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The 2007 Peacock football season opened today in Fayette at Eisheid Stadium under clear skies and with great expectations. It seemed that the entire of state of Iowa had one eye on the game. Upper Iowa welcomed the Duhawks of Loras College. The UIU - Loras match up used to be a regular installment on the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule until Upper Iowa moved up from Division III to Division II four years ago. The Peacocks are now beginning their fifth athletic season since leaving the IIAC and are poised to make some noise in only their second year in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Upper Iowa took another huge step forward on Saturday showing that Division II athletics is a higher level with a dominating win, 38-11, over Loras.
 
The Peacocks scored on their first two possessions of the game to take a 9-0 lead. After the UIU defense held the Loras offense to a three and out on their first possession, senior Malcolm Cole blocked a botched punt attempt and put the Peacocks in business at the Loras 18 yard line. Upper Iowa did not take full advantage of the field position as a touchdown run by T.C. Hicks on the first play was called back for holding. The Peacocks settled for a field goal; freshman Mike Sharp converted his first collegiate field goal from 25 yards.
 
After another Peacock defensive stop, Upper Iowa scored the game's first touchdown. The short drive took only four plays to cover 59 yards. Three of the four plays were runs for over 10 yards each; the highlight being a 29 yard touchdown run by Hicks, the senior running back. The extra point hit the upright and bounced away, but the Peacocks led 9-0.
 
Loras tried to steal the momentum back as Alex McGrew ran the kickoff back 53 yards to the UIU 32 yard line. After seven plays, the Peacock defense bent, but did not break. The Duhawks put points on the board as Taylor Buhmeyer hit a 22 yard field goal.
 
Both offenses seemed to stall throughout most of the second quarter until the Peacocks finished a seven play, 90 yard drive with a touchdown as the clock read 1:18 to play in the half. The drive was highlighted by a 54 yard Hicks rush that moved UIU from their own 15 to the Loras 31 yard line. After two first down runs by junior Steve Stene, junior quarterback Kevin Linnell found a diving Aaron McFarland, senior, on a 10 yard slant route that gave the Peacocks a 17-3 lead.
 
Upper Iowa had one more opportunity before the half after Cole intercepted a pass and returned it to the Loras 27 yard line. The Peacocks failed to take advantage of the scoring chance and the teams headed to the locker rooms with the home team ahead 17-3.
 
The second half began with an unexpected play. Loras kicked the ball off to senior Dwayne Croker, who touched the ball, but could not control it as it ricocheted into the endzone. Croker recovered it and attempted to run it out. The attempt failed as the Duhawks gang tackled the UIU returner for a safety to close the gap to 17-5.
 
Upper Iowa did not the momentum turn as they scored the next two touchdowns. The Peacock defense forced a turnover on downs and allowed the offense to take over at their own 37 yard line. The offense began to move the ball into Loras territory , but faced a 3rd and 5 from the Loras 32 yard line. Linnell took the ball himself and rushed for seventeen yards to keep the drive alive and give the Peacocks a first down. On the play, Linnell was hit hard as he went to the ground, and although he was fine to continue playing, after one more handoff Linnell's day at quarterback was done. Senior Jay Lehman came in at quarterback and on the first play fired a strike to Croker who bounced off a defender and found the corner of the endzone for a 24-5 lead.
 
The Peacocks moved out to a 31-5 lead when Lehman found Ryan Hudgins on a wide receiver screen. Hudgins fought through a would-be tackler and dove into the endzone. The scoring drive was highlighted by a 24 yard connection over the middle between Lehman and junior Kyle Hosch.
 
Entering the fourth quarter with a 26 point lead, Upper Iowa began to substitute through their second teams. After a fumble on a pitch attempt by Lehman, the Duhawks took over at their own 41 yard line. Loras was able to find the endzone on an 8 play, 59 yard drive. Quarterback Matt McLaughlin scampered into the endzone from three yards to reduce the UIU lead to 31-11.
 
The final score of the game came on the ensuing kickoff. Upper Iowa began the scoring drive on their own 35 yard line. Lehman connected with senior Allen Conrad and Croker to move the Peacocks back into the Duhawk side of the field. After a roughing the passer call, Upper Iowa was set up with a 1st and 10 from the 21 yard line. Lehman and redshirt freshman Travis Grace combined to rush for a first down inside the 10. On 2nd and Goal form the 5 yard line, Lehman hit senior fullback Mike Minikwu who made an athletic one handed grab for the touchdown and a 38-11 Peacock lead.
 
On the day, the Peacocks collected 25 first downs to the Duhawks' 9. UIU rushed for 288 yards, while Loras managed only 66. Upper Iowa doubled Loras's average gain per play for the game; 6.1 yards per play for UIU to 3.2 for Loras. Upper Iowa came away +2 in turnovers and +7 minutes in time of possession.
 
Hicks carried the ball 16 times for 139 yards (8.7 yard avg.) and one touchdown, while Stene added 60 yards on 12 carries and Linnell rushed for 30 yards on 6 attempts. Linnell was 6-13 throwing the ball for 69 yards and one touchdown, while Lehman came in and was 8-11 for 109 yards and three touchdowns. Croker led the receivers with 46 yards on three receptions; McFarland also caught three balls for 33 yards; Hudgins caught two for 25 yards; and Conrad had 17 yards on two receptions. Croker, McFarland, Hudgins, and Mininkwu all caught touchdown passes. Sharp was 3-4 on extra points and 1-2 on field goals; good from 25, but wide left from 38.
 
Defensively, the Peacocks were led by Adam Johnson (4 solo, 3 assisted, 1 interception), David Epps (4 s, 2 a), Anthony Calamita (2 s, 5 a), Cole (3 s, 2 a, 1 interception, 1 block punt), Mike Slaughter (3 s, 1 a), Scott Fader (3 s, 1 a), Vernard Wilkins (2 s, 3 a), Ryan Wolfe (1 s, 4 a), and Doug Akins (1 s, 1 a, 1 fumble recovery).
 
After the game Head Coach Mike Knoll said, "I thought our effort was good and we showed that we were in great shape because it was hot out there today. We did a great job running the ball and we wanted to establish that right away. A lot of that has to do with our offensive line. We controlled the line of scrimmage. There is no doubt that we are much improved on the line both physically and technically. We also showed great improvement with our defense. The first team defense only gave up three points today. It's great to start off with a win, but now we need to take the next step and raise our level of play. We line up with Truman State next week and we will have to improve in all phases to pick up win number two."
 
Upper Iowa will travel to Kirksville, Missouri next Saturday, Sept. 8, for a game at Truman State University, a member of the Division II MIAA. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.