UNI football: Panthers roll Missouri State behind stout defense

UNI football: Panthers roll Missouri State behind stout defense
ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 26, 2009

Springfield, Mo. — As powerful as Northern Iowa's offense was in its 35-7 win over Missouri State today, it was the Panthers' defense that held Missouri State scoreless until the last seconds of the game.


Northern Iowa (3-1, 1-0 Missouri Valley) scored three times in the first half and coasted through the game without a serious challenge from Missouri State (2-2, 0-1).

The Panthers held Missouri State to 15 first downs, including 8 in the second half and gave up just 185 yards of total offense.

Even when Missouri State recovered a Northern Iowa fumble on the Panthers' 25 in the fourth quarter, the Bears were unable to score as it failed to covert on a 4 and 7 from the 8 yard line.

Three different Northern Iowa players scored in the first half. Jarred Herring opening the game with a 3-yard run with 3:50 left in the first quarter. Pat Grace scored on an 11-yard run with 6:17 left in the half and Grace threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to D.P. Eyman with 1:59 left.

Northern Iowa went up 28-0 in the third quarter after Missouri State fumbled a punt return on its own 10 and three plays later scored on a Carlos Anderson 1-yard run.

Grace and Eyman hooked up for the second time in the game with 3:11 left in the third quarter on a 26-yard touchdown pass to push ahead 35-0.

Missouri State's only score came on a 5-yard pass from Cody Kirby to Clay Harbor with 7.2 seconds in the game.


UNI 35, Missouri State 7

UNI 7 14 14 0 — 35
Missouri St. 0 0 0 7 — 7

UNI — Herring 3 run (Hallgren kick), 3:50.
UNI — Grace 11 run (Hallgren kick), 6:17.
UNI — Eyman 27 pass from Grace (Hallgren kick), 1:59.
UNI — Anderson 1 run (Hallgren kick), 10:05.
UNI — Eyman 26 pass from Grace (Hallgren kick), 3:11.
MS — Harbor 5 pass from Kirby (Hottelman kick), :07.

Smilin' Eyman makes big impact for UNI at receiver

JIM SULLIVAN, jim.sullivan@wcfcourier.com | Posted: Thursday, September 17, 2009 12:00 am | (0) Comments
CEDAR FALLS - D.P. Eyman prepares for a contact sport by searching for a punch line.

Northern Iowa's senior receiver leaves the heavy metal music and game faces to his teammates. Eyman goes another way before the Panthers take the field on Saturdays, even if his approach occasionally bothers Panther co-offensive coordinator Mario Verduzco.

"I can't get too wrapped up in the drama, the anger side of football," said Eyman.

"It's … me just having fun, joking around. That's kind the way I do it. Sometimes, Verduzco gets on me a little bit about being too jovial. But I like to stay away from all the nerves. Have fun and laugh. Go make a play and laugh."

Last Saturday, Eyman laughed all the way up and down the Mondo turf at the UNI-Dome as he enjoyed a career game. Taking full advantage of some holes in the secondary coverage, the Iowa City High graduate caught nine passes for 197 yards, including a 47-yarder for a touchdown. With Eyman's help, UNI blasted South Dakota, 66-7.

Here's the punch line. When Eyman walked into the Dome Saturday, his career totals stood at eight catches, for 88 yards and a TD.

So Eyman was still smiling as he prepared for UNI's upcoming game with Saint Francis.

"I was happy with it," said Eyman.

"I was surprised a little bit, as far as how many times I got the ball in comparison with the rest of the guys. I mean, as far as being surprised that I was able to play well, that didn't surprise me too much. I just needed to get that feeling and get back in the groove of things."

Eyman came to UNI after being an all-state quarterback at Iowa City High. With the Panthers, he evolved into a purple-clad version of former Pittsburgh Steeler Kordell Stewart. Like Stewart, Eyman splits his time between quarterback and wide receiver. He still attends quarterback meetings, and he was officially Pat Grace's backup when a suspension sidelined Zach Davis for the Iowa game.

"I don't know how you describe D.P," said Grace. "He's our utility guy, I guess. You could say he can play just about any position besides offensive line."

Over his early years as a Panther, Eyman worried about staying sharp as he played only on a limited basis. He took the field more often as a junior in 2008, and then came an opening this season. When a knee injury knocked Josh Collins out for the year, Eyman stepped into a more prominent role.

"I was upset for Josh," said Eyman. "He's a great player, obviously. I enjoyed being around him and playing with him, but it kind of crept into my head that this would be an opportunity to step up and help out, hopefully the same way Josh did."

Eyman did just that against South Dakota, and he did it his way.

"He made the plays very calm," said UNI head coach Mark Farley. "He looks like he does it every day of the week. But his personality is such that he just plays. He likes to have fun. He's one of those guys where the fun part of it is why he plays the game, not because of the competitive part.

"It's nice to have on a football team, to have a balance of those kind of players."

D.P. Eyman

Position: Wide receiver

Height: 6-1

Weight: 187

Class: Senior

Hometown: Iowa City

Career highlights: A versatile athlete who can also play quarterback, Eyman enjoyed the biggest day of his college career against South Dakota. He caught nine passes for 197 yards and a touchdown.

Quote: "I like to stay away from all the nerves. Have fun and laugh. Make a play and laugh." - D.P. Eyman

Who was that guy, the lithe but nimble Northern Iowa wide receiver who wore No. 2, who came into Saturday’s home-opening 66-7 rout of South Dakota with eight career catches for 88 yards?

Pat Grace's huge game leads Northern Iowa to rout
By ROB GRAY • robgray@dmreg.com • September 12, 2009

Who was that guy, the lithe but nimble Northern Iowa wide receiver who wore No. 2, who came into Saturday’s home-opening 66-7 rout of South Dakota with eight career catches for 88 yards?


When told the player in question was D.P. Eyman, Coyotes coach Ed Meierkort smiled.

“That’s his name?” said Meierkort, who saw the converted quarterback and punter light up his team for a career-best 197 yards receiving and a 48-yard touchdown catch. “He’s on our radar now. His parents have got to love me.”

Good vibes — and oohs and ahs brought by the home team’s resounding rebound from a season-opening heartbreaker at Iowa — rippled through the “blackout” crowd of 12,688 assembled at the UNI-Dome.

Eyman felt it, craved it, and shared it, as did his quarterback Pat Grace, who also carved out a career day with 445 passing yards and seven total touchdowns — three rushing, four passing.

“It was a blast for me,” said Eyman, who tallied his dizzying numbers in a first half in which the No. 4 Panthers built a 45-7 lead. “I can’t think of any big mistakes that really hindered our opportunities to keep advancing the ball the way we did. It was a lot of fun for us and you can tell, looking at the guys’ faces in the huddle, people were smiling and just having fun playing ball.”

Grace eclipsed his previous career-best single-game passing performance of 270 yards set at Iowa by 100 yards in the first half alone, hitting Eyman for one touchdown and D.J. Hord and Schuylar Oordt for two more.

He ran the ball in three times in the first 30 minutes, too, as he moved into a tie for 10th place all-time in team rushing touchdowns with 17.

“It’s impressive, but this is not an ‘I’ game or a ‘me’ game,” said Grace, who completed 24 of 32 passes. “It’s a team football game. It wasn’t just me out there.”

The Panthers amassed 712 yards of total offense — 24 shy of the school’s record 726 set in a 1980 win over Evansville.

“It’s nice to see smiles on their faces; to make the plays they made today, to enjoy the game, because, quite frankly, it was a tough week to come back from,” said Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley, whose team won its 14th straight regular-season home game.

The Panthers — who endured a far-tenser 24-13 win over the Coyotes last season — had fun while emerging from the what-if shadow cast by the loss in Iowa City.

Case in point: kicker Billy Hallgren, who saw two potential winning field goal tries blocked in the waning seconds against the Hawkeyes.

His Saturday?

Four tackles and two forced fumbles — including a stand-up hit on the opening kickoff.
“There was a little built up aggression from last week,” said Hallgren, who is 4-for-5 on field goals this season. “It felt pretty good.”

As for Eyman, he’ll play anywhere he can help.

“I was hoping to come here and have some fun playing football,” the fifth-year senior said. “Didn’t know how it was going to happen, but you know, you take it and run with it.”

Hawkeyes Hold Off Panthers 17-16

A pair of blocked kicks by Iowa with one second and no time left on the clock sealed the 17-16 win for the Hawkeyes.
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa had a chance to upset the No.22 Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd of 70,585 fans at Kinnick Stadium, but a pair of blocked kicks by Iowa with one second and no time left on the clock sealed the 17-16 win for the Hawkeyes.

The Panthers built a 13-3 advantage early in the third quarter and appeared poised to knock off the Hawkeyes in their home stadium.

"This football team today represented this program better than any team has ever represented this program," head coach Mark Farley said. "We asked them to play with class and poise and they did everything we asked of them. The expectation of every UNI football game we line up in is that we can compete and win any game we step on the field. I hope the state of Iowa realizes now that we've got a pretty good football program."

Iowa put the first points on the board on their first possession of the game, scoring off a 29-yard field goal by Daniel Murray.

The Panthers capitalized on a Hawkeye miscue by putting three points on the board on a 39-yard field goal from Billy Hallgren. Defensive lineman Wes Lane forced Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi to fumble and senior defensive tackle Chuck Kinney recovered on the Hawkeyes 28-yard line to set up the score and tie the game at 3-3.

The Panthers forced a Hawkeye punt on the following possession and starting on their own nine-yard line, the Panthers drove 91 yards in 15 plays, capitalizing on a 14-yard touchdown strike from Grace to Ryan Mahaffey to give the Panthers a 10-3 lead at the halftime break.

After trading fumbles to start the second half, UNI started on their own 33-yard line after Boothby forced his second Iowa fumble of the day. A 50-yard pass play from Pat Grace to Herring on the next play set UNI up on the Hawkeye 17-yard line. Billy Hallgren turned the Hawkeye miscue into three points, splitting the uprights from 34 yards out and extending the Panther lead to 13-3.

On the ensuing possession the Hawkeyes drove 70 yards to close the gap at 13-10 off an 11-yard touchdown run by Adam Robinson.

It looked as if the Hawkeyes could knot the score late in the third quarter, but a missed field goal by Iowa kicker Daniel Murray gave UNI the ball back at their own 31-yard line.

The Panthers were unable to capitalize, however as the Iowa defense forced the Panthers to a three-and-out.

Iowa then took their first lead since early in the first quarter at the 13:18 mark of the fourth quarter when Stanzi found Tony Moeaki in the corner of the endzone from six yards out. Murray added the extra point and the Hawkeyes went up 17-13.

The Panther defense held a threatening Hawkeye team at the UNI 31-yard line, stuffing Iowa's Adam Robinson on a fourth and two. UNI then drove 46 yards to the Hawkeye 29-yard line, setting up a 39-yard field goal for Hallgren to pull the Panthers within 17-16. The Panthers marched down the field mainly through the air with pass plays of 18, 14 and 16 yards.

On the following possession the Panther defense forced a three-and-out on the Hawkeyes, giving the Panthers the ball with 2:14 left in the game. Starting on their own eight-yard line, the Panthers drove to the Iowa 24-yard line to set up a 40-yard field goal for Hallgren. The Panthers first attempt at the field goal was blocked by Iowa's Broderick Binns and Christian Ballard, but the because the ball failed to cross the neutral zone and UNI's Mahaffey came up with the loose ball with one second left on the clock, UNI got a second attempt at the field goal.

The Panthers second attempt from 41 yards was also blocked, this time by Jeremiha Hunter, to give the Iowa the win, 17-16.

NOTES:
Senior quarterback Pat Grace finished the day with a career-high 270 yards going 23-37 through the air, including a 50-yard strike to Jarred Herring. Herring finished with 100 yards off six catches.

Redshirt freshman Carlos Anderson chewed up 75 yards on the ground in just his first start of his career.

Junior Jamar Thompson led the defensive effort with a team-high 13 tackles. Senior linebacker Elijah Hodge tallied 11 stops in his Panther debut.

UNI recorded four quarterback sacks, including 2 ½ from senior Wes Lane.

Nine true freshmen or redshirt freshmen saw their first action for the Panthers on Saturday. Those Panthers seeing their first game action included: Carlos Anderson, Varmah Sonie, Timmy Johnson, Andre Martin Jr., Garrett Scott, Terrell McBride, Will Jackson, Tim Sauer Jr., Kyle Bernard.

Final Stats UNI vs Iowa 09/05/2009

IC kid goes wide for Panthers - The Daily Iowan - University of Iowa's daily from Iowa City

IC kid goes wide for Panthers

BY JON LINDER | SEPTEMBER 04, 2009 8:50 AM

D.P. Eyman isn’t just a recurring name on the Northern Iowa two-deep. Nor is he simply a former City High playmaker. He is a charmer.

The grin on City High head coach Dan Sabers’ face is almost audible when he talks about his former star.

“He had a great demeanor out on the field,” Sabers said. “He just kept everybody relaxed, and he made plays. That team had as much fun as any football team here that’s had some success.”

Eyman will return to Kinnick Stadium on Sept. 5 for the first time since graduating from City High in 2005. He was an avid Hawkeye football fan growing up, living in the home of his grandparents — Darrell and Joy Eyman. Darrell Eyman, who has been an associate professor of chemistry at the UI for 46 years, said he often took the family to various Hawkeye sporting events, but D.P. had a special interest in Iowa football.

D.P. Eyman, now a fifth-year senior at Northern Iowa, has had an interesting career since leaving Iowa City. Then again, his career at City High was far from par for the course.

To say the least, he was a unique playmaker at City High. He lost his starting quarterback spot early in his junior year but stayed on as a punter — a position from which he made the most memorable play of his career. Former City High teammate and current Iowa center Josh Koeppel can’t help but smile when he remembers the play.

“We played West High, and we ran a fake punt,” Koeppel said. “It was like 60 or 70 yards, and he scored a touchdown.”

Sabers remembers a similar play during Eyman’s senior year, after he regained his starting spot at quarterback. During a game with Cedar Rapids Prairie in the playoffs, Eyman took the ball 80 yards for a touchdown after a fake handoff. Sabers said that play set the tone for the rest of a 24-3 win and a trip to the state semifinals.

Eyman finished the season with 1,434 yards passing and 16 touchdowns, and he added 569 yards and five scores on the ground. That was enough to earn an invitation to the 2005 Shrine Bowl.

While in Ames for the annual all-star game, his teammates voted him an offensive captain. A recognizable name from Bettendorf was elected the team’s defensive captain — Iowa senior linebacker Pat Angerer. Angerer and Eyman grew close during practices, and they still talk on the phone occasionally.

“We never really talked about football all that much,” Angerer said. “He was always a good guy, always really nice. From the first time I met him, I liked him.”

Eyman spent his first two collegiate years backing up All-American quarterback Eric Sanders at Northern Iowa. He eventually fell behind current Panther quarterback Pat Grace on the depth chart, who has a more ideal build for the position at 6-2, 240 pounds.

Eyman decided to take his 185-pound frame and move to a position where the outstanding speed that brought him to Northern Iowa could be better utilized.

“He didn’t get the starting job,” Darrell Eyman said. “So he went to the coaches and told them, ‘I don’t want to be the second-string quarterback, standing on the sidelines.’ ”

After a solid off-season following his sophomore year, Eyman found himself in the first crop of receivers heading into last season.

He saw substantial action as a junior in 2008, playing in all 15 games at wide receiver. He caught five passes for 73 yards on the season, highlighted by a 35-yard touchdown reception in a 23-13 win over North Dakota State.

Following the suspension of backup quarterback Zach Davis, Eyman has resurfaced as a co-second-team quarterback on the latest depth chart. However, barring injury to Grace, Eyman will remain at wide receiver for Saturday’s game.