MACOMB, Ill. - Travis Glasford caught nine passes for a career-high 141 yards while Steve LaFalce completed 28 of his 44 pass attempts for a career-high 355 yards and three touchdowns, but No. 8 Northern Iowa defeated the Leathernecks, 41-24, in front of a Western Illinois homecoming crowd of 14,603.After an eight-yard touchdown pass from LaFalce to Reggie Gray that tied the game at 7-7 shortly into the second quarter, the Panthers (3-1, 1-0 Gateway) rallied for 20 unanswered points on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Eric Sanders to Jamie Goodwin and scoring runs by Terrance Freeney (12 yards) and David Horne (6 yards). The Leathernecks retaliated just before the half, going 58 yards on two plays as LaFalce found Marco Thomas in the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown reception that put the Leathernecks within striking distance again, down 27-14, at the break. The Leathernecks (2-3, 0-1 Gateway) continued their run by stopping the Panthers? first drive of the second half then capping a 7-play, 19-yard drive of their own with a 47-yard field goal by Taylor Rowan to come within 10. It was Rowan?s first field goal of the season and marked the longest field goal by a freshman in school history. Sanders responded, however, with a 68-yard touchdown run three plays later that put UNI up 17 with 10:16 left in the quarter. The two teams then traded punts on consecutive drives before Western Illinois threatened deep in UNI territory, but a Leatherneck fumble ended their drive on the UNI 10-yard line. The Leathernecks forced a punt on the Panthers? ensuing drive then struck quickly with a 66-yard touchdown reception from LaFalce to Glasford with 1:47 remaining in the third. The Panthers fought right back, however, driving 80 yards on eight plays and capping the game?s scoring with Freeney?s second rushing touchdown of the day, a four-yard run with 12:42 remaining.Sanders led the Panthers in rushing for the second consecutive game, recording 85 yards on nine carries, while Freeney collected 78 yards on 19 attempts. Sanders completed 18 of 26 passes for 244 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Leathernecks were led on the ground by Glasford?s 56 yards on 15 carries and in the air by his 141 yards, most of which came after each of his nine receptions. Gray tallied 115 receiving yards on 11 catches, recording the seventh 100-yard game of his career which ties the school record set in 1968-69 by Ron Wilson. For Glasford, it was the second 100-yard receiving game of his career, and for the Leathernecks, it marked the seventh time in school history that more than one player has reached the century mark (most recently Oct. 16, 2004 vs. Illinois State).?In general we thought we could take advantage of some shorter routes today,? Western Illinois head coach Don Patterson said. ?Whenever you give the ball to Travis or Reggie or any number of players, they can make you miss. If they can make the first guy miss and they?re on the perimeter of the defense then there?s a good chance of a big play.?The Leathernecks out-gained the Panthers, 521-492, and recorded more first downs (24 to 19) but were minus-three on turnovers, losing three fumbles. ?When you have 500 yards of total offense and a good balance between the run and pass, you usually win the game,? Patterson remarked. ?We had a lot of 10 and 20-yard gainers and we did an effective job of moving the chains throughout most of the game. They just didn?t make as many mistakes as we did. It seemed like our turnovers happened going into their territory after long drives.??We never had very good field position,? continued Patterson. ?If you?re not getting turnovers, you?re not getting good field position. Part of playing great defense is generating turnovers that?s the next step for our defense.??Any win on the road is a great win,? said UNI head coach Mark Farley, ?and coming off an off-week is even more difficult. We didn?t play a great game, but we played a good game and we came out with a win on the road and that?s what we came here to do.? ?Northern Iowa is an excellent football team and they?re going to win a lot of games this year,? said Patterson. ?I see better days ahead for us. We made a lot of positive strides today, and it?s certainly not an embarrassment to lose to a team like UNI.?