Dec. 10, 2005

Recap |  Final Stats

>Tonight's attendance of 15,712 at Jim Wacker Field at Bobcat Stadium is the third largest in school history.

>UNI's Eric Sanders completed his first nine pass attempts of the game for a total of 200 yards and three touchdowns. His first incompletion came midway through the second period on a third and five.

>The 69-yard scoring pass from Sanders to Patrick Hunter in the second quarter was the longest pass play of the season for UNI.

>Texas State wide receiver Adrian Thomas' touchdown reception in the second period was his first catch of the year.

>UNI's 23 first-half points is the second most given up by the Bobcats this season. The 27 yielded to Texas A&M was the most.

>Texas State's Justin Williams' 14-yard touchdown reception in the third period was his first scoring grab of the year.

>UNI's Sanders 417 passing yards is a career high (330, old mark). His four touchdown passes tonight is also a career-high.

Northern Iowa Head Coach Mark Farley
"It's a great time for UNI Football. We've taken a lot of teams to the semifinals, but this is a special group of kids to push it over the top.

"It was an unbelievable football game with second effort and it was a team that believed in each other. That's been the difference for us.

"This is a unique team. It came down to Eric and the rest of the offense finding a way to get it done. All those guys had to make a play. That's the story of our season."

Texas State Head Coach David Bailiff
General thoughts on the game and UNI...
"I thought there were two pretty good football teams out there tonight. There were four left playing, and two get to head to Chattanooga. UNI is a great football team, and the amazing thing about them is they have a lot of talent but they're a great team. They keep coming at you and I think Coach Farley did a good job taking them on the road. They played four quarters in this stadium and that's tough to do. My hat's off to his ballclub."

"We didn't play our best game but that was a great football team we played against. They out gamed us, and I have to do a better job as a head coach. I'll get better as a head coach and we'll get better as a program."

On the decision to kill the clock...
"They have a great field goal kicker. If we would have turned it over I would have been a bum, and you're going to get questioned on that either way. That's part of the job. You have to play the percentages there and it's hard to score in football and to go 80 yards. I like taking risks, but at that point it's too much of a risk. I had already made the decision that if we'd returned the kickoff to the 40, we were going to go into the two-minute."

"We had a great defense all year and great senior leadership. In overtime, the defense stepped up and held them to a field goal. I believe in these kids that got us here, I'll continue to believe in them. We're here because of Barrick Nealy. We're here because we played great defense. No, I made the right decision."

On declining the penalty that led to a UNI field goal... "They'd hit us for some long passes and that (kick) only put them up by six. We'd had some coverage problems and we played the percentages."

On the seniors...
"Their football career may be over, but we will be here to help them get jobs. When you play for Texas State and you commit to this football team, it's a lifetime commitment. We're going to be family forever. We truly live for eachother."

On the Bobcat fans...
"I'm proud of those fans. They realize what these young men have accomplished. We're going to meet as a team on Monday and let this heal, and then we're going to realize that we represent this university and it got the swagger back. Ten years from now when we still have that swagger, these guys will be the team that got that done. That's something no one will ever be able to take away from them."

On the future...
"We're just getting started here. We're a university that's got momentum. We'll be back, and it won't be 23 years from now."

Senior Wide Receiver Markee White
On his senior season...
"This season is one of the best I've had, and this is a family. We can't put our heads down. We achieved our goals and that's nothing to hang our head about."

Senior Defensive Tackle Fred Evans
On the Texas State family...
"We walk away with a lot of pride, but when you live for eachother you walk away as a family. This coaching staff and this community, and especially the players it hurts because as a family you know you didn't get it done. I know we accomplished a lot but at the end of the day, you still want to win."

"We have to understand that we had a great season, but we wanted to play for the prize."

On Nealy's Interception in overtime...
"One play does not decide a football game. We are still behind Barrick and we don't want anyone thinking he lost the football game."

Senior Quarterback Barrick Nealy
On his feeling heading into overtime... "I never had a doubt. We were there. I knew we could do it and I didn't have a doubt in my mind."

On the decision to kill the clock...
"That's the decision that was made. I huddled there with the guys and said that we could do it in overtime. We did it before, and each team gets an opportunity. They had a chance, we had a chance."

On tonight and the program's future...
"We're upset because we didn't with the ball game, but we showed that we have that fight in us. importantly for those younger guys, for them to be a part of this, it's great for this program. Those guys will pick up where we left off."

On the Texas State fans...
"(The fans) mean a lot. This team helped bring tradition back to this university. The community really appreciated us. I'm glad to be a part of it and I know it will continue."