UNI football can point to positive takeaways from 34-3 loss to Nebraska

CEDAR FALLS — A lopsided score didn’t come close to telling the story of Northern Iowa’s competitiveness and progress in Saturday night’s 34-3 football loss at Nebraska.

Stopping the Cornhuskers from scoring before halftime by forcing a turnover on downs and not allowing their first team to score after halftime were among a number of positives UNI Coach Mark Farley pointed out at his weekly news conference on Monday.

“There’s all kinds of positives. The score is not indicative of what happened in the game,” Farley said. “I gave the offensive line our player of the week because of how they played all (game) long. Ninety-five yards of penalties was detrimental to the score more so than the plays on the field in my opinion.”

Another defensive highlight for the Panthers was Fletcher Marshall Jr.’s interception of Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola early in the fourth quarter — the first of the freshman phenom’s brief career.

“We now know what we’re capable of and now we have to have the consistency to do it no matter what environment we’re in. And that’s how you grow,” Farley said. “The interception against their (quarterback) — they took a shot on Fletcher — that was a big play.”

First-year starting quarterback Aidan Dunne also made progress in the loss.

Despite throwing his first interception of the season, Dunne displayed arm talent he had yet to this season while also rushing for a career-high 49 yards on 11 carries.

“Adding the quarterback run game really makes the opponent get ready for something other than just tackling the running back,” Farley said. “Once that’s on film, (opponents) have to practice (for) it. (Dunne also) had nice throws against a lot of pressure.”

Hawaii trip up next for UNI

Dunne left the game late in the fourth quarter along with tight end Layne Pryor after both suffered big hits on the same play.

Farley said both are “probable” to play in Saturday night’s game at Hawaii.

UNI (2-1) at Hawaii (1-2) kicks off at 11 p.m. Saturday night — 6 p.m. local time in Honolulu. The Panthers fly out Wednesday, but their equipment flies out Tuesday and is packed up Monday, preventing them from having pads and helmets available for the pair of practices they’ll get in before the long trip.

“The whole environment is laid back and relaxed. Yet, you got to get a 19-year-old and a 20-year-old ready for a night game,” Farley said. “It’s one thing to sit around in Nebraska in a sea of red in your hotel knowing what you’re walking into. Whole ’nother deal when you’re in a sea of blue, at the ocean, and trying to get that same mindset for the kickoff that evening.”