UNI football can’t take much away from season-opening loss to Air Force

CEDAR FALLS — Saturday’s season-opening, 48-17, loss at Air Force sure wasn’t pretty for Northern Iowa football.

But it wasn’t completely ugly.

The Falcons’ top-ranked running game flexed its muscles early and often against the Panthers, breaking off touchdown runs of 71, 71 and 80 yards en route to 582 yards on the ground.

Some of UNI’s breakdowns were self-inflicted, but Coach Mark Farley told The Gazette Tuesday that even though Air Force’s offense is uniquely great, there are no excuses.

“You gotta take it for the truth that we gave up 500 yards rushing. That’s the bottom line,” Farley said. “That’s (bad) tackling, that’s (bad) angles, that’s a lot of (lack of) discipline with your assignments. So you’ve got to look at that. Then, you’ve also got to give credit to your opponent with how they played. They were different. They’re not like Iowa (or) Iowa State.”

Unfortunately for the Panthers, the unique flexbone offense Air Force runs doesn’t provide much of anything to move forward with in terms of film study.

UNI began the game in a three down lineman formation, but after its early struggles switched to a four down lineman alignment. And while its four down lineman defense provided more productive plays, Farley said there’s essentially nothing to take from their body of work.

“That’s the problem with playing a team like (Air Force) — I don’t think you can take much from that game at all,” Farley said. “Everything you learn is more about your discipline and some of the things you can gain from (film) in technique. As far as evaluating the three-man (or) four-man alignment — no chance.”

The Panthers offense did provide a promising glimpse of what it may be capable of this season.

UNI totaled 405 yards, throwing for 286 and rushing for 119 while averaging an impressive 7.2 yards per play.

It was a good performance, according to Farley, but stopped short of calling it great after a false start on its first drive led to a punt in Air Force territory and a Theo Day fumble in the red zone on its third drive that sank any chance of competing in the second half.

“I thought they were in good rhythm,” Farley said of co-offensive coordinators Bodie Reeder and Ryan Clanton. “Players were sharp as far as getting where they belonged. There wasn’t a lot of mental errors. We had some physical errors.

“I wouldn’t say it was a great day. I thought it was a good day. They’ve just got to finish in the red zone.”

UNI opens Missouri Valley Football Conference play this Saturday with its first trip to Grand Forks, N.D., to take on North Dakota (0-1).

The Fighting Hawks were tied 7-7 with Nebraska at halftime Saturday before losing to the Cornhuskers, 38-17.

“They play with everybody until the fourth quarter,” Farley said. “I thought they handled Nebraska very well when you really look at what they did.”