earl was 17 of 29 for 260 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in his first game since injuring his throwing hand in the season opener. He converted three third downs of 10 yards or more on the game's opening possession that was capped by a 17-yard touchdown run by Trevor Bouma. He threw a 25-yard touchdown strike to Brandt Van Roekel with 10:17 left in the fourth quarter to cap the 99-yard drive.
One yard separated the team's total tally (USD outgained UNI 362-361), but the Panthers' front seven was the difference. Outside linebacker Brett McMakin had three of UNI's seven sacks and intercepted Earl's first pass of the second half. It was the first turnover of the game and set up UNI at the Coyotes' 23. David Johnson scored on a 1-yard plunge five plays later to make it 17-7.
The Coyotes had 1st-and-10 at the UNI 34 with seven minutes left when Earl was pressured into his second interception. Deiondre Hall, who led UNI with eight tackles, returned the pick 19 yards back to the 34. South Dakota never touched the ball again.
Bouma carried 14 times for 70 yards. Eric Shufford hauled in seven catches for 75 yards and USD tight end Aaron Ramsey had three catches for 73. Tyson Graham had 10 tackles for the Coyotes, but South Dakota failed to produce a sack or force a turnover for the second game in a row.
The Coyotes (2-4, 0-2) travel to Missouri State next weekend for a 2 p.m. kickoff with the Bears in Springfield, Mo.
