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David McDaniel
WIU Visual Productions Center
David McDaniel (#22) blocked two punts in the game, tying a WIU single-game record.
27
Winner Northern Iowa UNI 4-4 , 2-2
13
Western Illinois WIU 3-6 , 1-4
Winner
Northern Iowa UNI
4-4 , 2-2
27
Final
13
Western Illinois WIU
3-6 , 1-4
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
UNI Northern Iowa 10 10 0 7 27
WIU Western Illinois 0 7 0 6 13

Game Recap: Football | | WIU Athletic Communications

Western Falls Behind Early, Loses to #23 Northern Iowa

David McDaniel tied a WIU record with two blocked kicks in the loss.

MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois could not recover from an early deficit and dropped a 27-13 decision to 23rd-ranked Northern Iowa on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 25) at Hanson Field. The Fighting Leathernecks dropped to 3-6 overall and 1-4 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference while UNI improved to 4-4, 2-2.
 
The Leathernecks went on defense first, and after UNI drove into the redzone missed on two opportunities for an interception near the goal line. The Panthers settled for a 32-yard field goal from Michael Schmadeke.
 
David Johnson scored the first of his two rushing touchdowns on the next Panther drive, an 8-yard run for a 10-0 lead. Midway through the second quarter Brion Carnes found Chad Owens on a 20-yard touchdown, then five minutes later Schmadeke kicked a 49-yard field goal to extend the lead to 20-0.
 
In the second quarter Quadarias Mireles recorded a team season-long 40-yard punt return, and along with an unsportsmanlike penalty on UNI's kicker, Western took over on the UNI 37. Western got to the 22 after a Trenton Norvell pass to Lance Lenoir, Jr., a 2-yard catch by J.C. Baker and a 2-yard run by Baker. But just out of reach of a field goal, Western could not convert on 4th-and-6 and turned the ball over on downs.
 
Before halftime Western found the endzone. Senior defensive back David McDaniel put the pressure on the UNI punt team, and came away with a block on Logan Bieghler's punt allowing Western to take over on the UNI 34.
 
Two plays later Norvell found Hi-C Scott on a 32-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 20-7 with 1:17 before halftime.
 
During the third quarter, Western kept UNI off the scoreboard with a key defensive play. Carnes found Charles Brown for a 22-yard completion, but right before he crossed the goal line, Kevin Kintzel forced a fumble that Richard Chungong recovered in the endzone.
 
Johnson scored a 17-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter, but Western would respond again to make it a two-score game. Norvell hit Mireles on a 44-yard touchdown with eight minutes remaining, but it proved to be the final margin.
 
McDaniel tied the Western Illinois record with his second blocked punt of the game, allowing Western to take over on its own 41, but the Leathernecks could not capitalize. Facing 4th-and-16 with 3:17 remaining, Norvell's pass was intercepted in the endzone. Western thought it was getting the ball back after a UNI punt, but the team was flagged for roughing the punter. The penalty allowed UNI to kneel the ball three times to end the game.
 
 
Western will end its streak of playing five consecutive ranked teams following the UNI game, tying the longest such streak in program history.
 
"I heard it asked (earlier in the press conference) if today was a step back. We aren't stepping back. We didn't play as well today in a number of facets as we have the last couple of weeks. I was a little concerned, honestly, because we expended a lot of emotion last week in the Illinois State game and that defeat. Northern Iowa is a really good football team. In my opinion they are the best defensive team in the conference. I think when they are healthy, they are as good as anybody and we knew it was going to be a struggle rushing the football," said head coach Bob Nielson. "Obviously we couldn't rush it very well today and when we are not able to have some resemblance of balance offensively, we are not very good. To their credit, that was maybe their best offensive game of the year in terms of things I have seen from them. I thought they got really good play out of their quarterback, especially in the first half. He extended some plays and made some good throws.
 
"The other difference, and it's been an area where we have struggled, is third down conversions. Obviously if you look at the statistics we were a horrible football team on third down. We have to do a better job finding the right play and do a better job of executing. At the same time I think a lot of the credit goes to UNI's defensive football team," said Nielson.
 
Lenoir finished the game with 106 yards on five catches. That marked his fifth 100-yard receiving game this year, tying him with Terriun Crump (2011), Lito Senatus (2010) and Stacy Coleman (2002) for the season record. The sophomore moved into a tie for fourth-place all-time with his sixth career 100-yard game.
 
Norvell completed 20-of-42 passes for 310 yards and two touchdowns, marking his third career 300-yard passing game.
 
Baker joined an elite group of Leathernecks in the game as well. His 45 yards rushing pushed him past 2,000 in his two-year career, becoming just the 10th player in program history to reach that milestone.
 
Kintzel shared game-high tackle honors with J.J. Raffelson as each linebacker recorded 10 tackles. Kintzel added a 10-yard sack, two pass break-ups and a forced fumble while recording double-digit tackles for the third time this year. Raffelson reached 10 or more tackles for the third time this season and the 12th time in his career.
 
Chungong recorded a career-high nine tackles to go with his fumble recovery.
 
Western was limited to just 1-of-13 on third down conversions and UNI held a 35:30-24:30 edge in time of possession. Johnson led UNI with 146 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Max Busher had a game-high 14 tackles and an interception.
 
Western will take next Saturday off then return to action on Saturday, November 8th, at South Dakota. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
GAME NOTES: McDaniel tied former NFL Pro Bowler Bryan Cox (at Montana State, 1990) and Anthony D'Astice (Missouri State, 2007) for the WIU record with two blocked kicks in a game. With three blocks this season – all punts – McDaniel is tied for second among the season 'Top 10'. The senior defensive back moved into a tie for second place all-time with four career blocks… Western recorded four sacks in the contest and matched a season-high of 9.0 tackles for a loss… Mireles finished with a team-leading 149 all-purpose yards… Nathan Knuffman averaged a season-best 44.4 yards on eight punt attempts, the second-highest single-game average in his career… Redshirt-freshman quarterback Devin O'Hara was called on to punt one time, and he wound up kicking a 50-yard punt… Norvell overtook seventh place all-time in passing yards with 4,315. He also moved into eighth place in total offense with 4,434 yards… Scott extended his streak to 21 consecutive games with a catch. He also recorded his seventh career touchdown reception… Lenoir moved into a tie for ninth-place in the season 'Top 10' with 56 receptions, just 14 away from the record.
 

 
 
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