Consistency, discipline key for UNI football at NDSU

FARGO, N.D. - There's a reason No. 2/3 North Dakota State has won 25 straight games at home.

Well, several reasons.

If No. 10 Northern Iowa wants to change that Saturday at the FargoDome, the Panthers are going to have to make a quick and decisive correction to the biggest thing that has plagued them in two wins and two losses so far this season: consistency.

'I think the No. 1 thing for us to get a win is we can't beat ourselves,” said safety Tim Kilfoy. 'With a team like North Dakota State, they're a very sound football team in all phases. I think we don't have to be (completely) mistake-free, but we can't let a few plays dictate the game. We've been talking about how, as a defense, we've been getting 70-80 snaps a game. We're great for about 70 of the 80, but it's the 10 that's killing us.

'If we can eliminate the big plays that are happening, that gives us a lot better chance.”

Big plays are most often the result of a mental error, as opposed to just a physical one. Players out of position or going to the wrong spot against the Bison (3-1, 1-0 MVFC) will result in long yardage plays.

Mental errors are often much harder to fix because there's not a drill to run in practice that will make a player focus better. That's an individual motivation issue, and one for which the players and coaches set a high bar.

It's become crystal clear what needs to happen going forward - and probably should've happened already. Personal accountability is big among the Panthers (2-2, 0-1), and it's being made even bigger.

'It just comes down to discipline,” Kilfoy said. 'I think if there's one way to deal with it in this week of practice, it's just that there needs to be a different level of focus. You're focused in every week and you can't just pick and choose which weeks - it's not just because it's North Dakota State that we're going to be more focused. It's got to be every week. I think from here on out, during the weeks of practice and in the games, you're going to see a different level of focus.”

What the Panthers focus on certainly hasn't been limited to any single thing this week in preparation.

NDSU doesn't have many weaknesses, but the Bison have turned the ball over with some proclivity. They've fumbled eight times in four games, and have lost six. UNI has shown a great ability to capitalize on turnovers in the past. Forcing and then taking advantage of those situations against NDSU are vital.

Still, that's not all Coach Mark Farley is worried about.

'They're working to shore those things up. I'm not focusing in, saying they're going to fumble the football. This is going to be an intense football game, a very hard-hitting football game like it always is; it's going to be a very intense environment,” Farley said. 'Those things are going to arise for or against us in this football game. I'm not going to just focus on that's what they did, rather how to defend them and then the intensity with which we play.”

So, ultimately, there are a few things UNI will have to do if they hope to get a win in the loudest environment in FCS - and possibly in all of college football.

Being the coach he is, Farley went back to the defensive well, and pointed to how NDSU quarterback Carson Wentz has picked his opposition apart and led the Bison in various ways. Slowing down King Frazier on the ground will be important. Sustaining drives and catching the football are necessary on offense.

The Panthers feel up to the challenge, that's for certain.

'We're going to have to find a way to score in every phase of the game. You're going to have to defend long drives. The quarterback is a difference maker,” Farley said. 'Their system is very sound in what they do and they're very confident. There's a lot of things we have to be able to take on in this game that maybe you wouldn't have to in other games. That's the fun of it and that's the challenge of it.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com