The Northern Iowa football team will face a huge challenge this Saturday. The Panthers will open up Gateway Conference play at Division One-Double-A top-ranked Southern Illinois. Last year the Panthers staged a dramatic come-from-behind 43-40 victory at home over SIU to earn a share of the Gateway Conference title. At the time Southern Illinois was undefeated and ranked second nationally and Panther coach Mark Farley says he thinks they’ll be more emotionally tied to the game than his team because of what happened. The Panthers are still looking to get their rushing attack going. Farley feels it’s vital for UNI to run the ball well this Saturday. He says Southern has average nearly 45 points a game and 500 yards of offense, and he says if you can keep them off the field by running the football, that’s critical. UNI is 1-2.
