Looking ahead, UNI should be really good in 2017

CEDAR FALLS — Mark Farley needs a little time to decompress before thinking about 2017.

The Northern Iowa head coach was asked Saturday night to address all of the returning players the Panthers have and the promise they bring for his football team next season. But the sting of a 45-24 loss to South Dakota State was too fresh.

That ended UNI's season at 5-6 and, obviously, without a FCS playoff berth. Around here, that's unique.

'I'm probably not ready to go there, yet, until I get this one out of my system,' Farley said. 'I think you need to step back and look at where you're at, what happened, and try to make some sense of it. Have a little bit more of a clear head. We'll probably have to take some time to put some thought into that.'

On paper, Northern Iowa should have a very good team.

Sophomore Eli Dunne took over at quarterback the last half of the season because of an injury to Aaron Bailey and showed the arm and other intangibles that could make him one of the best signal callers in the Missouri Valley Conference. Three of his lineman are slated to come back, as are four of his top five pass catchers.

That includes the emerging Jalen Rima. The true freshman from Cedar Rapids Prairie played a larger and larger role as the season progressed and had two touchdowns in Saturday night's finale, including a 99-yard kickoff return.

He also ran a punt back for a score three weeks ago against Indiana State.

'I didn't think I was going to play at all (this season),' Rima said. 'When they told me I was, I was very fortunate to get more and more playing time as the season went on. It went pretty well for me.'

Defensively, the graduations of all-American defensive end Karter Schult and linebacker D'Shawn Dexter will really hurt. But UNI returns two of its three starting linemen, two of its three starting linebackers and three of its four starters in the secondary.

Two kickers and punter Sam Kuhter also will be back. Then you add a large group of guys who were red-shirted this season as freshmen.

Lots of optimism should abound.

'Right now, we lost a great group of seniors,' Farley said. 'Guys like Karter Schult, D'Shawn Dexter, (center) Robert Rathje, (guard) Trevor Hanson. I could go down the list of guys who made plays for us time and time again. Then guys who came back and how they represented us. (Running back) Michael Malloy really came back and made something of himself and became a great football player. I'll remember how those guys played. They played hard and left it on the field, and that's all you can ask of them.'

Experience should pay off next season, as far as winning close games. That was this UNI team's bane, with five losses by a touchdown or less.

Turn around just one of those, and the Panthers probably make the playoffs. MVC-mate Illinois State was selected Sunday with a 6-5 record.

'There was some youth on that field that is going to give us a chance to be very successful in the future,' Farley said. 'But they also have to learn from this. Just like us coaches. I want to learn from this just as much as do anything. Just like you learn from a win. This is something that can stay with you or that can make you stronger. We have to take the course that makes us stronger.'

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