Greg Wunderlich may have sent the Gorillas post-season chances up in smoke.
The senior quarterback found Mike Higgins for a 6-yard touchdown pass in overtime to help the University of Omaha-Nebraska take a 31-28 win over Pittsburg State on Saturday at Caniglia Field in Omaha.
Wunderlich threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns, while UNO running back Levi Terrell rushed for 199 yards and a touchdown.
Gorilla running back Terrance Isaac rushed for 172 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries and caught for 15 additional yards.
Jared Witter hit a 31-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining, to send the game into overtime tied at 25.
The Mavericks won the coin toss in overtime and elected to defend. The Gorillas went 3-and-out before Witter hit a 34-yarder to put the Gorillas up 28-25.
However, it was the scoring opportunities that the Gorillas missed early in the game that contributed to the loss.
Witter’s first field goal attempt, from 43 yards out, was blocked on the Gorillas first drive of the second quarter. However, a Terrance Isaac 1-yard touchdown run helped the Gorillas take a 14-9 lead into halftime. But the Gorillas struggled in the third quarter.
Pitt State was forced to punt on their first possession of the second half before turning the ball over on downs. They then lost the next possession when John McCoy fumbled.
“We had a scoring opportunity in the first half that we didn’t capitalize on, then we turned it over twice,” head coach Chuck Broyles, whose Gorillas fall to 5-5 (3-5 MIAA), said. “Not only are you giving the other team a chance to score, but you’re taking away a chance to score yourself.”
McCoy and sophomore Jeff Smith split duties at quarterback with McCoy playing a majority of the first half and Smith taking most of the second. McCoy finished 8-for-15 passing for 103 yards while Smith was 5-for-11 with 55 yards with an interception.
Smith also had 11 rushes for 96 yards despite losing nine yards on a pair of sacks.
“We ran the option well, and they more or less took the pitch away most of the time,” Broyles said. “Jeff made a couple nice runs.”
Smith’s longest run on the day was a 25-yarder late in the third quarter. The run took the Gorillas from the UNO 41 to the 16 before Isaac tied the game at 22 three plays later with a 5-yard rushing touchdown and a two-point conversion with 41 seconds remaining in the quarter.
The Mavericks hit a field goal with 2:51 remaining to put UNO up 25-22. Then Smith broke loose on a 20-yard run to help Witter hit his 31-yarder to tie the game at 25.
The Gorillas nearly had the game all but won on the play earlier when Smith’s pass to Kendall Fisher was broken-up in the end zone.
“We had four or five passes that were broken-up at the last second,” Broyles said. “I don’t know if we need to get the ball out sooner or if that’s just good defense.”
The Mavs improve to 6-4 on the season and 5-3 in the MIAA.
PITTSBURG —
