Upper Iowa has turned it around

FAYETTE - Trey MacTaggart came from a successful high-school football program at West Delaware, so was taken aback by the reaction he saw two years ago when Upper Iowa clinched a winning season.

The Peacocks went 6-5 in 2013, hardly enough for people to get overly emotional about. At least that's what you'd think.

'I saw coaches crying,” the junior wide receiver said. 'It meant so much to them ... It kind of brought things into perspective for me.”

MacTaggart has been part of a turnaround for a program that has been less than successful in its lengthy history. You'd hate to call things consistently dreadful, but the numbers sort of suggest that.

UIU has had only 36 winning seasons out of 120, only five from 1966 to 2013. It began 5-0 and finished 6-5 again last fall to produce the school's first back-to-back winning campaigns since 1963-64.

Two of the five losses were by three points each.

Upper Iowa was a NCAA Division III school until leaving the Iowa Conference in 2003. It became a full-fledged D-II member in 2005 and is a member of the Northern Sun Conference.

The 2015 season opener is Saturday at noon against Northern State at home.

'We were 2-9 my first year,” MacTaggart said. 'I'm happy to be part of the change here. People are talking about us now. Before, it felt like this was a dead program. No one feared the Peacocks.”

They're at least concerned about the Peacocks now, as Tom Shea has done a good job making them competitive in his six seasons as head coach. Things will be a test early, as Upper Iowa graduated eight all-conference players.

Senior linebacker Alex Wahl and senior defensive lineman Jevell Rollins were all-NSC as well and anchor a defense that is ahead of the offense at this point. MacTaggart is one of the few returning key guys around offensively.

He caught 32 passes last season, scoring three touchdowns. UIU lists California junior-college transfer Dimitri Morales as its starting quarterback.

Other offensive starters include former Starmont prep Vincent Otdoerfer at running back and former Cedar Rapids Prairie prep Jarred Edmonds at receiver. He transferred from Northern Iowa.

'I've seen a lot of hard-working guys in camp,” MacTaggart said. 'All the guys know what we lost last year, and that we have to have guys step up right away.

'We're all part of a change here. We've been here and know what it takes to get to 6-5. Now it's all about getting to that next level.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com