Panthers need to contain USD's Warren

They've seen him on game film, certainly caught him on ESPN. Now the Northern Iowa Panthers get to see Dante Warren in person.

That might not be a good thing.

The South Dakota junior has been tremendous in his first season as his team's starting quarterback. He has accounted for 16 touchdowns, five in that 41-38 stunning upset in September at Minnesota.

UNI (2-3) plays at South Dakota (3-3) in a non-conference game this afternoon at 4:05.

"What they bring to the table is a very athletic quarterback that, if you watched the Minnesota game, I thought was the best athlete on the field," said UNI Coach Mark Farley. "That just kind of says something about him. The way he managed that game, how he performed in that game."

A 6-foot, 200-pounder from suburban Chicago, Warren has 1,126 passing yards and 340 rushing. He has thrown 10 touchdown passes and run for another six.

He gained instant national publicity by accounting for over 400 total yards in USD's shocker of the Gophers. Warren was the difference maker in that game, the best player on the field, as Farley said.

"We always say I can get Dante into trouble, he needs to get us out of it," South Dakota Coach Ed Meierkort said after his school's first victory over a FBS school. "That's the kind of quarterback this offense recruits, somebody who can ad-lib a little bit. It puts a lot of pressure on defenses."

UNI is coming off a tough overtime loss at Southern Illinois. South Dakota lost a Great West Conference game at California-Davis, 17-13.

The game will be played indoors at the DakotaDome, a 10,000-seat facility almost identical in appearance to Northern Iowa's UNI-Dome.

"They've done a great job," Farley said. "That win against Minnesota was huge. I tell you what, they played great against them and beat a very good team. That's basically an eye opener. You watch them play, they had players that were playing at a Big Ten level. That basically tells you the kind of team they have."