University of Mary football coach Myron Schulz saw a lot of positives from his team's defense last week in a loss to Chadron State.

Both of U-Mary's touchdowns were generated by the defense.

A Phillip Thomas interception set up a first-half touchdown.

Linebacker Josh Winfield took a 59-yard interception to paydirt, for his first college touchdown.

The defense spent 42:59 on the field and eventually wore down in the second half. The unit also had to work with a short field often.

"They did a great job," Schulz said. "One of the things you could really see was the defensive line was really physical. The secondary, they've been around so they know the system. With the linebackers, Caleb Thompson is a good hitter. He had a few eye-popping hits."

Schulz will be looking for the same salty performances from the defense today when U-Mary takes on Upper Iowa in the Northern Sun opener.

The Peacocks defeated Lincoln University of Jefferson City, Mo., 65-6 last weekend.

The Peacocks generated eight rushing touchdowns, 440 total yards and held Lincoln to just 95 total yards in the season-opening win.

"Upper Iowa is a spread team,"Schulz said. "They are uptempo. They have good receivers, a good quarterback, and they will spread you out.

"They have a couple good running backs," Schulz added. "If you spread them out and cover them, they will run it. If you cover the run, they'll throw it."

Winfield admitted to being worn out after the Chadron State game, but didn't grumble about it.

"That's part of the game," said Winfield, a 6-foot, 225-pounder from Las Vegas. "It showed. We were tired as a defense. We did some extra running this week.

"But we had a few missed assignments and a few missed tackles," Winfield said.

Winfield credited Caleb Thompson's bone-crushing hit on Chadron State quarterback Garrett Treffer for his interception.

"That was all Caleb," Winfield said. "It's all his touchdown, in my mind 100 percent. I turned the corner, saw Caleb and the ball came to me. I just started running."

Schulz will also be coaching against former U-Mary coach Tom Shea, who was the head coach from 1991-97.

Schulz served as a position coach and a defensive coordinator under Shea.

"Tom was instrumental in getting me hired at the University of Mary," Schulz said. "He has taught me a lot about football. I'll always be indebted to him for that."