There will be a final walk through practice later today before the UNI Panthers get set for tomorrow night’s opening round of the FCS national playoffs against New Hampshire. The Panthers enter the post-season top ranked after an 11-0 run through the regular season.
UNI coach Mark Farley says you have to put the team out there with the best plan, as you don’t get another day. It will be size versus speed up front as the UNI offensive line will have a significant size advantage over the New Hampshire defensive front. He says they offset that by sending more guys at the quarterback to increase the pressure and make up for the lack of size.
Farley says the regular season was the first challenge and the post season provides a new one. He says to get the number one seed is awesome, but it’s not a free pass in the playoffs. Farley says being in the UNI-dome does give them a little edge, and they will need it as all the teams are very equal at this point.
New Hampshire has one of the nation’s top quarterbacks in Ricky Santos but coach Sean McDowell says inconsistent play hampered the Wildcats during a 7-4 season. He says their defense has not stopped the run or created turnovers.
McDowell says the strength of his team is its offense, and the success has been creating turnovers. McDowell says UNI is a team very deserving of the top ranking and does things well in every phase.