Northern Iowa Beats North Dakota 24-17 on 144 Yards
144 total yards. That is what Northern Iowa had, and it won by seven. The Panthers beat North Dakota 24-17, which is the kind of result that makes a box score look like a typo.
Here is how it happened. Northern Iowa kicked a 39-yard field goal, North Dakota answered with an eight-yard Charles Langama run, and then Andrew Price returned a blocked punt 36 yards for a touchdown with 3:59 left in the first quarter. That made it 10-7. Jaxon Dailey hit Brady McCullough from 18 yards with 29 seconds left in the quarter, and Michael Bormann ran in from two yards out early in the second. That was 24-7 with 13:06 left in the half, and it was the last time Northern Iowa scored. North Dakota got a 28-yard field goal before the half and a Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson one-yard run with 14:16 left in the fourth, and nothing else.
North Dakota had 367 yards, 186 of them on the ground, and the Fighting Hawks sacked Northern Iowa four times. It also threw two interceptions and lost three fumbles, five turnovers in all, to Northern Iowa's two lost fumbles. The Panthers, meanwhile, ran 36 times for 63 yards and threw for 81. Their 24 points came from a field goal, a blocked punt return and touchdowns of 18 and 2 yards, which is not how most teams build a lead. North Dakota outscored them 10-0 after the 24-7 mark, and still came up seven short. As it was, Northern Iowa is 3-1 and North Dakota is 5-1.