Stephen F. Austin
Northern Iowa
Season Comes To A Close in FCS First Round
11/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Stephen F. Austin dug itself an huge first quarter hole and never recovered, falling to 10th-ranked Northern Iowa 44-10 in the opening round of the FCS Playoffs at the UNI Dome. The Lumberjacks end their season at 8-5 after making their first postseason appearance since 2010.
UNI's vaunted defense lived up to the hype, holding SFA to just 223 total yards on the night, including just 90 on the ground and 133 through the air. It was SFA's lowest offensive output of the season, marking the first time all year the `Jacks were held to less than 14 points on the season.
Senior running back Gus Johnson rushed for 82 yards on 20 carries, adding another record to his impressive resume. Johnson become the Southland Conference's single-season rushing leader on his 32-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. He surpassed SHSU's Timothy Flanders' 16,444 yards in 2011, doing it in four fewer games than Flanders needed to set the mark.
Zach Conque went 15-of-26 for just 83 yards on the night as Hunter Taylor was 7-of-13 for 50 yards. Johnson was the top receiver of the game for SFA, catching four passes for 37 yards and giving him 119 yards of total offense on the night.
Aaron Thomas also caught four passes for 12 yards while Justice Liggins (26 yards), DJ Ward (23 yards) and Tyler Boyd (17 yards) each had three receptions on the night for SFA.
For the game, Northern Iowa (9-4) racked up 453 yards of total offense, including 248 on the ground and 205 through the air. David Johnson was the highlight of the night for UNI, rushing for 153 yards while catching a pair of passes for 84 yards and accounting for four touchdowns on the night to lead the Panthers.
The first seven minutes couldn't have played out much worse for SFA as on the first play of the game, UNI's David Johnson broke a 73-yard touchdown run, giving the Panthers the 7-0 lead just 14 seconds into the game.
A pair of SFA turnovers gave UNI the ball inside the redzone, but the Lumberjack defense held the Panthers to a combined -5 yards during those two possessions as UNI would settle for a pair of field goals. A third field goal came midway through the first quarter as SFA trailed 16-0 at the midway point of the opening quarter.
The deficit only got bigger as UNI found the endzone again late in the first quarter, putting SFA in a 23-0 hole after the first 15 minutes of play. The `Jacks managed just 19 yards in the first quarter, compared to 193 for the Panthers.
SFA finally began to get some momentum midway through the second quarter, forcing a UNI fumble near midfield. Johnson then broke free for a 32-yard touchdown run, setting the Southland Conference single-season rushing record in the process, to cut the deficit to 23-7 with 7:02 left in the half.
But the Panthers responded quickly as their own Johnson took a seven yard dump pass 70 yards to the endzone, putting UNI on top 30-7 less than a minute later. SFA went for it twice on fourth down in the second quarter but were unable to convert, stalling drives as the Panthers took the 30-7 lead into the locker room.
It didn't get much easier for the Lumberjacks in the second half as after their initial drive stalled, UNI converted on a pair of third downs, then took advantage of a roughing the kicker penalty to find the endzone again and extend its lead to 37-7.
The Panther defense continued to hold serve in the fourth as the offense added another touchdown before running out the clock, cruising to the 44-7 victory and improving to 7-3 all-time against SFA. It also snapped the `Jacks two-game winning streak at the UNI Dome as the Panthers notched their first win over SFA in Cedar Falls since 2002.
While the season ended on a down note, the loss does little to overshadow the accomplishments of SFA football in 2014. Picked to finish sixth in the SLC in the preseason polls, SFA had a five-win improvement and tied for third overall in the conference, bringing in three major SLC awards.
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