DES MOINES, IOWA ? Northern Iowa took advantage of a season-high four turnovers by Drake to hand the Bulldogs their first loss of the season, 45-7, Saturday at Drake Stadium.

The Panthers, ranked No. 4 in the Sports Network Football Championship Subdivision, rolled up 524 yards total offense with senior quarterback Eric Sanders running for a touchdown and throwing a touchdown.

Drake, a non-scholarship program, had a six-game winning streak snapped dating back to last year which was the second longest active string in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.

The Bulldogs had opened the season Aug. 30 with a 27-24 come-from-behind victory against another Gateway Conference School in Illinois State, which was ranked No. 7 in the Sports Network Football Championship Subdivision preseason poll.

Sanders rolled out for a two-yard touchdown run on third down to cap a 13-play, 73-yard scoring drive on the Panthers' first possession of the game.

Four players later, linebacker Araf Evans returned a fumble 35 yards for a touchdown staking Northern Iowa to a 14-0 lead with 2:01 left in the first quarter. Drake quarterback Cole Ingle (Runnels/Southeast Polk) had completed a four-yard pass to tight end Greg Smit (Sioux Center, Iowa) who fumbled after being hit by Evans.

Ingle tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Zach Brower (West Des Moines Valley) with 1:57 left in the third quarter to account for Drake's lone touchdown.

Brower caught a career-high nine passes for 92 yards including his first career touchdown. Brower equalled his entire season output of nine receptions last year. Brower has caught 21 passes this season, nearly doubling his career output of 12 entering this fall.

Drake senior running back Scott Phaydavong (Des Moines East) moved into No. 14 on the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision career rushing list with 5,163 yard, surpassing Markus Thomas of Eastern Kentucky who gained 5,149 yards from 1989-92.

Smit, making his first collegiate start at tight end, caught a career-high six passes for 62 yards. He replaced senior all-league tight end Dan Marx (Maple Grove, Minn.), who did not play because of injury. Smit, who played defensive end for Drake last year, caught the first two passes of his career last Saturday at Wisconsin-Platteville.

Drake junior free safety Andy Green (Atlantic, Iowa) collected his 10th career interception, including his second this season, when he picked off a pass by Sanders at the Bulldog two yard line with four seconds left in the first half.

Late in the second quarter Drake quarterback Derek Retherford had a pass intercepted by linebacker De'Veon Harris at the Bulldog 23-yardline. That set up an 11-yard touchdown strike from Sanders to Johnny Gray allowing Northern Iowa to enjoy a 28-0 halftime lead.

Freshman redshirt linebacker Josh Walkup (Littleton, Colo.) and reserve safety Skye Buckner-Petty (Florissant, Mo.) led Drake with nine tackles apiece. Senior safety Jacob Craig (Mount Vernon, Iowa) added eight tackles while forcing a fumble.

Drake will host Valparaiso in its Pioneer Football League opener next Saturday at Drake Stadium.

The attendance was 10,216 which was the largest crowd to watch a Drake home game during its mid-major nonscholarship status (1986), bettering the previous mark of 10,107 in the 2006 season opener against Northern Iowa.