Mark Farley
With no game to prepare for this week Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley says it is back to work on special teams. Break downs have been costly in the Panthers 1-2 start. They have given up an 81 yard punt return for a touchdown, a 93 yard kickoff return for a score and Eastern Washington scored the go ahead touchdown in the waning seconds on Saturday with a fake field goal.
“That is probably the biggest thing we have to correct during this open date”, said Farley. “We will make some personnel changes.”
Farley says special teams touchdowns are game changers and they have prevented UNI from racing out to a 3-0 start. Eastern Washington scored two special teams touchdown in the second half to roar back from a 17 point halftime deficit.
“We have left 36 points on the field in three games between missed field goals and giving up three touchdowns”, added Farley. “When you look at 36 points left on the field that is the difference in a lot of football games.”
The Panthers return to action on October 1 when they host Southern Illinois in their annual homecoming contest.
Elwin Huffman at KOEL contributed to this story