GAMEDAY: UNI's Farley likes the way Scott plays

University of Northern Iowa football coach Mark Farley does not gush superlatives often when talking about his players. So it's really special when he uses words such as "outstanding" to describe the play of one of his Panthers.

Junior strong safety Garrett Scott was the recipient of that praise following last Saturday's 20-19 loss at Iowa State.

"I don't give many guys a great game," Farley said. "Garrett had a great game. He was all over the field. He plays very headsy, very aware. He got our guys lined up. He was outstanding."

Scott intercepted two Cyclone passes. The last time he had two interceptions in one game was in the 2008 Shrine Bowl game when he recorded three. In addition, he was UNI's third-leading tackler against ISU, finishing with seven solo and one assisted tackles.

"I look at interceptions not as an individual stat, I look at them as a team stat because you have 10 other guys out there every day doing their jobs that allows you to do your job," Scott said. "My interceptions last week were a huge part of the rest of the guys out there. I was just reading what was given to me."

Scott never had played strong safety until coming to UNI. He started playing football when he was about eight years old. He played running back and linebacker, and then cornerback all through his prep career at Bettendorf High School.

"It was an adjustment but I love playing safety," Scott said. "Safety in college, you have to be able to take control of the field, you've got to be the field general back there, you've got to make sure the cornerbacks are doing their job, make sure both safeties are on the same page.

"Myself and our senior defensive back, Tre'Darrius Canady, we do a great job of talking and making sure everybody's lined up and making sure we're ready to go every snap of the ball. I love taking control out there and being one of the leaders. I wouldn't change that for anything."

Scott has a passion for football that he has difficulty putting into words.

"Winning as a team, working together as a team, there's more of a sense of accomplishment," he said. "It makes it more special."

He comes by it naturally. His father, Randy, played in the offensive line for the Panthers in the mid-‘70s and was an assistant coach at Bettendorf for more than 20 years before being promoted to head coach. He retired from coaching football after his son's senior year when Bettendorf won the state title.

"I always wanted to go watch practices ever since I was very young," Scott said. "Being around football for that long, you just gain a lot of knowledge and you pick up more stuff than some people."

"That (background) makes him savvy right out of the gate," Farley said. "He's got talent, but he's savvy. He knows how to position himself, how the play develops so he's always in a better spot than maybe some other guys would be. As a coach's kid, you're around it so much it's second nature to him."

His parents have missed maybe one game over Scott's UNI career. He considers both of his parents mentors. He has one younger sister, Montana, who is a sophomore at UNI.

"I'm very close to my family," he said. "They are very important to me."

Scott was recruited by all the state schools and others in the Missouri Valley but he thought UNI was the best choice.

"The main thing was (UNI's) winning tradition, great coaching, they had guys in the NFL and my dad played here," he said. "Also, competing for a national championship year in and year out. Some of the other schools also wanted me to play wide receiver and I wanted to play defense in college. I want to be a part of history and be a part of UNI's first team to win a national championship."

Scott most likely will be all over the field again this today when the Panthers play at Stephen F. Austin.

"They've got a real good passing game," he said. "They pass it a lot more than they run it. They've got speed, they've got a really good receiver coming back."

Getting over the Iowa State heartbreaker is just part of the game.

"You seem to always remember the tough ones that you lose," Scott said. "Those seem to stick with you. But good teams bounce back from tough losses like that."