Football Practice Begins At Upper Iowa

Preparations for the 2014 football season are officially underway at Upper Iowa. The Peacocks returned to the turf inside Harms-Eischeid Stadium for their first official work of the year on Thursday (August 14th).

Upper Iowa is scheduled to practice each of the next four days at 2 p.m. The team will have three two-a-day workouts next week -- on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Practices will continue at Upper Iowa through August 23rd. Classes at the university begin on Monday, Aug. 25.

Upper Iowa's season opens in just 23 days, a schedule that begins with a September 6th home game against Minnesota State-Moorhead at 3 p.m. in Fayette.

The Peacocks are picked to finish 11th in the overall standings of the 16-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). League coaches also picked them to finish sixth in the South Division in their pre-season poll.

The league coaches named two Upper Iowa team members to their "Players to Watch" list heading into the 2014 campaign.

Senior tight end Lucas Hefty of Traer, Iowa, and junior defensive tackle Jevell Rollins of Milwaukee, Wisconsin will receive special attention from the teams who play the Peacocks this season.

Hefty earned NSIC South Division First-Team and Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-Super Region #3 honors in 2013 after catching 65 passes for 846 yards (51st in NCAA) and 10 touchdowns (33rd NCAA). In his first three seasons at Upper Iowa, Hefty has caught 113 passes for 1,476 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Rollins played and started the first 7 games for the Peacocks last year before an injury cut his sophomore season short. Before being injured, he made 17 tackles (including 4 for loss) and a pair of assisted sacks. Over two seasons, Rollins has recorded 49 tackles (includig 15.5 for loss) while playing 18 games.

Upper Iowa enjoyed rare success in 2013, finishing the season with records of 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the NSIC's South Division. With their 24-21 win at Wayne State (Nebraska) on November 9th, the Peacocks secured just their 35th winning season in school history. Prior to last year, Upper Iowa had won six games during a season only 15 other times in the program's 119-year history.

Last year's winning season was the first for Upper Iowa since becoming an official NCAA Division II competitor prior to the 2005 season.