6th-year seniors lead the way in UNI football backfield

CEDAR FALLS — If Northern Iowa’s new-look offense is going to reach its potential this season, it’ll require its running game to produce at a high level.

All the talk of how dynamic and explosive co-offensive coordinators Bodie Reeder and Ryan Clanton have engineered their new offense to be won’t be possible unless returning running backs Dom Williams and Vance McShane improve upon solid 2021 seasons.

Williams — one of UNI’s many sixth-year seniors — ran for a team-leading 723 yards and four touchdowns last season while averaging 6 yards per carry. The Texan is the Panthers’ presumptive starter and is likely to experience an increased workload after 121 carries a season ago.

McShane — also a sixth-year senior — provided a number of flashes in his first campaign with the Panthers after spending his first four years at Saint Xavier University, an NAIA school. He ran for 331 yards and five touchdowns on 61 carries, a 5.4-yards-per-carry average, despite battling a hand injury and missing three games. McShane complemented Williams, and the since-graduated Bradrick Shaw as the shifty, speed-based running back.

“(Williams and McShane) are dynamic, they’re established, they’re good,” UNI head coach Mark Farley said. “So, we’ll switch off those very good running backs and they can match up with what’s going on.”

Working in Williams and McShane’s favor is an experienced offensive line that returns multiple starters.

What will also help the duo produce at a high level this season is a third running back establishing himself as part of the regular game-day rotation.

Williams, McShane and Shaw played their best last season when all three were healthy and able to take advantage of the game situations that fit them best, as Farley alluded to.

Among the options to earn snaps as the Panthers’ third running back this season are Kansas transfer Amauri Pesek-Hickson and Eastern Illinois transfer Harrison Bey-Buie.

Both Pesek-Hickson and Bey-Buie fit a similar physique and running style to the departed Shaw. Pesek-Hickson is listed at 6-feet and 225 pounds while Bey-Buie is listed at 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds.

So, whether there’s an area of an opponent’s defense that can be exploited with a more physical runner, or a late lead needs to be salted away with a bruising ball carrier, the two transfers are battling for the opportunity to fulfill the role.

“(Bey-Buie) showed up when we started tackling. He’s an Iowa kid, that’s what I like about him,” Farley said of the Bettendorf alum. “He was a starting tailback for Eastern Illinois as a freshman. He wanted to come here for a long time and so he made the move even though he was the starter there. He showed up when we went live (tackling) because he’s thick, he’s strong. You better have both shoulder pads buckled up if you hit him is what I found out. It’s not fast, but it’s a force, which is effective.”