U.N.I. coach Mark Farley says he’s proud of the season his Panthers put together. U.N.I. was eliminated in the opening round of the FCS playoffs after a 14-7 loss to Lehigh and finished the season with a 7-5 record after winning the Missouri Valley regular season title.

Farley says the team did play well together and he is pleased with the coaches and team and how they played through the season. He says they were making thing happen as they were playing as a total team, even though they were a young team.

This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Panthers but Farley says senior leadership helped get the program back to the playoffs. He says it was night and day compared to last year what this team did with its talent compared to last year. Farley says they won this year not because of talent, but because of leadership.

By Elwin Huffman KOEL Oelwein