The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 17

DfS Hloincs 5unbatJ jRcgtstcr I SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2011 STATE EDITION NISSAN ffecfl Sports on your cell phone J51L I i Pheasant season starts with a bang for some, not for everyone page3c Text "DMRSPORTS" to 44636 (4INFO) to LJt- sign up for breaking sports news today. HiMUUIu Willi: DesMoinesRegister.comsports SCOOP 2C TV LISTINGS 2C OUTDOORS 3C NFL4C COLLEGE FOOTBALL 45-7C, 9C Panthers miss shot at No. 1 Huskers look good vs. MSU 1 LINCOLN, Neb. Nobody expected the Greatest Aerial Show on Turf when Michigan State stepped onto the field Saturday with Nebraska.

The No. 13 Huskers specialize in running the football. The No. 9 Spartans major in stopping the run and forcing crippling mistakes. But few anticipated Nebraska's complete and utter defensive domina- UNI Football N.

Dakota State 27, UN1 19 Combined with a loss by No. 1 Georgia Southern earlier in the day, the victory over the second-ranked Panthers should propel the Bison (8-0, 5-0 Missouri Valley Football Conference) to the top of the rankings. Rennie, Northern See UNI, Page SC By MARK EMMERT memmert8dmreg.com FARGO, N.D. Northern Iowa lost a quarterback, a football game and a shot at the No. 1 ranking Saturday at the Fargodome.

No. 3 North Dakota State punched holes in the Panther defense, turned a fumble into a momentum-turning touchdown and knocked Tirrell Rennie out of the game during a 27-19 victory. 4 I 1 MARC HANSEN mahansendmreg.com tion over a team that came into the game scoring 30 points a game. The Spartans had won See HANSEN, Page 7C Nebraska's Lance Thorell returns an interception during Saturday's victory, bruce thorsonus presswire Big Ten Football: Minnesota 22, Iowa 21 Minnesota? Again? World Series Cards hold off Rangers to win 11th Series title f- ft -I v. ur jl 5" i fit -si.

-v. n' By R.B. FALLSTROM Associated Press ST. LOUIS Albert Pujols tried to give away nothing during the celebration, tried to stay in the moment. But what a moment it was.

Getting another taste of that championship feeling surely will tip the scales in favor of the St. Louis Cardinals at least a little bit when it comes time to talk contract. "Obviously, right now a lot of things go through my head and thinking about the whole season," Pujols said at the podium after the Cardinals won their 11th World Series. "Probably like two or three weeks from now, that's when I'm really going to be sitting down and saying, 'Wow, where we were, and now we're the 2011 World It's unbelievable." What remained of Friday after the Cardinals finished off the Texas Rangers in Game 7 was for savoring one of the most unlikely comebacks in major league history. Hundreds of fans peacefully roamed the downtown streets See CARDS, Page 9C -V il I f1- cit'-" 4ti.uifciiit'riftiV'iYiiinifrtirrT-"'''M'' -xv -v.

Minnesota quarterback MarQueis Gray rushes for 6 yards in Saturday's 22-21 victory against Iowa at TCF Bank Stadium. Iowa coach Kirk Minnesota quarterback MarQueis Gray rushes for 6 yards in Saturday's 22-21 victory against Iowa at Ferentz said the Big Ten Conference upset was a team thing a team loss, marilyn indahiajs presswire Punchless Gophers beat Hawkeyes despite Coker's big day COKER PILES UP YARDS IN DEFEAT Marcus Coker's 252 rushing yards are the third-most by a Hawkeye. It's the most in the Big Ten by a player on the losing team since Laurence Maroney's 258 in a loss to Wisconsin in 2005. Iowa's rushing leaders: Opponent TD Att-Yards Player, year ourselves on special teams. "It's a team thing, I would say.

A team loss." So much for Marcus Coker's 252 rushing yards, the third-best one-game effort by a Hawkeye running back. So much for joining Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska in a tie atop the Big Ten's Legends Division, which would have happened if Iowa would not have extended its road losing streak to five games. So much for all that work Iowa does in practice trying to defend onside kicks. That went haywire, too. And so much for people expecting perfection every time place-kicker Mike Meyer lines up from reasonable distanc- See IOWA, Page 6C By RANDY PETERSON randypetersondmreg.com MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz got to the point quickly after entering another woeful post-game interview room on the campus of a school he'd probably like never to see again. "I would call today a team loss," he said after yet another Nightmare in Minneapolis, this one a 22-21 loss against the two-win Gophers the Hawkeyes actually led by 11 points with just less than 14 minutes to play. "If you don't finish drives and get points, a lot of times that will come back and get you. If you can't stop the run, at some point it's going to get you, and we didn't really do anything to distinguish 29-314 17-286 32- 252 42-250 27-247 39-229 33- 219 25-217 31-217 41-214 Tulsa Northwestern Minnesota Michigan St. Michigan St.

Iowa State Missouri Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Tavian Banks, 1997 Ed Podolak, 1968 Marcus Coker, 2011 Sedrick Shaw, 1995 Phil Blatcher, 1981 Dennis Mosley, 1979 Marcus Coker, 2010 Shonn Greene, 2008 Nick Bell, 1989 Sedrick Shaw, 1995 Lance Berkman with the World Series trophy, getty images High School State Cross Country Meet Dowling Catholic teams sweep 4-A titles EROS in the Class 4-A race Saturday. Gibbons wasn't the only freshman to win an individual title, but was one of few surprises as the favorites owned the day. Reigning champions Dubuque Wahlert and Pe-kin successfully defended their titles, and Dowling bece ne the second team to ever win five straight championships. See GIRLS, Page 10C Freshman's surprise victory sparks fifth straight team win. By CHRIS CUELLAR ccuellard mreg.com FORT DODGE, la.

As Dowling Catholic locked up its fifth straight state girls' cross country title, freshman Grace Gibbons surprised the crowd by emerging late for the win running for the winning team. Dowling Catholic won its first boys' title since 1985, paced by third-place finisher Cole Decker and teammates that finished under 16 minutes in the run. "We definitely have a phenomenal training program, and it has worked out for us the last two See BOYS, Page 10C Boys' crown is first since '85; Valley junior top runner. By CHRIS CUELLAR ccuellardmreg.com FORT DODGE, la. Team champions accepted their plaques and crossed the finish line in packs at the state boys' cross country meet Saturday, with only one individual winner.