UNI offense got out of sync in loss to North Dakota State

CEDAR FALLS - Before Saturday, Northern Iowa's previous two games had all three phases, offense, defense and special teams contributing and in sync.

Outside of the first half on Saturday, no phase besides the defense found any sort of rhythm and production in a 30-14 loss to No. 2 North Dakota State (8-0, 5-0). Facing the FCS' top-rated defense the Panthers (4-4, 3-2) saw mistakes that plagued them early in the season crop up against the Bison, specifically with quarterback Eli Dunne, who threw two interceptions and fumbled three times.

'Eli got out of sync. There's no question. That was pretty evident. We really didn't do anything in the first half. When he got sacked he got out of sync and never got back in a rhythm after that,” UNI Coach Mark Farley said. 'I thought Marcus (Weymiller) ran fairly good. We just didn't, probably, (run) it enough, because we never got in the field position type situation to make the calls the way you wanted to call the game.”

Too many times UNI faced down-and-distances that handcuffed their play calls and created ideal blitz situations for the Bison that led to Dunne's turnovers. Amidst another sellout crowd at the Fargodome, Farley said he thought the offense allowed itself to get out of its game plan too quickly.

'We should have stayed with the run (game) more against them,” Farley said. 'Because we were getting the same amount of yards per carry we were getting against anybody else, and I think sometimes when you play (NDSU) - particularly guys that haven't played them before, even coaches - they get caught up in the wave of the environment.”.

With seven first-year assistants on staff it's understandable that Farley, who is most familiar with the Fargodome environment, would have preferred to see a longer leash on the original offensive game plan. He likened the offense's deviation from their game plan to 'drawing straws.” Farley explained that when similar situations have happened in the past defensively it ultimately relegates the players to a guessing game.

'... You start to think that the crowd is a factor in the intensity of the game. Your intensity is more garnered from yourself and how you're playing,” Farley said. 'You get caught up in (the atmosphere) thinking you're not moving the ball as good as you are. It's hard to explain, but I think it's a learning experience for those coaches as much as it was for the players. Probably more for the coaches.”

The Panthers will look to bounce back at home Saturday against No. 6 South Dakota (7-1, 4-1).

INJURY UPDATE

Junior left tackle Cal Twait has been in and out of the starting lineup with an ankle injury that first occurred in Week 3 against Southern Utah.

'Cal probably could have played in that game if we needed him, but every time we play him too soon he just gets tore up in that game and three plays later he's back on the sideline for another week and a half,” Farley said. 'So when we get him back we need to keep him back. Hopefully this will be the week we can put him on the field and play that whole game.”