Jaxon Dailey did nearly everything he could to drag Northern Iowa back into Saturday’s football game, but a 28-point first-half hole was too much as the Panthers lost 35-22 at Youngstown State. The senior quarterback completed 28 of 49 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns in UNI’s first Missouri Valley Football Conference loss of the year.

The trouble started immediately, when Donald Barksdale took the opening kickoff 93 yards to the end zone, and the Penguins kept scoring until they led 28-0. Dailey then answered with touchdown throws to Kai Black and Brady McCullough on back-to-back possessions, and Max Bartacheck’s field goal brought UNI within 12.

Youngstown State shut the door with a 58-yard, 11-play scoring drive, and Dailey’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Ayden Price came too late to matter. Northern Iowa is now 3-3 on the season and 2-1 in conference play.