UNI-NDSU a ‘title bout’ that went the distance

FARGO, N.D. — Defensive end Karter Schult called this one 'a title bout; like a heavyweight fight.'

It was two FCS heavyweights, standing toe-to-toe, dealing body blows and ducking jabs for four quarters. Both got some shots in, both rebounded from them and pushed the game to that proverbial final round.

In the end, the champ kept the belt. But even in a 23-13 FCS quarterfinal defeat to North Dakota State, Northern Iowa stood standing at the end.

'You can look back and say, 'Man, I wish all the Valley teams weren't all on the same side.' I think North Dakota State is a great team, and the rest of the teams are great too, but I just think the game today was like a title bout, like a heavyweight fight,' Schult said. 'It was exactly what we expected. It was going to be won on the offensive and defensive lines, and that's pretty much how it played out. They ran the ball well. We did our best to try to stop it. They got loose a couple times, but for the most part, defensively, we did pretty well. The plays that got away are the ones we're going to be thinking about.

'If you'd be in the locker room, you can see it on the faces of the seniors, juniors and all the people in there. We were going for one goal, and it hurts. It's like a stab to the heart that it ended up this way.'

The ones that got away were three big plays, specifically.

The power punch that set the tone for the third quarter was the opening play. NDSU's Bruce Anderson returned the second half kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown — spinning out of multiple tackles along the way. It gave the Bison (11-2) the lead, and gave their defense license to pin their ears back and play with more confidence.

The Panthers (9-5) held firm on defense, though, holding off potential scores four times in which NDSU had the ball inside the UNI 35-yard line — twice on missed field goals and twice forcing punts.

It was a 51-yard King Frazier run that marked the second big play that got away in the second half. Frazier looked to be stopped by the front seven, but slipped away. It set him up for a four-yard touchdown run a few plays later.

NDSU's decisive blow came after a Ben LeCompte punt landed at the UNI 7 — one of three punts that landed inside the 10. Quarterback Aaron Bailey dropped back, but was sacked for a safety.

'We were kind of calling that a title fight prior to the game,' said senior defensive lineman Isaac Ales. 'This was going to be the big-time match, here. We started out all right, and there were a few things we could've cleaned up. That kickoff return for a touchdown, I felt like, kind of punched us in the gut. We were able to get back defensively and keep things going that didn't totally kill us.

'It was definitely a battle up front. Whoever won the line of scrimmage was going to win the game today, and we knew that coming in. We just wanted to get after them. It was just kind of that chess match.'

Coach Mark Farley said there are '100 different ways' a person could interpret how each individual play impacted the outcome.

He lauded the Bison's special teams — LeCompte, in particular — and certainly acknowledged the kick return's massive impact in terms of the final score and what it then would've taken for the UNI offense to get the lead back.

'They won the second half and we probably won the first half, but didn't get enough points (in) doing so. Still came down to that kickoff return, that was the difference in points that came back to haunt you, that you couldn't overcome,' Farley said. 'I'm not going to say I'm disappointed. Yeah, you're frustrated and wish you were still playing.

'We're probably one of the few teams who can walk in this building and do what we did. We should have won and had our chances to win. Everybody knows this is a tough place to play. I'm proud of our team. It's a great team North Dakota State has, and we have a good football team.'

The UNI offense came out of the gate quickly, going 75 yards in 10 plays on its first drive, capped off by a 25-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Bailey to Brandon Smith.

But beyond that drive, the Panthers never found consistency on offense. NDSU held UNI to 221 total yards — the lowest output of the season. The read-option and run game in general was snuffed out for most of the game, with adjustments ultimately proving fruitless.

Bison players made several ankle tackles that thwarted potential big plays from the Panthers, leaving them with that 'almost' feeling.

'We made some adjustments at halftime, and obviously they made some too. We just couldn't capitalize,' Bailey said. 'I felt like we were just one yard away from exploding something big, it was just one of those games where we couldn't get it moving in the second half.

'There's only a few things you can do. They were playing it really good on the ends. Obviously we've been running for a long time, so they have a lot of film to prepare with. We made some adjustments, we just couldn't make it out there.'

A seven-week run of wins ended Saturday for UNI, and the Panthers' season ended in a game that many consider to be the FCS championship.

Pride and gratefulness for the journey this season emanated from players outside the locker room after the game. They may not have won this title fight, but they went the distance.

'I felt these teams were the two best teams. Someone asked me earlier in the week if we had the best team. I knew the two best teams were playing this week, but I didn't say anything — but I felt the two best were playing today,' Farley said. 'They battled to the end, they put us in position to win and what more can you ask of these guys than to do that the way they did?

'There's a lot of things we can take from it because that's how this team was all season long, they fought to the bitter end. That's why they'll become the men they are.'

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