UNI football offense a strength headed into spring practice

CEDAR FALLS — Mark Farley has long shaped his Northern Iowa football teams in similar ways.

Year in and year out, anyone who pays attention to the Panthers knows defense is his major focus, while the offense takes some time to get up to speed. But there's a unique characteristic to this team as it gets rolling into spring practice.

There's no quarterback battle — that job belongs squarely to Aaron Bailey. There's no running back battle — that job belongs to Tyvis Smith. The offensive line has size and experience, and is healthy, with the return of Cal Twait from injury and Robert Rathje there as the guiding voice.

Both to Farley's pleasure and relief, he won't have to spend major hours dissecting and building an offense. It can hit the ground running — both literally and figuratively.

'That's what's great — last year we were trying to figure out who was who on offense,' Farley said with a laugh on Wednesday, when spring ball opened. 'Now the offensive line — it's the first year in a long time where we're going to be physical enough on the offensive line like we know UNI should be. When I look at the skill with Aaron (Bailey), Tyvis (Smith) and Daurice (Fountain) on offense, there's a lot of skill with great size and skill with speed.'

As much as the physical part of the game will be important, the camaraderie the offense built over last season is what everyone on that side of the ball said will help make everything smooth.

It's one thing to learn a new scheme or set, but it's another to do so with strangers. The Panthers on offense aren't strangers, and Bailey said, 'to be comfortable on the field, you have to be comfortable off the field. We have great relationships off the field.'

Comfort can lead to honesty.

'It helps out a lot. We know what everyone can do, we know our identity and where we're strong at, and we know what we're not as good at,' Smith said. 'It helps us know what we need to work on. As a team, we know what we are.

'It's time for football. It's time to go learn what your team is about, learn from your mistakes and push forward.'

UNI returns the featured pair in Bailey and Smith for a rushing attack that finished the 2015 season 15th in rushing offense at 233.3 yards per game. The Panthers ran for 3,266 yards in 14 games, scored 32 touchdowns on the ground and averaged 4.99 yards per carry.

But as good as those numbers were, it wasn't enough. UNI couldn't rely on its passing game, which finished the season ranked 102nd in FCS at 148.8 passing yards per game. Bailey threw for 1,656 yards on 55 percent completion, with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. Not that his numbers were terrible, but Farley acknowledged the passing game did not develop throughout the year.

In the FCS quarterfinal loss to North Dakota State, for example, Bailey was 10 of 16 for 101 yards — but UNI only attempted one pass in the third quarter, and only attempted four passes in the second and third quarters combined. The Panthers attempted more than three passes in a single drive just twice in that game — the first drive of the game that ended in a touchdown and the second to last drive of the game, which ended in a field goal.

Farley felt the lack of a consistent passing attack — in addition to a few other factors — cost UNI a chance to win that game.

'We have to be more than one-dimensional. We have to be able to throw the ball,' Farley said. 'We didn't throw the ball enough last year. Had we been able to throw it at all, we'd have been playing in January. That's the phase now. We can take this offense into the throwing phase and continue to do well in the run game.'

With former offensive coordinator Joe Davis gone to Fordham, in steps former UNI tight end Ryan Mahaffey as co-offensive coordinator with associate head coach Bill Salmon.

An added emphasis on the pass game means Bailey will have to sharpen things he wasn't able to in 2015 — his footwork, ball placement and 'staying in the pocket instead of just taking off,' were three key components of improvement, Bailey said. Having the job all to himself means all the eyes are on him.

Having lofty goals means a high bar to reach. Farley is confident they'll reach it since there won't be that break-in period there was a year ago, and so are Bailey, Smith and the rest of the offensive players.

'There are always expectations. Whatever expectations people have, I care about mine,' Bailey said. 'I wouldn't say there's added pressure, it's just a good feeling to have. Whether we win or lose, I like having that on my shoulders, so to speak.'

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