The Sycamores traveled to Cedar Falls, Iowa this past Saturday to take on defending Missouri Valley Football Conference Champions, the Northern Iowa Panthers.

This was, arguably, the most important game of the regular season for the Sycamores. Both teams rank in national polls. Northern Iowa has been named 2nd nationally and the Sycamores have been named 17th.  The last time the Sycamores won on the road against UNI was in 1988.

The Sycamores ground game got off to a great start. Sophomore running back Shakir Bell rushed for 45 yards in the first series for the Sycamores offense, setting up a career long 44-yard field goal for place kicker Cory Little. The field goal put the Sycamores on the board first, making the score 3-0 in the first quarter.

The Sycamores soon found that the  key to the game would be to stop UNI's all-star quarterback Tirrell Rennie. The Panthers marched down the field on their first drive before the Sycamores finally made a stop on third down, forcing the Panthers to kick a field goal of their own that tied up the score 3-3.

On the ensuing drive, the Sycamores went right back to Bell. Bell took it 29 yards into UNI territory. The Sycamores made it to the Panthers' 37, before senior quarterback Ronnie Fouch threw an interception that would give the Panthers the ball back with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter.

UNI moved the ball down the field on the possession after the interception. Panthers quarterback Tirrell Rennie was virtually unstoppable as he led his team down the field, putting them in scoring position. David Johnson, a Panthers running back, capped off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run that would put the Panthers on top 10-3.

At this point, many would have expected the Sycamores to crumble and fall apart just like teams of the past used to do. This Sycamore team refused. The teams traded field position a few times, and the Sycamores traveled all the way down into Panther territory.

Bell rushed for 145 yards in the first half of the game, but on the drive, Bell took a big hit resulting in a concussion and would also prove to be a problem for the Sycamores, as he was not able to return in the second half. After going for it on fourth down on the UNI 11 yard line, the Sycamores turned the ball over and it seemed like this game could take a turn for the worse.

Senior defensive back Alex Sewall, who was named defensive player of the week last week, had different plans. Sewall charged the run and forced a fumble on the UNI 11 yard line giving the Sycamores the ball again with just 54 seconds remaining in the half.

Fouch found ISU senior tight end Alex Jones in the endzone for a six-yard touchdown pass, but the extra point was no good so going in to half time the Sycamores trailed 9-10.

The second half proved to be a battle for the Sycamores. Without Bell, the team struggled to get the ground game going. The UNI Panthers came out of the halftime with the ball first, and it didn't take long for the Panthers to put points on the board. Tailback David Johnson ran it in for his second touchdown of the game on this one from five yards out and that put the Panthers up eight after the extra point.

From there the Panthers took control. The Sycamores missed two field goal attempts in the second half, while the Panthers connected on two field goals, extending the lead to 23-9. After a pair of Sycamore turnovers, one a fumble and the other Fouch interception, the Sycamores just could not climb back into the game.

The next time the Sycamores are in action is this Saturday at 2:05 p.m. when they will face the Western Illinois Leathernecks at Memorial Stadium for ISU's Homecoming.