CEDAR FALLS, Ia. -- The big hits keep coming for the Northern Iowa football team.
The second-ranked Panthers needed all of them Saturday to escape No. 17 Indiana State 23-9 before a standing-room-only crowd of 16,890 in the UNI-Dome.
The biggest hit came with 7 minutes left, Northern Iowa clinging to a 13-9 advantage and the Sycamores on the move toward a go-ahead touchdown.
Northern Iowa linebacker L.J. Fort stripped the ball from George Cheeseborough's arms as the Indiana State tailback was battling for yards, and James Conley recovered for Northern Iowa at the 21-yard line.
"Our defense was starting to get gassed," Fort said. "We knew we had to get off the field and make a play."
The Panthers, sluggish on offense much of the game, zipped 79 yards in six plays and scored the decisive touchdown on a 36-yard pass from Tirrell Rennie to Terrell Sinkfield for a 19-9 lead with 4:13 left.
Tyler Sievertsen kicked the extra point to make it 20-9. Panthers fans could finally exhale.
Rennie had to stretch for an errant snap on the touchdown pass to Sinkfield, then noticed that Indiana State was coming with extra pressure.
"I saw the linebackers blitzing and I was thinking, 'This isn't going to work,' " Rennie said.
Rennie threw the ball toward the end zone and Sinkfield used his speed to haul it in.
"Terrell made it look easy," Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley said. "He ran that ball down."
Northern Iowa (4-1, 3-0) and Indiana State (4-2, 2-1) began the day tied for first in the Missouri Valley Conference, and when the heavy hitting ended the Panthers stood alone.
The second-biggest hit of the day — or perhaps the biggest — came late in the first half when Northern Iowa defensive back Varmah Sonie knocked Indiana State tailback Shakir Bell out of the game with a concussion. Bell had sprinted for 148 yards on just 14 carries at that point, but the 5-foot-8 speedster was unable to return.
"He was in tears and crying at halftime because we wouldn't let him go back out there," Indiana State coach Trent Miles said. "I believe he could have played, but the smart thing is to hold him.
"Obviously when you lose the nation's second-leading rusher who has 145 yards at the half, that's a huge swing."
Sonie was called for a personal foul on the play for hitting Bell above the shoulder pads. It appeared that Sonie had been penalized for excessive celebration after the play, but Farley said the penalty was for the high tackle.
"They just collided. I don't blame Sonie for it," Farley said.
Indiana State's running attack faltered without Bell.
"He's good. He's really good," Farley said. "He made us miss in space, he's a powerful runner, he breaks tackles, he has great balance. There's no question it had an impact on the game when he went out."
Indiana State missed two field goals and PAT. Northern Iowa’s Tyler Sievertsen booted field goals from 48, 37 and 21 yards.
David Johnson gave UNI a 9-3 lead in the second quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run and Sievertsen's PAT made it 10-3. The Sycamores scored with 30 seconds left in the first half following a Johnson fumble deep in his own territory, but ISU muffed the extra point and trailed 10-9 at intermission.
Sievertsen made it 13-9 with his 37-yard boot with 10:35 left in the third quarter. It stayed that way until Fort and Conley combined for their big play that stopped the Sycamores and turned the game in Northern Iowa's direction.
Ben Boothby made several big hits from his defensive tackle spot to help the Panthers. Defensive back Tre'Darrius Canady and other Panthers had big hits as well.
Canady and Jordan Smith intercepted passes. Fort returned an interception for a touchdown, but it was nullified by a penalty.
The Panthers were stopped at the 1-yard line in the fourth period, the only time all season they have not scored in the red zone. Northern Iowa scored on its three other trips inside the 20, making them 18 for 19 in the red zone.
Rennie ran for 93 yards and threw for 142 yards, hitting 10 of 14 passes with no interceptions. Johnson ran for 92 yards.
The second-ranked Panthers needed all of them Saturday to escape No. 17 Indiana State 23-9 before a standing-room-only crowd of 16,890 in the UNI-Dome.
The biggest hit came with 7 minutes left, Northern Iowa clinging to a 13-9 advantage and the Sycamores on the move toward a go-ahead touchdown.
Northern Iowa linebacker L.J. Fort stripped the ball from George Cheeseborough's arms as the Indiana State tailback was battling for yards, and James Conley recovered for Northern Iowa at the 21-yard line.
"Our defense was starting to get gassed," Fort said. "We knew we had to get off the field and make a play."
The Panthers, sluggish on offense much of the game, zipped 79 yards in six plays and scored the decisive touchdown on a 36-yard pass from Tirrell Rennie to Terrell Sinkfield for a 19-9 lead with 4:13 left.
Tyler Sievertsen kicked the extra point to make it 20-9. Panthers fans could finally exhale.
Rennie had to stretch for an errant snap on the touchdown pass to Sinkfield, then noticed that Indiana State was coming with extra pressure.
"I saw the linebackers blitzing and I was thinking, 'This isn't going to work,' " Rennie said.
Rennie threw the ball toward the end zone and Sinkfield used his speed to haul it in.
"Terrell made it look easy," Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley said. "He ran that ball down."
Northern Iowa (4-1, 3-0) and Indiana State (4-2, 2-1) began the day tied for first in the Missouri Valley Conference, and when the heavy hitting ended the Panthers stood alone.
The second-biggest hit of the day — or perhaps the biggest — came late in the first half when Northern Iowa defensive back Varmah Sonie knocked Indiana State tailback Shakir Bell out of the game with a concussion. Bell had sprinted for 148 yards on just 14 carries at that point, but the 5-foot-8 speedster was unable to return.
"He was in tears and crying at halftime because we wouldn't let him go back out there," Indiana State coach Trent Miles said. "I believe he could have played, but the smart thing is to hold him.
"Obviously when you lose the nation's second-leading rusher who has 145 yards at the half, that's a huge swing."
Sonie was called for a personal foul on the play for hitting Bell above the shoulder pads. It appeared that Sonie had been penalized for excessive celebration after the play, but Farley said the penalty was for the high tackle.
"They just collided. I don't blame Sonie for it," Farley said.
Indiana State's running attack faltered without Bell.
"He's good. He's really good," Farley said. "He made us miss in space, he's a powerful runner, he breaks tackles, he has great balance. There's no question it had an impact on the game when he went out."
Indiana State missed two field goals and PAT. Northern Iowa’s Tyler Sievertsen booted field goals from 48, 37 and 21 yards.
David Johnson gave UNI a 9-3 lead in the second quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run and Sievertsen's PAT made it 10-3. The Sycamores scored with 30 seconds left in the first half following a Johnson fumble deep in his own territory, but ISU muffed the extra point and trailed 10-9 at intermission.
Sievertsen made it 13-9 with his 37-yard boot with 10:35 left in the third quarter. It stayed that way until Fort and Conley combined for their big play that stopped the Sycamores and turned the game in Northern Iowa's direction.
Ben Boothby made several big hits from his defensive tackle spot to help the Panthers. Defensive back Tre'Darrius Canady and other Panthers had big hits as well.
Canady and Jordan Smith intercepted passes. Fort returned an interception for a touchdown, but it was nullified by a penalty.
The Panthers were stopped at the 1-yard line in the fourth period, the only time all season they have not scored in the red zone. Northern Iowa scored on its three other trips inside the 20, making them 18 for 19 in the red zone.
Rennie ran for 93 yards and threw for 142 yards, hitting 10 of 14 passes with no interceptions. Johnson ran for 92 yards.