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| SportsThursday, October 18, 2007 2:30 AM CDT |
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Gateway notes: New No. 1 UNI preparing to face Leathernecks
A regular in the Football Championship Subdivision national rankings, Northern Iowa has reached the top for the first time in 15 years. The 6-0 Panthers are No. 1 in the Sports Network poll, giving the Gateway Conference its first No. 1 team since Western Kentucky on Oct. 24, 2005. “I think it’s great recognition for the university and the program. It’s awesome,” Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley said. “At the same time, it’s an opinion. The great thing about our division is we decide things on the football field. Polls are great, but it still comes down to playing.” Northern Iowa is second in the FCS Coaches Poll with North Dakota State No. 1. The Bison will join the Gateway for the 2008 season. The Panthers meet the other undefeated Gateway team Saturday as Northern Iowa and No. 17 Western Illinois match 2-0 conference records at Hanson Field in Macomb. The 6:30 p.m. game will be televised by Fox Sports Midwest. The Leathernecks (5-2 overall) feature a redshirt freshman quarterback in Matt Barr but also boast the conference rushing leader in Herb Donaldson with 1,033 yards. “We certainly feel good about the way Matt is progressing,” said Western coach Don Patterson. “He’s a smart young man, but this game happens awfully fast. So many things can go wrong. Matt really hasn’t been guilty of too many poor decisions.” Dowdell impresses coach Indiana State interim coach Dennis Raetz believes the Sycamores have their quarterback of the future in redshirt freshman Charles Dowdell, who has been splitting time with senior Reilly Murphy. “By the time he gets to be a junior or senior, somebody is going to be smiling. He can run any kind of offense you want to run,” Raetz said. “He is going to make somebody an awfully good coach before he’s done here. He is a legitimate Gateway player.” Color coordinated While the league’s two “purple” teams meet in the Northern Iowa-Western Illinois game, the other two Gateway matchups also fit into similar color schemes. The reds square off as Illinois State travels to Youngstown State, and the Missouri State at Southern Illinois game features squads with maroon team colors. Around the Gateway -- Despite a league-high 12 interceptions, Illinois State quarterback Luke Drone still ranks third in Gateway passing efficiency behind only Southern Illinois’ Nick Hill and Northern Iowa’s Eric Sanders. -- Southern wide receiver Alan Turner, a University High School graduate, had a career-high 157 receiving yards on six catches in the Salukis’ loss to Northern Iowa last week as Hill passed for a school-record 436 yards. In that game against Southern, Northern Iowa set a UNI-Dome attendance record with a sellout crowd of 17,074. -- When Corey Varnadore kicked a 19-yard field goal to give Indiana State a 3-0 lead last Saturday at Illinois State, it was the first time all season the 0-7 Sycamores led a game at any point. The Redbirds quickly recovered and rolled to a 69-127 victory. Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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North Dakota State wrote on Oct 18, 2007 3:40 PM:
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