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Northern Iowa @ North Dakota State, Oct. 29, 2011

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78 Comments
by
Kent
, 10-29-2011 at 01:38 PM (2602 Views)
FARGO, ND--I am in the Fargodome for today's game between two of the top three ranked teams in the polls. NDSU is ranked #2 in the latest Gridiron Index Poll (GPI) and Northern Iowa is ranked #3. Georgia Southern is ranked #1 currently but also has a big game this week against Appalachian State, the #6 ranked team in the GPI.

This game should be a defensive struggle if we go by the statistics so far. NDSU is the top ranked scoring defense and UNI is #2.

The two offenses have been productive when needed as well. The battle of quarterbacks is between the Panthers Tirrell Rennie, who has set a UNI record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception with 146. NDSU's Brock Jensen has thrown just one in his 149 attempts.

The top running backs are D.J. McNorton for NDSU and David Johnson for UNI with two good backups in Sam Ojuri and Carlos Anderson respectively.

The two lines I would say are equal both on the offensive and defensive sides.

On paper, these two teams couldn't be more evenly matched as seen with the statistics above.

I think the game will be decided by who gains more turnovers. Statistically, both are close in this category. UNI is a +13 and NDSU is a +11.

A other area might be who performs better on the special teams.

The home field for the Bison I think will also play a role. Standing room tickets are the only tickets open as of yesterday and believe most of those should be picked up. A crowd over 19,000 is expected and could rival the all-time attendance record today.

With that, I think the home field noise will cause some concerns for UNI and may result in some turnovers and some unforced fouls. As I stated in my column for the week, I think NDSU will pull out a close, low scoring game.

We shall see if this comes true or if UNI can overcome likely the most adverse crowd they have seen including the one point loss it had at FBS Iowa State.

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  1. Kent's Avatar
    Rennie's interception streak is nearly ended on consectutive plays. It is 3rd & 10 for the Panthers from the 19.

    Chad Owens catches wide open pass from Rennie for 46 yards but should have scored. The Fargodome turf must have tripped him up.

    It is UNI 1st & 10 at the NDSU 35.

    Rennie runs for 12 on the next play for another 1st down at the 23.
  2. Kent's Avatar
    Johnson catches a pass from Rennie. NDSU has a person foul call as he was going out of bounds for a late hit.

    1st & goal for UNI at the NDSU 8 now.

    Rennie loses 1 on the first down play.
  3. Kent's Avatar
    UNI gets a pass interference call and Johnson scores from the 2 after this play.

    UNI 10 NDSU 10 with 5:11 left in the 1st half.
  4. Kent's Avatar
    Ryan Smith returns the kickoff back to the 33.
  5. Kent's Avatar
    Great catch by Ryan Smith on a 3rd and five to keep the NDSU drive going.
  6. Kent's Avatar
    Flea flicker pass to Hallaway by Jensen has NDSU down to the UNI 29.
  7. Kent's Avatar
    NDSU down to the 10 after a great throw to Garrett Bruhn and run by Ojuri.

    Ryan Smith gains two on the 2nd & five play from there to set up a 3rd and 3 from the 8.

    McNorton catches the pass from Jensen for a TD on a great individual move to get into the end zone. We have 55 seconds left in the opening half. NDSU 17 UNI 10.
  8. Kent's Avatar
    Anderson returns the ball back to the 23 yard line. UNI will have 49 seconds to see if they can get into scoring range.

    Rennie with a big run on the first play out to the Panther 47.
  9. Kent's Avatar
    Johnson gets to the 38 yard of NDSU on the next play on a pass play.
  10. Kent's Avatar
    Johnson gets 7 on the next play. 12 seconds left.
  11. Kent's Avatar
    UNI is now with a 3rd and 3 but just 5 seconds left. They take their 2nd timeout.
  12. Kent's Avatar
    UNI gets a field goal from Sieversten from 48 yards out to end the first half.

    At the halftime break, we sit with NDSU 17 UNI 13.
  13. Kent's Avatar
    Well, this game is higher scoring than I expected but the back and forth action was what I thought would happen.
  14. Kent's Avatar
    NDSU will get the ball to start the second half.
  15. Kent's Avatar
    Just some half time stats. NDSU has 198 total yards to 187 for UNI.
  16. Kent's Avatar
    Marcus Williams returns the UNI kick to the Bison own 24 yard line.
  17. Kent's Avatar
    Ryan Smith gets a 46 yard catch and run on the first play of the half. NDSU is now at the UNI 31.
  18. Kent's Avatar
    NDSU now has a 3rd & 3 at the 24.

    McNorton with the catch down to the UNI 14.
  19. Kent's Avatar
    Hollaway fumbles as he tries to extend the ball following a reception to the one.

    The ball went into the endzone for a touchback for UNI with 11:24 left.
  20. Kent's Avatar
    UNI gets no gain on the first running play from Johson but Rennie hits LaMaster for a big gain to their own 43.
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