Northern Iowa beats Wofford 28-21 in FCS playoffs

CEDAR FALLS - Tirrelle Rennie threw a pair of touchdown passes and fifth-seeded Northern Iowa rallied to beat Wofford 28-21 Saturday and advance to the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Jared Herring caught both TD passes for the Panthers (10-2), who will face No. 4 Montana on the road Friday or Saturday.

David Johnson's 1-yard TD run put the Panthers up 21-14 to start the fourth quarter. Wofford fumbled the ensuing kickoff in the end zone, and Phil Wright's recovery gave the Panthers a 14-point lead.

Mitch Allen had 162 yards rushing to lead Wofford (8-4), who outgained the Panthers 478-238 but committed three costly turnovers.

Northern Iowa improved to 6-1 in home playoff games under coach Mark Farley.

The Panthers opened the second half trailing by seven to the run-oriented Terriers, who gained a staggering 457 yards on the ground on 73 carries.

Northern Iowa tied it early in the third quarter, as Rennie hit Herring in the flat for a 7-yard touchdown to make it 14-14.

The Panthers capitalized on a Wofford mistake to turn three points into seven.

The Terriers stuffed the Panthers to force a 21-yard field goal from Tyler Sievertsen. But Wofford was called for roughing Sievertsen, and Northern Iowa took the points off the board and went to Johnson, whose 1-yard TD run gave the Panthers a 21-14 lead with 14:56 left.

The special-teams miscues for Wofford only got worse on Northern Iowa's kickoff. Stephon Shelton fumbled in the end zone, and Wright scooped it up to give the Panthers a 28-14 lead.

Fullback Eric Breitenstein's third TD of the day, a 3-yard run, pulled the Terriers within 28-21 with 2 minutes left.

Rennie opened the scoring with a 23-yard TD pass to Herring on the game's first drive. Wofford responded quickly, marching 81 yards on 16 plays - all on the ground - and tying the game 7-7 on Breitenstein's 3-yard touchdown run.

Two plays after Wofford converted a fourth--and-1, Breitenstein went 46 yards up the middle for a TD run that gave the visiting Terriers a 14-7 lead with 5:45 left in the first half.

Wofford has the nation's top rushing offense, but the Terriers threw for just 21 yards and had trouble moving the ball once they fell behind.

Breitenstein had 131 yards on 23 carries.