In conjunction with my writing frustrations, my Panthers decided to lose the next game to Southern Illinois by a score of 20-27. I have a few problems with this game almost every year. First off, scheduling this game for the University of Northern Iowa’s homecoming was a terrible idea. This is the second time it was been done. The reason is that three years ago we beat the living crap out of a winless Illinois State team. We dominated them so quickly, the majority of the second half consisted of both teams running the ball on every down and eventually punting it to the other team. Given the option, I am pretty sure both coaches would have gladly called the game early. The result was the crowd leaving in mass exodus before the end of the third quarter. I understand the importance of a quality game during homecoming. However, I also understand the importance of scheduling a team in which there is a very reasonable chance of beating. While UNI had a good shot at beating Southern Illinois, picking the hardest team on the schedule and the biggest rival is a bad idea. It just so happens that the homecoming crowd is rather mediocre compared to big game crowds. This is due to all the alumni returning and spending the majority of the game talking to the people around them than getting into the game. Now, if the toughest opponent is put a couple weeks after homecoming, an equal crowd will show, but it will be much more intense. In an atmosphere like the UNI-Dome, the difference in impact on the game is huge. We easily could have scheduled a Youngstown State or Western Illinois and expected a decent game. So not only are the chances of losing homecoming reduced, but the probability of winning the most difficult game is increased. Without a doubt, Southern Illinois is the toughest game on the Panther schedule. It has been every year since I began attending the university.
For those that were reading my posts about every UNI football game, it has become obvious I stopped. Ultimately, I was struggling with what I had to say. I am not a journalist. I cannot nor will I make a story out of every game. I analyze them for the quality of football to improve for the next week in the progression towards a championship. I look at a football game and team from the perspective of a coach in many ways. The result was I really was not happy with what I had to say about each game. It was too difficult for me to remember the critical plays and situations necessary to write a proper analytical piece. This resulted in me not writing immediately on the North Dakota State game when I was almost caught up with the latest game played. Anyways, I have decided to undertake the task once again.
UNI managed to squeak out a win over a newly developing rival in North Dakota State. The score was 42-27 thanks to some late points to make it look like a slightly safer win. The game was strange due to the number of penalties, most notably coming from personal fouls from rising emotions. The Bison have not been in the Missouri Valley Conference long, but it is clear they already do not get along with the Panthers. Adding to this, the game took on a physical nature thanks to NDSU having the best running game in the nation as I recall. UNI was the top rushing defense in the conference, but I attribute that partially to playing poor competition or having a lead the entire game when we did play decent teams. The result was teams did not have a lot of time to attempt to rush against. North Dakota State was the first team capable of pounding the ball for an extended period of time against the Panthers. The Bison were able to make a dent in the formidable UNI defense. However, they were slowed down enough to prove that while stopping the rush may not be UNI’s greatest strength, they are still can hold their own.
In the end, the Panther offense came alive late to seal the game. However, for the first time, UNI seemed mortal while playing an FCS football team. At this point in time, they had won every game by 28 points or more excluding the FBS Iowa Hawkeyes who were undefeated and ranked #11 in the AP Top 25 poll following this week. In all, it was shown that the UNI defense was potentially vulnerable to the run and the offense still was not fully clicking. However, it would take a team with more athletic talent and properly built to truly attack the weaknesses of the stout defense to pull off a victory against the Panthers.
The Northern Iowa Panthers put the beat down on the Indiana State Sycamores 62-7 in front of the Panther families on family weekend. The score itself demonstrates how the Panthers came out on the right foot this week. The offense started with some underneath routes that worked well before airing it out later in the game. It is the easy games like these I keep mentioning that results in Pat Grace throwing down the field the entire time. The defense continued to do its thing. So rather than continue writing about how UNI dominated, let us talk about family weekend!
My sister’s family and my mom decided to come up for family weekend. My sister has two children, a boy who is nearly four years old and a girl who is two. The boy also happens to be into trains. UNI just so happens to have a model train lab in the Computer Science Department. I was going to demonstrate it for my nephew, but unfortunately, the professor had it in disrepair for hardware upgrades. We went in and took a look at it anyways. We also got to stop by the Biology open house to look at some various animals, insects, and bones. Then we swung into Lang Hall which houses the Earth Sciences. There were a lot of fossils, including the head of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, in the hallways. The boy, who is also into dinosaurs, enjoyed this. Then we hit the dining centers for free rootbeer floats. Eventually, we even made it to the game!
The game was a lot of fun too. I sat in the student section since that is where my free ticket is located. Fortunately, a friend saved me a front row seat since I was entertaining my family and could not get there in time myself. My family had reserved seats in the upper section of the dome roughly along thirty yard line. There was not much communication with them for the first half other than trying to get my nephew to see where I was after the first quarter while the crowd was sitting down. During halftime, I found my nephew and brother-in-law returning with popcorn and a drink. When I asked my nephew what he thought of the game, I was told “they need to start over because the one didn’t know what they were doing.” I am told he was repeating what he got told about a penalty, but I think the boy was simply being smart enough to realize UNI was dominating.
During the middle of the fourth quarter, I had my family move down behind where I was sitting because the crowd was emptying quickly thanks to the score. When I brought my nephew up to the front row so he could look down at the football players directly below us, he brought the foam finger my sister bought for him. Upon getting to see the players just a few feet below him, he was, quite frankly, in awe. As the game was winding down, a few past UNI football players came down next to us to talk to some of the current players. They took a liking to the kid and got a couple of the players to give my nephew their armbands. So he now has an armband from #88 Maurice Turner and two armbands from #13 Pat Grace.
Family weekend wrapped up nicely after the game. We went down onto the field and the kids played with a Panther football my sister also bought for them. They seemed to enjoy this to the point we were there until security asked us to leave. Then my nephew had a meltdown for a moment. However, to top off the day, we went to Pepper’s Grill and Sport’s Pub for dinner. This is easily my favorite restaurant in Cedar Falls for its amazing food and televisions everywhere showing any football game on at the time. In short, it was a great day and hopefully, my nephew has successfully been recruited as a Panther.
UNI went to Springfield, Missouri and beat Missouri State 35-7 in typical fashion. Fortunately, the game was broadcast on a local channel to allow me to watch it. Once again, the Panther offense started sloppy with Grace missing high on any pass of ten yards or less. A few triple option plays getting wide receiver Jarred Herring involved in the running game. UNI also decided to call a particular play several times, too many in my personal opinion. The play was a quick pass to a wide receiver out on the edge with a slot receiver to block. It was not a bubble screen because no linemen were sent out to block. The receiver was left with one receiver as a blocker and, otherwise, the open field to show what he could do. I believe this was an attempt to get Pat Grace some simple completions while also getting the ball in the hands of the receivers. Rather than constantly trying to make big plays by throwing down the field, Panther wide receivers are fast enough to gain some yards after the catch. Unfortunately, Missouri State was all over the play, and it rarely went for any yardage. However, eventually, the offensive coordinator seemed to figure out better ways to throw underneath in an effort to get the ball out to the receivers.
On the other side of the ball, the defense looked solid. “Bend, but don’t break” worked to perfection with turnovers coming anytime the Bears started to drive the ball. The only score came when Missouri State put the ball in the endzone with seven seconds left in the game against the Panther backups. It ended a scoreless streak by the Panther defense that lasted over 170 minutes or eleven quarters of football. The last score given up was on the first offensive play by South Dakota two weeks ago when they ran a flea flicker trick play to go approximately seventy yards for a touchdown. It was the traditional cover 3 by which coach Farley lives and dies. Missouri State demonstrated some ability to take advantage of it on occasion, but turnovers prevented them from capitalizing on it. It will be something to keep an eye on in the bigger games when teams do not make as many unforced errors. Farley’s strategy is to allow the other team to beat themselves. It works great until facing talented teams who seize the opportunity and make the plays needed to win the game. Be assured, I will be keeping an eye on it as the season progresses.
On the whole, the game was a nice progression. While still looking a little sloppy on the offensive side, there were signs of moving in the right direction. The defense continues to look strong while hiding its potential Achilles Heel for the time being. I suppose one good things about UNI’s offense started sloppy is the coaches do not shut it down at halftime. In the end, it was another win against a team with a bit more talent than the previous two opponents.
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.
UNI beat South Dakota by a score of 66-7 in this game. The crowd held UNI’s first blackout, and the team even bought special black uniforms to join in the fun. I was sadly away to my niece’s birthday party and unable to watch the game. However, my experience with the game was receiving text updates from a friend every time points were put on the board. It got pretty entertaining as the entire party was intrigued by how frequently my phone was alerting me with the next score update. I remember realizing it was halftime when I had not received any updates for five to ten minutes. This blog post really sucks, but the Panthers rock!
On Saturday, September 5th, 2009, the University of Northern Iowa lost to University of Iowa by a score of 16-17. It took the FBS team two blocked field goals in the final seven seconds to beat the FCS team. I was in the crowd that day. I must say that was one of the most enjoyable football games I have been to in my life, and I have been to a lot. Going into the game, my only concerns were that UNI did not have any major injuries. Being an Iowa and UNI fan, I was not too concerned with who won. Iowa winning might have been the best since it hardly effects UNI to lose to an FBS team.
Iowa was ranked #22 in the nation in the preseason. However, that was before a few season ending injuries to HB Jewell Hampton and CB Jordan Bernstine. Both of whom were to be key figures in the success of the Hawkeyes on the season. I felt like Iowa came out a little flat and might have slightly underestimated UNI. That being said, it is hard to say how much was bad play versus struggling against a quality team. Not to mention, there will always be the cobwebs and shaky play that come with the first game of the season.
I believe UNI was ranked #4 in the nation preseason in the FCS. While there were brief moments of questionable play, overall, the Panthers looked pretty sharp. They attacked Iowa on both sides of the ball. There was some luck in that Iowa was still trying to sort out who the primary ball carriers would be to setup the play-action for Stanzi “the Manzi.” One of the things I noticed early on was Billy Hallgren was kicking some line drive kickoffs. His extra points were not too high either. This did not surprise me as he always struggled during warm-ups last year, and I knew the kicking game would be a weakness for UNI this year after losing our starter from the 2008-2009 season. Perhaps the thing that surprised me the most was the ability of UNI’s linemen to compete in the trenches against Iowa. I thought this would be where the game was decided, and that UNI would simply be overmatched. I was wrong. Overall, I would call it a draw as was the game in most areas.
Ultimately, the game came down to a field goal with seven seconds left. I told Jessa to not be surprised to see a blocked kick. I knew Hallgren had been kicking low all game, and Iowa is one of the best teams in the nation at blocking critical field goals at the end of games. Everything screamed for an adrenaline surge up the middle of the formation with outstretched arms to deflect the ball. Amazingly, I was dead on. I was a little surprised to see one of the Iowa players telling everyone to get back from the ball, but did not have time enough to process the reasoning it was a bad move. UNI recovered the ball.
The referees gave UNI the ball on the right hash at the spot where the ball was located and with a stopped clock. My problem with the ruling of the referees is the stopped clock. When the ball does not cross the line of scrimmage on a field goal attempt, the ball is considered live. This means when a UNI player fell on the ball, it was as if they were attempting a running play or something similar. Since this player did not go out of bounds, the clock should have been started as soon as ruling was decided and the ball ready for play. There was only one second on the clock. This means the ball would have had to been snapped immediately upon the whistle signaling ready for play. This makes it more difficult for the kicker because he does not have the opportunity to wait until he is ready to have the ball snapped. On the other hand, the defense would have a little less time to get ready and organize their attempts to time the block. Normally, the upright defenders can get a jump on the snap by watching the backfield for the kicker and holder to signal their readiness for the snap. Considering the kick was blocked by Jeremiah Hunter, an upright defender, maybe the second kick would not have been blocked. It is hard to say either way. I just wish the referees would know the rules of college football better than a guy out in the stands. Maybe we should give them a phone call or a poll the audience lifeline…
This is a little delayed in coming, but it has been a busy week so far for me. Anyways, I am an avid sports fan. My favorite sport is football, hands down. I am still considering getting my coaching certificate to allow me to coach a high school football team. I live and die for the sport. This last week at the UNI football game taking place in our great UNI-Dome, I had one of my best UNI football moments ever!
I managed to get front row seats on the 50 yard line for the game. We were up by 10 late in the game, but our offense had completely stalled. To make matters worse, our starting HB (who’s a stud) had been sitting on the bench most of the game due to an aggravated ankle injury. But it gets even worse. Our starting QB (who’s one of the biggest QB studs I’ve ever seen, how many QB’s do you know that can run over LB’s??) had just gone out with a knee injury. Things were not going well. We had yet to score a single point the entire second half. That includes after recovering a fumble on North Dakota State’s 5 yard line. So you’re wondering what this has to do with me? Well, let me tell you…
After our backup running back ran out of bounds short of the first down on 3rd & 3, I made sure to chew him out as he walked by me. He has the potential to be a really good running back, but for some reason, he just doesn’t tend to run very hard. He will get tapped on his elbow and fall over. Quite frankly, it’s pathetic. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a running back act like such a pansy. Needless to say, when he wandered over near where I was, I told him what I thought about it. He seemed to ignore me as if he didn’t hear me, but he was only about 5 feet away from me at the time (our dome literally has the fans on top of the players benches). I’ll also add that the crowd was pretty quiet because we were tired of punting. Anyways, the next time we got the ball, he went out there and ran over about everyone on North Dakota State’s defense and sealed the game for us. I have never seen him seek contact so much in all the games I’ve seen him play. He went looking for somebody to hit on every single play he got the ball (which was every play). He looked amazing out there. If he continues to run like that once he buffs up as an upper classman, I will absolutely love the man. To top it all off, when he came off the field, he meandered back over by me. When I congratulated him on the hard running, he simply smirked and pointed up at me. Maybe I should get seats right behind the bench more often.