UNI football vs. Weber State game time, TV, live stream, score prediction

CEDAR FALLS — No. 20 Northern Iowa hosts ninth-ranked Weber State Saturday at 4 p.m. in its 2023 home opener, the fifth meeting all-time between the two teams.

UNI is 2-2 against the Wildcats and both of its wins have come at the UNI-Dome.

Picked fourth in the Big Sky Conference’s preseason poll, Weber State (1-0) is coming off a 10-3 season that ended with a 33-25 loss in the FCS playoff quarterfinals against Montana State.

The Wildcats return eight All-Big Sky honorees from their 2022 playoff team, but Coach Jay Hill — who spent nine seasons at Weber State — left this offseason to become BYU’s defensive coordinator. Mickey Mental — who was hired as the Wildcats offensive coordinator before last season — was hired as head coach in late December.

Here are three keys for the Panthers (0-1) against Weber State:

1. Theo’s Day?

Last Saturday’s season-opener at Iowa State wasn’t the debut UNI quarterback Theo Day and the Panthers offense were expecting.

However, a bad day at Jack Trice Stadium against the Big 12’s top-ranked defense from 2022, is understandable. After throwing a pick-6 on UNI’s first possession, Day didn’t seem to make throws with the level of confidence fans became witness to a season ago.

So, it makes sense how much UNI Coach Mark Farley has said since that the unit needs to find its rhythm and confidence the next time they take the field.

Linebacker Winston Reid and defensive back Maxwell Anderson are Big Sky preseason honorees in the back-seven of Weber State’s defense, but it’s hard to envision the Wildcats clamping down on the Panthers passing game as effectively as Iowa State did.

2. Impact plays

Turnovers and special teams errors played a large part in the 30 points Iowa State stacked up in last Saturday’s win, which made for an uncertain evaluation of UNI’s defense.

Despite a decent performance against the Cyclones, Farley and linebacker Jahsiah Galvan mentioned this week the unit needs to create impact, difference-making plays. Something that didn’t happen in Week 1 as UNI registered zero sacks or takeaways and just one quarterback hit.

3. Not-so special teams

Day and the UNI offense’s struggles in the season-opener are well documented, but special teams errors made by the Panthers in punt and kick coverage could easily be considered the biggest issues coming out of Game 1.

ISU’s Jaylin Noel had punt returns of 39 and 21 yards, while Myles Purchase returned a kick 55 yards that was called back by holding.

No matter how dynamic UNI’s offense may be capable of becoming, or how much its defense may improve this season, it could all be stunted if the Panthers don’t quickly fix their special teams woes..

UNI vs. Weber State at a glance

Kickoff time: 4 p.m. (CT)

TV: KCRG 9.2, Marquee Sports Network

Live stream: ESPN+

Prediction: UNI 27, Weber State 20