UNI: Farley remains upbeat despite overtime loss

Mark Farley was in a good mood Monday, despite his team's 45-38 overtime loss at Southern Illinois on Saturday.

Sure, he was disappointed with the loss, but chose to look on the bright side as the Panthers begin preparations for non-conference road trip to South Dakota (3-3).

“There's hope,” Farley said. “That really makes you feel good.”

Any loss is tough, but Farley was inspired by his team's second-half performance.

UNI was down 31-14 at the break and suffering the turnover bug again. Then, the Panthers scored 24 unanswered points to take a 28-31 lead with 4:36 left in the game. SIU rallied to tie the game, then won it on the first overtime series.

He said he saw something in his young team for the first time.

“We played with what it takes to win,” he said. “That's the demeanor, that's the attitude we've been looking for this season. They had it.”

The Panthers faced a “crossroads” at halftime.

“They made the decision to go out in the second half and do what they needed to do,” Farley said. “I think our team found out who they are.

“We finally reached that stage. Now we have to finish it.”

And the best news, Farley said, was when he stepped off the plane Saturday night, “everybody (in the MVFC) had at least one loss.”

UNI (2-3), Southern Illinois (3-3) and Western Illinois (4-2) all stand at 2-1 following Western's 33-29 loss to South Dakota State.

UNI still has to play Illinois State (2-2, 3-3), at Youngstown State (1-2, 3-3), at Indiana State (1-1, 3-2) and Missouri State (1-1, 2-3) before ending the season at Western.

“At the end of the day ... everything is still on the table,” he said of winning the league title and the automatic bid into the FCS playoffs. “But you still have to play your hand.”

South Dakota, members of the Great West Conference, also lost a heartbreaker Saturday, falling to California-Davis, 17-13, after taking a 13-10 lead in the fourth quarter.

By J.R. Ogden, The Gazette