UNI defense uncharacteristic in season-ending loss

NORMAL, Ill. - This wasn't the Northern Iowa defense everyone had gotten used to seeing.

From the first snap, Illinois State quarterback Tre Roberson and running back Marshaun Coprich had their fill against a defense that had emerged as the hottest - if not the best - unit in the country in the past six weeks.

And unlike November in Cedar Falls, December in Normal showed it was the Redbirds' turn to frustrate and dominate in the 41-21 FCS Playoff second round win.

'They had a better plan, at the end of the day,” said UNI Coach Mark Farley. 'We weren't as good on defense today as what we have been. We made those sacks (last time) that they got away from us on (today). When we got them down, they go from first and 10s to third and longs. So you put that in there alone - we didn't get (Illinois State quarterback Tre Roberson) on the ground. He got away, he did a great job.

'That was probably the biggest difference early. And then just their execution. We couldn't get them out of rhythm, and that made us struggle a little bit.”

The Panthers (9-5, 6-2 MVFC) came in ranked fifth in the nation in rush defense, ninth in total defense and 10th in scoring defense, but gave up 182 rush yards, 564 total yards in the 20-point loss.

That's the danger both Farley and Illinois State Coach Brock Spack talked about early in the week when facing a team for the second time. To the Redbirds' advantage, they had two weeks to prepare. It was also two weeks to rest and rehab - something that no doubt aided Roberson's style of play.

The junior Indiana transfer finished 22 of 33 for 382 yards and four touchdowns and ran 10 times for 37 yards. Farley reiterated the change from how UNI was able to contain him in October to the lack of ability to do that Saturday.

Roberson had receivers wide open for much of the afternoon, either through play design or execution head-to-head. It made for a long day in the eyes of a defensive-minded coach and even longer for the guys on the field.

'They made the plays we made last time,” Jake Farley said. '(Roberson) sat in the pocket a little longer today. They did a good job protecting him. I don't think we got to him nearly as many times as we did last time, and he made the throws. They had some different concepts they hadn't shown they threw at us. We adjusted to them in the second half, but they had those two weeks to prepare for us, so they had a good plan and executed it.”

On the flip side of the ball, as bad as the start was for the UNI defense, it was equally or worse for the offense. At halftime, the Panther offense had 52 total yards - 16 rushing and 36 passing on 4 of 12 passing from Brion Carnes.

The sputtering prompted Farley to bring in Sawyer Kollmorgen, who threw a pass for the first time since the loss to South Dakota State on Oct. 18. The move initially paid off in a large way, as the Panthers went right down the field for a touchdown, making it 24-7 early in the third.

'With the way it was, we had to spark the whole thing to turn it back in our favor,” Mark Farley said. 'That's a little bit where playing a team twice comes into play. I thought they had a great plan to counter what we were doing - offense and defense. And that's why we had to totally flip it to make sure we did something they weren't prepared for.

'Sawyer coming into the game changes our offense completely. It changes a little bit how you have to defend it. We did some different things on defense to try to create some things to get back in the game.”

But from there, a bit of a wild back-and-forth ensued. Illinois State (11-1, 7-1) scored 10 straight, followed by three straight Redbirds fumbles. Two of those led directly to touchdowns and made it 34-21. Just as it looked like UNI would score for a third time, the Panthers turned over on downs with 7:31 left.

Despite the snapshot of defense Panther players, coaches and fans had come to expect, it wasn't to last.

An interception on a pass-back trick play from Kollmorgen to Brett LeMaster back to Kollmorgen gave the ball back. A pair of long Coprich runs followed by the final Roberson touchdown pass put the game to bed for good.

It wasn't the way they expected or wanted to go out, but the outcome Saturday didn't deter Farley from lofty praise on a defense that didn't show cracks like Saturday's many - if any - times this season. The unwillingness to let down after trailing 34-7 in the third, Farley said, proved the character of a team that could've given up when they were 3-4 and coming off a loss to the Jackrabbits.

So they might not have looked the same Saturday, but to them one day doesn't make a season.

'I think this season turned out to be what I hoped it would be,” Mark Farley said. 'Four of the six games we played (during the streak) were against top 20 teams. How our players played - not just winning - they (really) played. They were good, they were really good. They played with great energy, exactly how you want a team to look, and they played that way.

'That's what I'll take away from this season. Probably the best defense we've ever had here and one of the most resilient offenses.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com