Eli Dunne sparks Northern Iowa offense in 61-7 win over Missouri State

CEDAR FALLS — Quarterback controversy? This happened too fast to be considered that.

The keys to the Northern Iowa offense were turned over to Eli Dunne, and the way he played Saturday afternoon in the Panthers' 61-7 win over Missouri State at the UNI-Dome, he ain't giving them back. How can you take them away from a guy who threw for 418 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his first college start?

Dunne saw bits of time last week in a loss to Youngstown State but played the entire way here, in part because of an injury to Aaron Bailey, and jolted the Missouri Valley Conference's lowest-scoring offense into oodles of production. He is the first UNI QB to surpass 400 yards passing since Pat Grace in 2009.

'That's the $2,500 question, isn't it?' smiled UNI Coach Mark Farley, when asked if Dunne is his guy moving forward. 'I will evaluate that when I get there. Eli played exceptional, and he should enjoy the heck out of it. His first start as a Panther, a tremendous football game. Man, he ought to call up the offensive line because of the way they protected him. The receivers caught some balls for him. But Eli ought to feel really good about his first start, because you saw what I thought was a very calm demeanor. Even in that situation, as big as it was, he went out there and performed.'

If you call completing your first 12 passes performing, well, yeah, he performed. The sophomore from Grinnell finished 25 of 33, hooking up with Trevor Allen (61 yards in the second quarter) and Jalen Rima (17 yards in the third) for scores.

That was freshman Rima's first career touchdown. The former Cedar Rapids Prairie prep played a much bigger role, catching four passes for 68 yards and running a jet sweep for 23.

'It felt good to get back out there,' Dunne said. 'I felt really comfortable after the first couple of plays. The line did a really good job, and that really helped. The wide receivers and the line just did a really good job of making plays all day.'

The 6-foot-5 Dunne is the antithesis of Bailey in that he is a prototypical pocket passer. Bailey is a dual-threat guy and has done great things since transferring in from the University of Illinois.

But UNI's passing game has struggled much of the season, part — but certainly not all — of a reason the Panthers have lost four games by a total of 17 points. With Bailey banged up, as Farley mentioned, it was time for a change.

'There were a lot of things that went into that,' Farley said. 'Not just moving Eli ahead of Aaron. It wasn't so much that, as there were some other things we were trying to do. I just thought this was the time to make a move.'

Northern Iowa's offensive line gave Dunne hourglasses full of time in the pocket, which allowed him to scan the field, progress through his reads and look for open receivers. But the kid made throws, too. 'I just tried to have the same type of mentality that I've had,' Dunne said. 'I've been the backup for a couple of years now, but I've always had the mentality that it could happen where I get in there and play. I've always had that mentality of being prepared. It was just kind of the same thing this week.'

Defensive back Elijah Campbell and linebacker Duncan Ferch had pick-sixes, as UNI (3-4, 2-2 Missouri Valley Conference) scored TDs for the first time this season in the third quarter. It was the second week in a row that Ferch has intercepted a pass and taken it back.

Safety A.J. Allen got Northern Iowa off to a great start, intercepting Missouri State QB Brodie Lambert's out pass on the first play of the game and running it back 24 yards to the Bears 2. The Panthers couldn't punch it in, and Austin Errthum came on for an 18-yard field goal and an immediate lead.

The kicking game also has had issues this season, but Errthum made seven of eight extra points and both field-goal tries, including a 32-yarder right before halftime. UNI led at the break, 34-7.

'When the defense goes out there first, it's always important that we set the tone,' said UNI defensive end Karter Schult. 'Not only for the defense, but also the special teams and offense. Being the first play ... I don't see how we could have started the game off almost any better. Other than actually scoring it. Another good defensive performance today.'

UNI outgained Missouri State (3-4) by a substantial margin of 556 to 189. This was the first time the Panthers have reached the 60-point mark since a win over Indiana State in 2009.

Next up is five-time defending FCS champ North Dakota State next Saturday night at the Dome. UNI thinks it has to win out to get a playoff berth, and you feel much better about the Panthers accomplishing that after this game.

'It was tense all week, just trying to do some things with this team,' Farley said. 'This is a good football team, it just hasn't started believing in itself, knowing that it could make plays. We made some adjustments as the week progressed in all facets of the game.'

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