The University of Northern Iowa football team fell to the No. 17-ranked Illinois State University Redbirds 33-21 in Cedar Falls Saturday afternoon. Despite making a game of it after being down 19-0 for a majority of the first half, the Panthers faltered down the stretch after too many turnovers.

The Panthers (2-6, 1-4 MVFC) scored twice in the last three minutes of the first half to make the halftime score 19-14 in favor of the Redbirds. After a kickoff return to the Illinois State 46-yard line by senior Carlos Anderson, the Panthers would score on a 6-yard touchdown run from redshirt freshman quarterback Sawyer Kollmorgen. Senior cornerback Varmah Sonie then intercepted Redbird quarterback Matt Brown and returned the ball to the Illinois State 33-yard line. The Panthers took advantage of the good field position and capped off the nine-play, 33-yard drive with a 2-yard pass from Kollmorgen to sophomore Chad Owens.

After a scoreless third quarter in which both teams had multiple scoring opportunities, Kollmorgen was intercepted with 11:46 left in regulation by Illinois State senior safety Ben Ericksen, who returned the ball to the UNI 3-yard line. The Panthers gave up a touchdown three plays later to make the score 26-14 in favor of the Redbirds.

However, the Panthers bounced back with a quick three play, 50-yard drive that was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run from sophomore running back David Johnson. The drive took less than a minute off the clock.

UNI’s shot at a comeback was lost when Brown threw a 49-yard touchdown pass on a broken play to move the score to 33-21. Brown finished the game 22-for-27 with 274 yards and two touchdowns.

Kollmorgen threw for 218 yards on 20-for-48 passing. The Panthers were without leading receivers Brett LeMaster and Terrell Sinkfield, which hindered UNI’s strong passing attack.

“You could see that some balls were thrown to where receivers were supposed to be and they weren’t there,” UNI head coach Mark Farley said. “I think you saw a lot of the routes that were getting caught earlier in the season, but they were by 6-foot-3-inch receivers.”

Chad Owens proved to be Kollmorgen’s favorite target on the day as he finished with seven catches for 77 yards. David Johnson finished with 20 rushes for 118 yards and one touchdown.

The Panthers will travel to Macomb, Ill., next weekend to take on the Western Illinois University Leathernecks (3-5, 1-4 MVFC) at 1 p.m.