Saturday’s Division I-AA playoff game at O’Brien Stadium came down to the strengh of special teams, and Northern Iowa proved it was superior with a 49-43 upset over No. 4 seeded Eastern.

“The game itself came down to special teams play. And if it wasn’t obvious, it should have been,” Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said. “They just out-played us in that area.”

Northern Iowa’s (10-2) average field position was their own 45- yard line, as the purple Panthers started in Eastern territory five times that afternoon. Eastern (9-2) started six possessions with the ball inside its own 20-yard line.

“I think it always hinders an offense, starting inside the 20 or more,” said Eastern senior wide receiver Frank Cutolo, who finished the game with 217 receiving yards on 11 catches. “Special teams was a killer today. I think that’s the biggest thing that won them the game. Our special teams didn’t come to play and thier’s sure did.”

The ability of Northern Iowa’s special teams unit also made the game more difficult on Eastern’s defense.

“The defense was forced to play half a field for most of the first half, and it was a particularly short field for them to have to defend – and there’s going to be problems,” Spoo said. “They are an extremely good football team and they did all the things we knew they were going to do. Special teams was a big part of it.”

While Eastern took the lead early with a 15-yard pass from junior quarterback Tony Romo to Cutolo, UNI tied the game with an eight-yard pass from quarterback Griff Jurgens to junior wide receiver Reid Seitz.

Eastern never regained control of the game as UNI added a field goal and a Richard Carter touchdown for a 16-7 lead. Eastern’s J.R. Taylor put up a 49-yard run for a touchdown with 5:03 left in the half, but that was before UNI junior tailback Adam Benge took control.

Benge began his rampage with his first of four touchdowns with 2:33 left on the clock for a 23-14 UNI lead. Eastern struggled, consistently trailing by either three or 13 points throughout the game.

“With our high-powered offense, we were able to put up a lot of points in a short amount of time, so we never lost confidence,” senior tight end Gil Davis said.

Cutolo brought the Panthers within three at 23-20 after a 39-yard reception from Romo with 1:27 left in the first half. But UNI blocked senior Bill Besenhofer’s point after attempt and returned to the ball the length of the field for a two-point conversion to increase UNI’s lead to 25-20 at the half.

Benge continued to dominate the second half with a touchdown to open the third quarter. On Eastern’s next possession, Taylor rushed downfield before Romo shot a 42-yard pass to Davis for a touchdown. Davis then called a two-point conversion for a 32-28 game.

“It’s actually funny because I thought we were going to kick it,” Spoo said on the two-point conversion. “I was surprised myself, but we’ve been working on that play for weeks.”

Benge came through with a six-yard touchdown run with 17 seconds left in the third quarter to put the Panthers of Northern Iowa ahead 39-28.

Romo broke out in the fourth quarter with a 71-yard touchdown bass to Cutolo to bring Eastern back within three at 39-36. Eastern’s defense picked up once again with UNI finding themselves at a third down and eight yards remaining. The defense put pressure on Jurgens, who rushed for no gain out of bounds. But senior Gonzalo Segovia was still in pursuit of Jurgens and hit the quarterback out-of-bounds, resulting in a 15-yard personal foul penalty and an automatic first down.

“That call was crutial. That, to me, was a turning point,” Spoo said. “I’m really sorry for that, but that was something that never, ever should have happened. The quarterback was out of bounds and there was no excuse for that, and I think it really hurt us. That penalty just kills me because it kills the team. We had then in a punting situation, and who knows what would have happened after that.”

But Benge took advantage of the first down gift from Eastern and charged his way down the field for 50 yards and an UNI touchdown on the play.

With Eastern down 46-36, Romo thought he found a way to cut Northern Iowa’s lead with five minutes remaining and Eastern poised with a first and 10 on the UNI 28-yard line. But his pass in the endzone was intercepted by Northern Iowa’s Brent Browner.

“Turnovers are a huge deal in a game like this, and that one was pretty big,” said Romo who finished 22-of-34 passing for 386 yards and five touchdowns. “We actually got the ball back after that and probably would have taken the lead on the next position.”

Romo shot one last three-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Robinson with 3:27 remaining in the game for a 49-43 game, but a failed onside kick taht was recovered by UNI shattered the hopes of one last touchdown for Eastern.

“We did a lot of good things, but it just wasn’t enough,” Spoo said. “We’re out of it, they’re in it. That’s all I can think to say.”

Northern Iowa extended its season while handing Eastern its first Division I-AA loss this season.

“We don’t have any great players on the team. Each week soneone has to step up,” Northern Iowa head coach Mark Farley said. “Each week keeps getting bigger and bigger. I said in the beginning that this was a four-week process. This is step one.”

Meanwhile the Panthers made their second consecutive first-round exit in the playoffs, concluding a season that was highlighted by their first-ever Ohio Valley Conference Championship.

“You never know when it’s going to end. I didn’t expect this. I don’t want to take (my uniform) off for the last time ever. I’m never playing again,” senior Brad Metzger said.

“I’m still so proud of everyone. We worked so hard. The conference championship got us here and I’ll get the ring, and look at that and remember that.”