Let’s hear it for the UNI Panthers!

For today, let's leave the wretched Saturday wreckage of Iowa and Iowa State behind.

If ever there were a time to steal Northern Iowa radio announcer Gary Rima's 'Oh, baby!” call, it's now.

First, Northern Iowa beat seventh-ranked Illinois State at the UNI-Dome, 42-28, ending the Redbirds' 9-game winning streak. Then on Saturday, it was as glorious a day as the Panthers have known in a long time when they buffaloed the North Dakota State Bison in the Dome, 23-3.

That was the FCS No. 1-ranked NDSU Bison. The team that has won the last three FCS national-championships. The team that had won 33 straight games, including three over FBS teams on the road.

The Panthers limited NDSU to 175 yards. The Bison had to punt 10 times. They had been 10th in the nation in rushing. They gained just 43 rushing yards.

Meanwhile, UNI rushed for 213 yards. Its offense did all it needed in the second half when it scored 16 points. North Dakota State had surrendered just 55 second-half points over its previous 18 games.

When the Panthers opened the season by pushing Iowa to the hilt before being on the losing end of a 31-23 score, many said they looked like FCS-championship contenders. But frustration built as the season progressed.

There was a 3-point loss at FBS Hawaii, a 1-point loss on the road to a ranked good Indiana State team, a 3-point home loss to ranked South Dakota State.

UNI was 3-4 with extremely formidable opposition still ahead. Today? The Panthers are 6-4 and will surely get themselves to the national playoffs if they finish off the year with a win at Southern Illinois (6-4) Saturday and at home against Missouri State (4-6).

If that's how it plays out, UNI would be 8-4 overall and 8-2 against the FCS, and no team in their entire division can claim two wins as prestigious. But first, Southern Illinois on the road.

Emotional letups happen to almost every squad at some point and you would think it would be difficult for the Panthers to bounce back up this week. But by Game 10, you're either dialed in and playing for something, or you aren't. UNI is dialed in and playing for something.

'We got stronger as the game got longer,” Panthers Coach Mark Farley said. He could say the same thing about his team's season-to-date.

The win over North Dakota State wasn't some deal where the Panthers threw everything they had into one game. It wasn't one big deciding play here or one lucky play there. It was a resolute, dominant effort, a team bringing its best performance of the season to the field a week after it had done the very same thing against another high-quality opponent.

UNI has had a lot of moments like these in its football history over the last two decades, but they've been kind of fleeting the last few years. These back-to-back wins over No. 7 and No. 1, though? It's time to steal from Mr. Rima again.

Oh, baby!

l Comments: (319) 368-8840; mike.hlas@thegazette.com