Northern Iowa trounces WIU

Western Illinois' defense found out what everyone else is likely going to find out this season.

Saying you're going to stop Northern Iowa quarterback Tirrell Rennie is a lot different than actually doing it.

Rennie played a part in all five touchdowns - he threw for two and ran for three - in the Panthers' 38-10 win over the Leathernecks on Saturday afternoon at the UNI-Dome in the Missouri Valley Football Conference opener for both teams.

Rennie threw for 142 yards and rushed for 106 as the Leathernecks had plenty of problems bringing him down.

Then again, so did Iowa State and Stephen F. Austin in the first two games of the season.

"Our game plan was good," Western Illinois coach Mark Hendrickson said. "But when it's their quarterback running behind their pulling guard, it's something that's hard to simulate in practice."

Reality is much, much different when it comes to Rennie.

"He's a dynamic player," UNI coach Mark Farley said. "He can make things happen."

Rennie struggled at times last season in the Panthers' offense. But Farley said his maturity in his role has been a big factor in what the Panthers can do offensively.

"I think we fit him into the offense," Farley said. "But we've tweaked some things that we do."

"Honestly, not much has changed," Rennie said. "It's just me being more persistent in the playbook."

Nothing the Leathernecks did this week could resemble the fury of the Panthers' offense in the early part of this game, although Western Illinois certainly played a big role in its demise.

Terrell Sinkfield's block of Michael Shroble's first punt gave the Panthers (2-1) the ball at the Western Illinois 12 on their first possession of the game. Four plays later, Rennie sneaked into the end zone from two yards out, and UNI led 7-0.

Jordan Smith's interception of a tipped pass from Western Illinois' Josh Hudson gave the Panthers the ball at the Leathernecks' 46 on the next possession. Five plays later, Rennie scored on a 12-yard run, and UNI led 14-0.

"We gave them a short field, that makes things tough on the defense," Hendrickson said.

It got tougher after UNI made it 28-3 heading into halftime. Rennie threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open David Johnson down the right side with 6:56 to play in the half, and then Rennie scored on a 30-yard run with 3:14 to play.

"You might think you have the right scheme," Hendrickson said. "But they can do so many different things."

Rennie threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Darion Howard midway through the third quarter for a 35-3 lead.

The Leathernecks had 312 yards of offense, but didn't get into the end zone until Caulton Ray scored on a 1-yard leap with 2:49 to play in the game.

The Panthers came into the game ranked No. 2 in the nation in both Football Championship Subdivision polls. Hendrickson said before the game that he was a believer in that ranking after watching them on tape, and he reaffirmed that after the game.

"Certainly the best team won the game today," he said.

Rennie wasn't even the leading rusher in the game. Johnson rushed for 132 yards, his first 100-yard game of his young college career.

"He's so smooth," Farley said. "He looks like he's playing in the backyard."

"David is a freak," Rennie said, laughing. "He runs hard. He brings another dimension to the offense."

Johnson returned the compliment, although not with such descriptive language.

"It's hard for defenses to key on one guy," the freshman from Clinton said.

The Panthers, conference champions last season, got off to the start they wanted.

"It's a wonderful feeling," Rennie said. "We started off just the way we needed to."

"We made a big statement," Johnson said. "We want to keep making those statements."

Northern Iowa 38Western Illinois 10

WIll NI

First downs 15 19

Rushes-yards 31-105 43-275

Passing 207 142

Comp-Att-Int 18-32-1 10-14-0

Return Yards 3 70

Punts-Avg. 6-43.2 3-40.7

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-Yards 6-47 4-31

Time of Possession 30:21 29:39

W. Illinois 0 3 0 7 -1 0

N. Iowa 14 14 7 3 - 38

First Quarter

NI-Rennie 2 run (Sievertsen kick), 12:00.

NI-Rennie 12 run (Sievertsen kick), 5:49.

Second Quarter

WIll-FG Smith 20, 13:48.

NI-Johnson 30 pass from Rennie (Sievertsen kick), 6:56.

NI-Rennie 35 run (Sievertsen kick), 3:14.

Third Quarter

NI-Howard 4 pass from Rennie (Sievertsen kick), 8:19.

Fourth Quarter

NI-FG Sievertsen 23, 7:43.

WIll-Ray 1 run (Smith kick), 2:49.

A-16,059.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-W. Illinois, Ray 18-79, Morgan 1-16, Flowers 5-8, Lunt 3-6, Patterson 1-(minus 1), Hudson 3-(minus 3). N. Iowa, Johnson 21-132, Rennie 12-106, Anderson 3-28, Cutkomp 6-10, Team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING-W. Illinois, Lunt 11-20-0-110, Hudson 7-12-1-97. N. Iowa, Rennie 10-14-0-142.

RECEIVING-W. Illinois, Crump 8-131, Ray 5-19, Chestnut 3-49, Patterson 1-6, Daughtry 1-2. N. Iowa, Johnson 3-46, Sinkfield 2-35, Owens 1-26, Collins 1-14, Vereen 1-12, Herring 1-5, Howard 1-4.