CEDAR FALLS - Northern Iowa needed a strong and clear stream of effort to break free from Illinois State Saturday at the UNI-Dome.

Now, the Panthers have bumped right into the logjam atop the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

By beating the Redbirds, 31-17, UNI improved to 2-1 in league play. That record puts Mark Farley's team in a four-way tie for first place with Western Illinois, South Dakota State and Southern Illinois. There are no undefeated teams left in Valley Football

"It's nuts," said Illinois State coach Denver Johnson, whose Redbirds dropped out of the league lead Saturday. "It's completely nuts. There are so many good teams."

And the fun is only beginning. North Dakota State, upset at home by the Leathernecks Saturday, comes to the Dome Saturday. After that, UNI goes on the road for games at Youngstown State and Western Illinois.

"This is a very equitable league," Panther head coach Mark Farley said. "There's not much difference in talent. Illinois State had talent. You have to go out, execute, have focus, have commitment and win your home games."

To win Saturday, the Panthers touched all of those bases.

UNI never trailed, but the Redbirds pursued the Panthers all the way through 60 minutes.

ISU consumed huge chunks of time in the first half with scoring drives of 20 and 16 plays to hang tough.

A mix of big plays from both sides of the ball and a little bit of good fortune finally enabled UNI to build a relatively comfortable margin before a Homecoming crowd of 16,100. And the Panthers did it with running back Corey Lewis limited to two carries by his sprained right ankle.

"It was very important that we kept our cool and made the plays when it counted," said UNI linebacker Josh Mahoney.

Said quarterback Pat Grace, who accounted for four touchdowns and a career-high 337 yards of total offense, "I thought penalties kind of killed us a lot. We need to get rid of those. But the defense still played a great game. The offense played a good game, and Illinois State is a good team."

With Lewis resting on the sidelines much of the game, UNI turned to reserve running back Derrick Law, wideout Victor Williams and tight end Ryan Mahaffey to pick up the pace. As usual, Grace contributed with his arm and his feet.

Thus, Mahaffey caught a 5-yard TD strike from the UNI quarterback to open the scoring. Billy Hallgren added a 33-yard field goal, and Williams caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Grace on what evolved into an improvised play.

Yet, Illinois State was right there. The 20-play drive produced only a field goal, but quarterback Kevin Brockway sneaked a yard at the end of the 16-play procession, and it was 17-10 Panthers at the half.

Then things happened in the final 30 minutes. Not all of them were planned, especially not Schuylar Oordt's only reception of the day.

With UNI staring at a third-and-21 from its own 46, Grace launched a pass toward Williams. He battled ISU defensive back Khenon Hall for possession of the ball. It popped up in the air.

Somehow, the ball floated to Oordt behind the play. The Panther tight end not only made the catch, he got the first down.

That play led to the 8-yard Grace run that made the score 24-10 UNI with 5 minutes, 33 seconds to go in the third quarter.

"That was the breaking point," Johnson said. "I don't know what the hell you say about that. The ball bounces in funny ways. I don't know if we win if they don't make that play. But keeping that drive alive got the thing rolling downhill."

So did a 62-yard passing play from Grace to Josh Collins that set up Grace's final rushing score. So did a pair of red zone stands by the Panther defense. Terrell McMoore's fourth-down interception at the goal line halted one ISU threat in the second half. Defensive end Jeremy Robertson pressured Brockway into an incompletion to stop another Redbird flight at the UNI 16.

It was all part of the stream.

"With Homecoming and all the things going on around this, it was a great win, a good team win and good for our program and our fans," Farley said.

Contact Jim Sullivan at (319) 291-1434 or jim.sullivan@wcfcourier.com