UNI football coach Mark Farley wraps up career with win over Indiana State

CEDAR FALLS — The Northern Iowa football team gave head coach Mark Farley plenty of reasons to smile in his final game, holding on to defeat Indiana State on Senior Day, 41-34.

The dramatics began early, as Sergio Morancy reversed field and broke multiple tackles while returning an Indiana State (4-8, 3-5) punt 63 yards for a touchdown and 10-7 lead with 5:55 remaining in the first quarter.

Morancy gave Farley another reason to smile less than 10 minutes later, scoring on a 19-yard screen pass, with a blocking escort from right tackle Tristan Roper — who motioned out wide pre-snap.

“It’s bittersweet,” Farley said after coaching his last game. “I’ve been in the dome since (1982). To me, the dome is a symbol of our football program. It just represents every fan, every player, every coach — because I just think to go through here, you have to have some type of edge to you to be successful. To finish my last game with a team that had resilience is just as good as the 2005 team that played for the title, because they were written off too that year.”

With a 17-14 lead after Morancy’s second score, UNI’s special teams made a big play, as Ben Belken forced a Joey Shew fumble recovered by Derek Anderson against a fake punt pass that would have been a first down in Panthers’ territory.

On the next play at their own 31, Panther quarterback Aidan Dunne threw his second touchdown pass to Morancy on a go route that went 69 yards.

“It just showed what I know,” Farley said of the stopped fake punt followed by a touchdown. “These guys have been resilient all year. We caught a break today, finally. When Belken got that ball out that was deliberate, that wasn’t by chance. It’s been a great day.”

Leading 24-17 to begin the second half, UNI’s offense continued to create big plays as Tye Edwards took the second play of the third quarter 76 yards for a touchdown and 31-17 lead.

Edwards — who finished with a career-high 229 rushing yards — struck again on the Panthers’ next drive, running 49 yards on first down to the Indiana State 27. Six plays later, UNI extended its lead to 34-17 with a 19-yard Caden Palmer field goal.

“It was a great offensive (game) and Sergio and Tye were awesome,” Farley said. “For those two guys to be awesome, you need an offensive line, quarterback — great team effort. I thought the offense went out with a bang (with) how they played.”

A fluky, 73-yard Sycamores’ touchdown pass bounced off one receiver and into another's hands and was followed by a missed UNI (3-9, 1-7) field goal and 68-yard touchdown run from Indiana State’s Shen Butler-Lawson, setting up a closely contested fourth quarter.

The Sycamores then answered Morancy’s fourth touchdown of the game — a 13-yard reception — with a field goal to draw within one score at 41-34 with 3:37 to play.

Facing fourth-and-26 with just under two minutes remaining at midfield, Cael Loecher trotted onto the field for what would have been the Panthers’ first punt of the game, but an Indiana State leaping penalty gave UNI a first down — and with no timeouts left for the Sycamores — Farley’s 24-year career as head coach ended with a win three kneeldowns later.

“You do not know,” Farley said of how much ending with a win meant to him. “It’s been a struggle this year, there’s no question, I’ve never experienced this. But, there’s no way I wanted to lose (the) last football game and then walk out of here without that win. There was no way I was gonna have some party after getting beat, because I’m not a good party guy after losing, so we can actually go enjoy this now. It’s been a good run.”