The U.N.I. Panthers are on the road this week to play Missouri State. The Panthers opened the Missouri Valley Football Conference race last weekend with a victory over Western Illinois while the Bears are 0-4 with all of the losses on the road to Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, Oregon and a last second loss Southern Illinois last week.
U.N.I. coach Mark Farley says they are going on the road and it’s their first football game so they will be excited and he says they have to play at a high level in all segments of the game. With running back Carlos Anderson struggling with an ankle injury David Johnson has provided a lift.
The freshman is averaging 85 yards of rushing per game and has five touchdowns, and Farley says you wouldn’t know he is a freshman if you just watched him on film. Farley says Anderson could be back for this weekend and they will play him if he is ready. He says it is a tough football game and they are not going to save anything for anybody.
Former Panther coach Terry Allen is in his 6th year at Missouri State and says a tough schedule does not get any easier this week. He says U.N.I. is one of the premiere programs in the country with an outstanding experienced defense.
Allen says his team has handled a tough start as well as can be expected, as he says they play Southern tough and handled the adversity and they can hopefully continue to do that.