Farley, Panthers think 'story still to be told'

CEDAR FALLS - With just six games left this season, the University of Northern Iowa Panthers sit at the bottom of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, but head coach Mark Farley thinks there's no reason to give up on his team now.

“When you're at UNI, you know how to get to the playoffs,” Farley said at his weekly news conference. “What I need to stress to them is to focus on the fact that the only thing we can control is getting ready for the next football game. We don't control anything else right now.”

UNI suffered its third straight loss of the season Saturday to North Dakota State University to fall to 1-4, with their only win coming against D-II Central State. Historically, no team has ever made the playoffs with less than seven D-I wins.

“(We) didn't play to the intensity we needed to. I thought we started the game good, but the turnovers took the momentum away from us when we were trying to create momentum, and that was probably the difference in the football game,” Farley said.

“I'll tell you this. If you know our program, you never say never about anything. We'll take that approach going into next week. We haven't been in this position, but there's a story still to be told.”

The Panthers have a bye week before heading to Southern Illinois University next Saturday.