UNI Football Defeats South Dakota, 27-16

The University of Northern Iowa football team picked up its first conference win of the season, defeating the South Dakota Coyotes, 27-16 inside a sold out DakotaDome on Saturday, October 11, 2014. The Panthers are now 3-3 overall and 1-1 in MVFC play.

The dual play of quarterbacks Sawyer Kollmorgen and Brion Carnes proved to be too much for the Coyotes with Kollmorgen finishing 7-16-0 for 154 yards and a touchdown while Carnes finished 4-13-0 for 51 yards and a touchdown along with 55 rushing yards.

Kevin Vereen Jr. led the Panthers through the air with 87 receiving yards and his fifth touchdown of the season. Charles Brown also grabbed 47 yards off two receptions.

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On the defensive side of the ball, the Panthers tied their season high in sacks with a staggering seven. Deiondre’ Hall led the team with eight tackles and his third interception of the season while sophomore Brett McMakin notched five tackles, three sacks and his first-career interception.

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David Johnson broke the school record for career all-purpose yards against the Coyotes, going for 42 rushing yards, 64 kickoff return yards to give him a career total of 5,259. Johnson also moved up to 5th all-time at UNI in career points. He now has 282 points to tie him for fifth with Jeff Stovall (47 TD, 1993-96).

Kevin Vereen Jr. scored his fifth touchdown of the season against the Coyotes. The senior had scored in four consecutive games prior to the game against Indiana State (10/4). He now has 80 career receptions for 1,198 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The Panthers finished the game with seven total sacks. The number tied for a season-high and also tied for 10th all-time at UNI in single-game sack totals. Brett McMakin was just one sack away from tying the school record for sacks in a game by an individual. True freshman Daurice Fountain scored his first collegiate touchdown against South Dakota, linking up with Kollmorgen in the third quarter for a 15-yard receiving touchdown to put UNI up 27-16.

Chad Owens finished with a career-high 103 punt return yards. He was just 28 yards shy of tying the school record for most punt returns in a game (131 yards, Milo Popovic vs. Wayne State, 1988).