UNI football coach Mark Farley says Pat Grace will be the starting quarterback for the Panthers when the open pre-season workouts for the upcoming season. The former Sioux City Heelan standout will replace Eric Sanders, even though his missed UNI’s spring game with a sore arm.

Farley says Grace could have played, but says it wasn’t worth it, and it gave them a chance to look at some others in the spot. He says Grace will be the starting quarterback without question. The defense is experienced and one of the keys for next season will be how well the offensive line performs. That unit will have several new starts and Farley was asked how they graded out during spring drills.

Farley says he gave them a D in the first week, a C-plus to a B-minus in the second week, an A-minus in the third week, and then a C in the game. He says there’s talent to work with, but they were too irradict in the game.

The Panthers will open the season August 30th at BYU.