5 takeaways from UNI football’s season-opening loss at Iowa State

CEDAR FALLS — There's no such thing as a good loss, but Northern Iowa's loss to Iowa State certainly doesn't fall in the category of a bad loss.

Both the offense and defense put plenty of good plays on tape, but they also had one too many negative plays wind up on that same game film.

Here are five things that stood out after the Panthers season-opening 42-24 loss to the Cyclones.

Young Panthers forced to grow up fast

On both sides of the ball the Panthers had a number of redshirt freshmen and sophomores make major contributions against the Cyclones. Alfonzo Lambert stepped in and recorded 10 tackles at nickel linebacker, while Isaiah Weston had four catches for 72 yards and the game's first touchdown.

Five freshmen or sophomores started on an offense that turned the ball over three times in the first half. While there was never a threat in the second half of the Panthers mounting a comeback, they didn't pack it in on offense, scoring twice and playing a clean second half with zero turnovers.

'There's some signs there, but, still all that matters is they find a way to win,' UNI Coach Mark Farley said. 'But there's people there with good talent that played against a good football team. That's a better football team than we played last year. That being said, we went down the field on them, progressively, more than once. We started throwing picks after that and it put us in tough shape.'

Offensive line holds up

Spencer Brown, a 6-foot 8-inch redshirt freshman, drew the starting assignment at right tackle. Jacob Appleman began fall camp getting most of the reps at right guard, with Bryce Sweeney starting at his usual right tackle spot. Sweeney moved inside to guard with the freshman Brown in the starting lineup against ISU and at the end of the night no one could point their finger at the offensive line and say it cost them the game.

'I thought (Spencer) protected well. We kind of chuckled when we were walking on the field because he said this environment was a lot different than the last game he played in — an 8-man football game,' Farley said. 'So, you can see where he has progressed from since day one. Now he's a redshirt freshman with this game under his belt — he can only grow from here.'

The Cyclones got to Eli Dunne twice, and both times they were coverage sacks. Iowa State brought extra blitzers from time to time throughout the game, especially on the first drive that the Panthers scored on, but the offensive line consistently stood up to the extra pressure. With the competition level coming back down to a more regular territory for the Panthers moving forward, it should mean good things for the cleanliness of Dunne's jersey.

Defensive line comes up empty

Coach Farley put it bluntly in his post-game remarks in regards to the defensive line.

'I expected more out of them,' Farley said after a performance that featured zero sacks and just one quarterback hurry.

A part of the blame for the lack of a pass rush should go to Iowa State quarterback Jacob Park. Park showed the type of poise that's expected of a senior starting quarterback from the Big 12. He got rid of the football on time, stepped up in the pocket when neeed, and knew when to give up on a play.

On the other hand, it was strange to see the Panthers not generate more pressure. The competition was tough, for sure, but zero sacks and just one quarterback hurry is simply uncharacteristic of a Farley defense. It's just one game, but it's likely to be a point of focus for the staff and players heading into their home opener Saturday versus Cal Poly.

Inexperienced safeties eliminate big plays

Jacob Park didn't complete a pass for more than 24 yards Saturday night. It may not have been great, but it was a solid performance by a pair of safeties in Nikholi Jaghai and Isaiah Nimmers making their first start.

Jaghai's dropped interception on the Cyclones' first drive was easily forgotten in what was largely a solid first half by the defense, but sacks and turnovers are what define Farley defenses and make the Panthers really go as a team. Their coverage could have been sharper at times, but similar to the offensive lin,e it'd be incorrect to point the finger at the safeties as the reason for the loss.

'In the second half we finally made the right adjustment to take that (bubble screen) away, but it was too little too late because they had done damage and gotten the lead,' Farley explained. '(Iowa State has) a good scheme, but I felt that it was a good test for us.'

Farley mentioned in the week leading up to the game that the defensive backfield was a position that could see some rotating bodies, but Jaghai and Nimmers took a large majority of the snaps. With the triple-option offense of Cal Poly coming to Cedar Falls this weekend it will be interesting to see if A.J. Allen works himself into more playing time as he has more of a reputation as an in-the-box safety that can help in run support.

Plenty to build on

The game film will have a little of everything for the Panthers to soak up and build off of.

Each of Dunne's three interceptions carry blame beyond himself. As games go by and co-offensive coordinators John Bond and Mike Simmonds get a more nuanced feel for their personnel it should help mitigate the risk for turnovers with an offense that seems poised to throw the ball plenty this season.

'It was good that it was the first game of the season, with the football team that we have. I'm not walking away disappointed. I'm walking away irritated that we lost,' said Farley. 'But I also know we can come back and watch this film and if we do the right things with it we can make some progress here in a short amount of time.'