UNI football vs. Illinois State: Live stream, point spread, 3 keys to the game

CEDAR FALLS — After a 21-0 shutout win in its first road game of the spring season last Saturday against Youngstown State, No. 3 Northern Iowa (1-1) is back at the UNI-Dome this Saturday against No. 15 Illinois State (0-1).

The Panthers host the Redbirds — who committed seven turnovers in a 27-20 loss to South Dakota last week — with their makeshift offensive line likely to start once again due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols. That makeshift unit performed well in last week's win, though, helping the offense to 191 yards rushing and 178 passing while not allowing quarterback Will McElvain to get sacked.

With that in mind, here are three keys to a UNI win against the Redbirds:

1. Continue to supplement the run game

UNI was able to help its run game get going last week by not being hesitant to throw the ball early.

In two of its first three drives, the offense chewed up 6:37 and 7:07 of time while racking up 90 passing yards, with McElvain completing 9 of 15 passes.

Proving it could consistently find high-percentage completions within the underneath parts of YSU's defense spread out the Penguins and created the running lanes to get the run game going.

While Illinois State's defense is a more formidable unit than the Penguins', there doesn't seem to be any reason to deviate from this approach until opponents prove they can slow down UNI's underneath passing game.

2. If (the defense) isn't broke, don't fix it

After a rough start in the first two quarters of the season, UNI's defense has been nothing short of outstanding in its last six quarters. In its shutout last Saturday, the Panthers allowed just 135 yards on 43 plays and were helped by the offense winning the time-of-possession battle, 33:51 to 26:09.

Assuming the offense can continue to win that time-of-possession battle, there's no reason to think defensive coordinator Jeremiah Johnson won't continue to mix up their three- and four-man fronts against the Redbirds and continue to use disguises while blitzing from an array of positions.

3. Keep the playbook open and formations diverse

Even with running back Tyler Hoosman and wide receivers Isaiah Weston and Quan Hampton each playing in last week's win, despite being questionable leading up to the game, offensive coordinator Shawn Watson was creative and diverse in his play-calling and formational usage against YSU.

Watson made use of jet sweeps, QB runs and inventive read-option rollouts and more traditional rollouts that kept the Penguins guessing while protecting the ball and winning time of possession.

Continuing to get wide receivers involved in the run game, being stubborn to find more production from their screen game, and getting McElvain outside the pocket should continue to be top priorities in this week's plan.

UNI vs. Illinois State

Kickoff time: 4 p.m. (CT)

Line: UNI -8.5

TV: none

Live stream: ESPN+