NORMAL, Ill. - Tyler Sievertsen has a full head of thick blond hair and doesn't look like a football hero, but he is.

Sievertsen kicked two clutch field goals Saturday to help No. 4 Northern Iowa clip No. 14 Illinois State, 23-20, in double overtime on a gray day at Hancock Stadium.

The victory gave Northern Iowa (9-2, 7-1) a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and earned the Panthers a bye in the first round of the FCS playoffs next week. The Panthers host Wofford (8-3) Dec. 3.

Sievertsen blasted a 40-yard field goal into a 30 mph wind to tie the game, 13-13, with five seconds left in the fourth quarter, then booted a 36-yarder to win the game in double OT.

"It's pretty unreal. That's what you dream about," said Sievertsen, a redshirt sophomore from Cedar Rapids Kennedy. "When I go to bed at night, I dream of that moment. It finally happened and I'm hoping there's more to come."

Sievertsen was named MVFC special teams player of the week Sunday.

Sievertsen has been nearly perfect this season. He's made 17 of 18 field goals and is 34 for 34 on PATs. He hasn't missed a kick since Sept. 24, and even that one was extremely close.

Sievertsen joined the Panthers as a walk-on three years ago.

"At that time he didn't know if he was going to make the cut and be on the team," UNI Coach Mark Farley said. "We made a good choice.

"He needed a strong leg today to kick that one into the wind. I'm happy for him. He's worked at it, he's earned it."

Sievertsen's 40-yard boot into a heavy wind saved the day for Northern Iowa with the game hanging in the balance. It had plenty of distance and split the uprights.

"Tyler is a phenomenal kicker. He's a champion's champion," UNI quarterback Tirrell Rennie said. "We have faith in him."

"Tyler is cold as ice," Northern Iowa linebacker L.J. Fort said. "He's the best kicker in the league, maybe in the nation."

If Sievertsen had missed the 40-yarder at the end of regulation, the Panthers would have finished in a tie for second place in the MVFC and would have faced a tougher road in the playoffs.

"Boy, he banged it through," Illinois State Coach Brock Spack said. "It would have been good from 50. I was very impressed. He banged it right through the pipes."

Sievertsen said he tries to concentrate on the kick and not worry about the situation. John Hubbard snapped it, Kyle Bernard held it and Sievertsen booted them through.

"It's what I do every day, it's what I go out to practice to do," he said. "I try not to think about it.

"You obviously know the wind is blowing in your face. You just have to make the correct adjustments and hope that it goes in."