UNI's Wright has big-play tendencies

CEDAR FALLS - University of Northern Iowa junior Phil Wright knows what it's like to be in the end zone.

At Sioux Falls (S.D.) O'Gorman, Wright returned a kickoff for six and, on the next play from scrimmage, intercepted a pass for a touchdown.

Even last year, Wright made SportsCenter for his fumble recovery against Wofford University in the playoffs.

“It was cool - and we got the win,” Wright said. “All my friends and everyone back home kept saying I'm on ESPN, but we lost the next week so I was a little bummed out.”

Wright found the end zone for the first time this season against Central State, his first score since moving to wide receiver in the off-season.

“That was the coolest moment of my college career, even my life,” Wright said of the touchdown. “Everyone dreams of getting that first touchdown and I couldn't be more happy.

“It just a better fit me. The defense was doing well and I had some older guys like Wilmont (Wellington) and Garret (Scott) ahead of me. So moving over to offense just seemed like a better fit.”

While the team may have been all smiles just two weeks ago, a loss to Iowa last week has put the Panthers at 1-2 heading into Saturday's Missouri Valley Football Conference opener at Youngstown State.

“It's a very must-win,” Wright said. “We're 1-2 right now so we've been practicing hard all week. We have to win this game. It's in-conference. The only way we're going to make the playoffs is win our conference.”

“It's strictly business now. There's no more messing around. We got the two fun games out of the way playing those Big Ten teams. Now, it's straight to business. We can't afford to mess around.”