The Courier from Waterloo, Iowa • 9

the Courier TO loYin B1 What to watch What: National Football League Teams: Green Bay at Minnesota Time: Today, noon Channel: KFXA Why: The Packers are 3-0 and Brett Favre Is one TO pass from becoming the NFL's all-time leader. Minnesota looks to work its way back into the North race. Full TV sports schedule, page 88 IN THIS SECTION COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREP SPORTS B7 NFL B7 SCOREBOARD B8 OUTDOORS B9 SUNDAY SCRUM B9 BASEBALL BIO Mil SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2007 SPORTS EDITOR: DOUG NEWHOFF WATERLOO www.wcfcourier.comsports CEDAR FALLS (31 9) 291 -1 467 sportsdoorwcfcourier.com BASEBALL Northern Iowa 23 Illinois State 13 ho Hp HI IS UNI off to best start since '92 AP PHOTO David Wright claps his hands in celebration after the Mets kept their playoff hopes alive with a 13-0 rout over the Marlins on Saturday. Mets, Phillies tied with one game left John Maine stopped the Mets' slide with an overpowering performance that pulled them into a first-place tie. He nearly did a whole lot more than that.

Maine flirted with the first no-hitter in team history before allowing an infield single to Paul Hoover with two outs in the eighth inning, and New York snapped out of its September doldrums by routing the Florida Marlins 13-0 in a fight-filled game Saturday. With Philadelphia's loss to Washington, the two teams tied are heading into Sunday's regular-season finale. FULL STORY, page BIO By DOUG NEWHOFF Sports Editor NORMAL, III. There are a lot of ways a football team can build a 5-0 record. v.

Few are any more difficult than the route Northern Iowa has taken during its climb toward the top of the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivisioa Over the past four weeks, the third-ranked Panthers won at Iowa State, they won at South Dakota State, 6t) they won at Drake, and Saturday, they won their Gateway Conference opener at 16th-rated Illinois State, 23-13. If ever a team has earned a bye week, it's UNI, which became the first Panther team since 1992 to wn its first five games. And after Saturday's brawl with the Redbirds (2-3, 0-1), the Panthers need to rest their weary bones. They return to action Oct 13 when Southern Illinois visits the UNI-Dome for Homecoming. wr--- a Eric Sanders returned from injury to ignite winning drive COLLEGE FOOTBALL Colorado shocks No.

3 Oklahoma Kevin Eberhart kicked a career-long 45-yard field goal as time expired to send Colorado past No. 3 Oklahoma 27-24 on Saturday. It was the Buffaloes' first win over a top-five team since December 2001 when they beat Texas in the Big 12 title game. FULL STORY, page B2 No. 16 Wartburg remains unbeaten The University of Dubuque upset i 1 "It's been a long four weeks," said quarterback Eric Sanders, who left the game with a shoulder injury early in the fourth quarter of a 13-13 tie, but returned to engineer the game-winning drive.

"We havent played at home since August VVeVe been on the road with tough game after tough game after tough game. If you'd have said we were going ba 5-0 after the first five games of the year, I'd have been pretty shocked that you told me that but we've really played well so far." I Saturday's victory tested UNI's patience and poise. It was a day when not everything went according to plaa but the Panthers persevered and found a way to win agaia "We didn't play extremely well," said UNI head coach Mark Farley. "We made mistakes, our offense struggled, but I just felt as a whole See PANTHERS, page B6 0 Wartburg College last year in the regular-season finale. Saturday, after giving up 14 first-quarter points, the 16th-ranked Knights buckled down and got payback with a 34-17 victory over the Spartans at Chalmers Field.

The win keeps Wartburg unbeaten at 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the league. 1 Elite company Here's a look at UNI's best starts to a season since joining the Gateway Conference in 1985: Year Start Final record Playoff result 1992 8-0 12-2 Reached semifinals 2007 5-0 1999 4-0 8-3 No postseason 1986 4-0-1 7-3-1 No postseason 1996 3-0 12-2 Reached semifinals MATTHEW PUTNEY Courier Staff Photographer Northern Iowa delensive end James Rutfin (right) congratulates safety Clifford Waters on a pivotal interception during the second half of Saturday's game in Normal, III. UNI improved to 5-0 with a 23-13 win. FULL STORY, page B3 GOLF Nebraska hurdles Iowa State Lewis, HI scorch wounded Iowa 'D' Cyclones storm ahead early before II 1 U.S. inches closer to retaining cup The United States pitched a shutout in five alternate-shot matches Saturday morning at the Presidents Cup, then turned back an International rally with one of its own to split the afternoon fourballs and build a 14 12-7 12 lead going into today's singles competition.

The Americans, who have their largest lead in the event's history, need to win three of the 12 singles matches to retain the cup. FULL STORY, page B8 1 1 1 RECAP Score: Indiana 38, Iowa 20 Key: Hoosier quarterback Kellen Lewis threw for 322 yards and accounted for three touchdowns. Up next: Iowa travels to Penn State next Saturday at 2:35 p.m. By JIM SULUVAN Courier Sports Writer LINCOLN, Neb. Iowa State's new outfit will arrive next seasoa Saturday afternooa the Cyclones' attempt to look like a winner here didn't fit at alL Once agaia ISU dressed itself in defeat for the 15th straight time at Memorial Stadium, falling to Nebraska by a 35-17 margin in the Big 12 Conference opener.

Back in 1977, Iowa State knocked off the Com-huskers, 24-21, on their own turf. Three decades later, the Cyclones (1-4, 0-1) appeared to be in good shape when they grabbed an early 10-0 lead as turnovers and mistakes littered Memorial Stadium. That's when the Cyclones donned a tattered wardrobe that Gene Chizik had seen far too often during his first season as a head coach. Take special teams. Following ISLTs only touchdown of the first half, Nebraska's Cortney Grixby roared 51 yards with the ensuing kickoff.

His return led to the Comhuskers' first score and a run of 28 unanswered points. A fake punt gamble also blew up on Iowa State, See CYCLONES, page B5 1 i I A i li 1 Hoosiers hand Hawks seventh consecutive-loss in Big Ten play By JIM NELSON Courier Sports Writer IOWA CITY There are many reasons why Iowa has lost three straight football games. The answer probably equals the same number of theories on why the Hawkeyes have lost seven consecutive Big Ten games dating back to last year. But Iowa's 38-20 loss to Indiana Saturday at Kinnick Stadium can be summarized quite easily. "We left too many plays out there," said linebacker Mike Humpal.

"We came out flat and gave up turnovers," added running back Albert Young. "They took COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL UNI rebounds with sweep over BU The vital signs of the Northern Iowa volleyball squad have been all over the charts this season. They spiked upward with an early-season sweep of a strong American squad. Then, the Panthers' prognosis took an ugly turn for the worse. Saturday the Panthers' status stabilized with a 30-23, 30-20, 30-19 sweep over Bradley at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls.

FULL STORY, page B9 AP PHOTO Nebraska's Marlon Lucky vaults over Iowa State's Chris Brown and Jesse Smith (right) on Saturday. advantage of it we put the game out there for them, and you get what you deserve." Indiana (4-1 overall 1-1 in thd Big Ten) made a handful of plays as it beat Iowa (2-3, 0-2J for the second straight time; and the fifth time in their last, eight meetings. It is the first time the Hoosiers have knocked off the Hawkeyes in back-to-back years since 1999-2000. "It was a tough game for us in See HAWKEYES, page B4 RECAP Score: Nebraska 35, Iowa State 17 Key: The Huskers rallied from a 10-0 deficit with 28 unanswered points. Up next: ISU is at Texas Tecb for a 6 p.m.

kickoff next Saturday..