UNI turned a top matchup into a rout on Saturday as the fifth ranked Panthers beat ninth rated McNeese State 41-6 in the UNI-Dome. “I thought it was a tremendous effort, very, very pleased,” UNI coach Mark Farley. He says the team came out in the right mind set to play the game and did a great job. The Panther defense bottled up a McNeese State offense that was averaging better than 40 points and 510 yards per game. the Cowboys were limited to 280 yards of total offense.
Farley says you have to be disciplined to play a team like this as they have so many things they can do on offense and the plan was to take away the run game and screen game and do what they could against the pass. UNI quarterback Sawyer Kollmorgen passed for three touchdowns and ran for another but Farley says he had plenty of help.
“I called him on the sideline because he missed some throws early in the first quarter — and then he got hot, the receivers made him hot,” Farley says. He says he told the players they had to let the crowd into the game and the receivers made some great catches that got the crowd going.
Next up for the Panthers is a Missouri Valley Football Conference showdown at top ranked and two time defending national champion North Dakota State.
(Reporting by Elwin Huffman KOEL Oelwein)