Panther Plunderage

Saturday the Cougars began their quest for perfection. Behind closed doors the played vote'd to keep the haka. They even gave the honor of carrying the team colors and flag onto the field to former legend Lavell Edwards. The first step in the quest showed specific areas that need significant improvement. The University Of Northern Iowa presented in many aspects to be a very formidable foe. Panther QB Pat Grace took some serious hits keeping him on the field literally after the play a few times. In the first half UNI offense immensely struggled. The trench war was clearly being won by the Cougs jumping out to a 27-3 halftime lead allowing Max Hall to direct five seperate scoring drives.

Fui Vakapuna was held out of saturdays contest (certified academically eligible only on friday: no practice means no play) and was definately missed. In Fui's absence Harvey Unga had 2 TDs in the first half and pounded his way eventually to 66 yards. The third quarter was absolutely embarassing as a Cougar. When things were pretty "stuff" clicked. When it was ugly well it was far from beautiful. Unfortunately, the quarter was represented by 3 fumbles and Max Hall getting sacked that ended with a recovery in the endzone by the Panthers Mark Huygens for a TD. Ball security will likely be stressed in the week ahead. The defensive jerseys in blue held strong for the game only allowing 10 total points even holding UNI star Corey Lewis to 37 net rushing yards.

Max Hall and Dennis Pitta definately seemed to be in sync with each other. Like Harline still being open so was Pitta. Hall hooked up with Dennis so much that Pitta finished the night with 11 receptions and 222 yards (10th biggest single player receiving day in Cougar history). Max walked off the field victorious with 34 completions on 41 attempts covering 485 yards and 2 TDs. Apparently Hall ended the game with a 198.39 QB rating (Grace's rating was 114.31). Considering the fact Collie sat out most of camp with a stress fracture finishing with 7 catches for 79 yards isn't bad at all. Wouldn't be surprised sometime in the near future he takes a snap or two.

On special teams explosive O'neill Chambers made his presence known. As a team the kick returns had a 33.7 average. Justin Sorensen performance on kickoffs was outstanding. Mitch Payne was 5 for 6 on PATs. Although, overall there were 8 penalties for 65 yards. The team discipline could worked on (penalties, ball security, etc) for the quest for perfection to continue to perform at a higher level.