UNI beat St. Francis 30-0 in a game that was rather mediocre given the circumstances. St. Francis was expected to be even worse than South Dakota. The good news was I got to stay in Cedar Falls for the game. Being back at the dome was probably the highlight of the game for me. I showed up at the dome with a friend at around 1:45 PM when the game started at 4:05 PM. We also got to pick up a one square foot piece of the old turf from the previous years. UNI bought new turf in the off-season and gave out pieces of the old stuff. Anyways, we got to be the front of one of the admission lines. When they let students in at 2:30 PM, we charged down and got our traditional seats in the front row on roughly the northern forty yard line. We managed to hang on enough seats for a couple friends that could not make it until closer to the start of the game.
Yet, the best moment did not happen until the second half of the game. I had run up the stairs during a timeout to try to fill up a couple water bottles at a water fountain. Stepping back out of the halls to the field was the reason I live for college football. I came walking down the stairs with fans packing the seats on either side of me and across the field. The teams were walking back out onto the field to resume play. Everyone who enjoys college football and has been to a game knows what I am talking about. There is just something about walking down the stairs in a full stadium, or dome, and looking down at the field where the teams are standing.
As for the play itself, UNI looked off, but they still won 30-0. The offense appeared as if it got a little full of itself from the previous week. Any of the passing plays were called to go down the field as if the Panthers thought they could put up a touchdown anytime they wanted. Grace also had his typical inaccuracy when he did throw under fifteen yards by throwing high. It seems to me that his high throws come from a combination of a strong arm and not keeping his front shoulder down. The shoulder is a problem that comes from constantly throwing the ball fifty yards down field. St. Francis’ defense did a good job with blitzes and stunts to confuse our offensive line. This only made matters worse for the long passing plays. Rather than helping out our offensive line, by throwing underneath and letting Grace get some confidence, the Panthers spent the game continuing to try to throw down the field. The result was a halftime score for 14-0 which included a touchdown on the opening kickoff. The defense ran its “bend, but don’t break” scheme with cover 3 as its foundation. While not exactly my favorite scheme, UNI runs it well, and it works against weaker opponents. All said, UNI did not play its best, but still won 30-0. It is a win, and I will take it.