UNI QB Theo Day ‘separated himself’ as the returning starter

Editor’s note: Last in a six-part series looking at Northern Iowa ahead of the 2022 football season.

CEDAR FALLS — For the second time in as many years, Northern Iowa enters the season with a returning starter at quarterback.

While that may not make sense at first blush, the Panthers headed into their 2021 season with Will McElvain returning at quarterback and expectations for the signal-caller — who’s now at Central Arkansas — were quite high.

A preseason foot injury limited McElvain’s mobility and effectiveness and ultimately led to Michigan State transfer Theo Day replacing the Des Moines Lincoln grad at halftime of UNI’s Week 2 game at Sacramento State.

Day went on to throw for 120 yards and two touchdowns in an impressive second half against the Hornets in what became a 34-16 win against the eventual Big Sky champions. The performance was enough to earn him a start the following week and his mostly steady play that followed kept him on the field the rest of the season.

Headed into preseason camp this summer, UNI Coach Mark Farley said Day would compete with backup Matt Morrissey for the starting job, and on Wednesday he told The Gazette that Day will begin the season as their starter.

“I think Theo probably separated himself (over) the past two weeks,” Farley said Wednesday. “How he played — the decisions he was making, the way he could communicate with the players. He’s not all the way there by any means, but I’ll tell you what, he has made great strides in the past two weeks and that’s part of getting comfortable.

“To be confident, you’re comfortable. That’s what I see.”

Knowing Day will once again be the starter, the attention now turns to the Michigan native’s ability to know and command Bodie Reeder and Ryan Clanton’s new offense.

For as much that’s been said about the new scheme being dynamic and explosive, much more has been said — by Farley and co-offensive coordinators Reeder and Clanton — about how much of an effort was put into making it easy to understand.

“Luckily we have a lot of talent. We have speed, we have size, we have power, we have very talented running backs,” Clanton said. “So, we got to designing (with) that in mind, then found the best way to term it for the players so that it’s multiple, you show the defense a lot and it’s simple for your players.”

Farley has long repeated the phrase, “you need a pair and a spare,” and further down the Panthers quarterback depth chart is sophomore Nate Martens and freshmen Aidan Dunne and Matthew Schecklman.

Martens, who’s in his fourth year with the program but is only a redshirt sophomore, offers an experienced third QB. One spot lower sits the Dubuque Hempstead alum Dunne, who’s impressed many of his teammates in practice.

“Aidan Dunne — he’s shown himself (off) this fall camp,” wide receiver Tay Norman said. “I’m excited for Theo, Matt and Aidan.”