The U-N-I Panthers will need to knock off the top ranked team to move on to the one-double-a national semifinals. The Panthers will visit a number one New Hampshire team that is unbeaten on the season.
U-N-I coach Mark Farley says they haven’t played a number one team since they played Idaho in the mid 90’s. Farley says it’s exactly where Northern Iowa wants to be and should be. He says if they have to go on the road to play, so be it.
One concern is the start time. Kickoff is schedule for ten a.m., Iowa time and Farley says it will change their routine. He says they always have a pre-game meal four hours before kickoff and that means six a.m. for this game. He says they have to figure out a way to equalize that so it’s not an advantage for New Hampshire.
New Hampshire opened the playoffs with a 55-21 win over Colgate, the sixth time this season they have topped the 50 point mark. Farley says the Wildcats no-huddle offense will be tough to stop. He says they’ll find out how fast they are so they can tell what they can do with the play calling on offense and defense.
Farley says they hope to have running back Terrance Freeney ready to play. Freeney rushed for 101 yards in last week’s victory over Eastern Washington but aggravated a high ankle sprain. Farley says it’s not holding up well when Freeney makes his break. Farley says the ground game could be important as it could be a game in snow and he says you need a snowplow in a snow game.