Northern Iowa Panthers
Missouri Valley
Northern Iowa was coming off of a very disappointing playoff loss to Lehigh in 2010. That was a rebuilt team that had a lot of pieces to replace. Quarterback Tirrell Rennie earned Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Year accolades and successfully transitioned the Panthers into an option attack. The 2010 year was a transition season and the Panthers still had a superb season. With a year of experience in the system, UNI had a great 2011 regular season and that success should continue into the playoffs this time.
2011 Record: 9-2, 7-1
Last Playoff Appearance: 2010
Coach: Mark Farley (98-41 at Northern Iowa, 98-41 overall)
Big Wins: 11/5 Youngstown State (21-17), 11/19 Illinois State (23-20)
Bad Losses: 9/3 at Iowa State (19-20), 10/29 at North Dakota State (19-27)
Strengths:
This team is pretty good across the board, but it is the defense that has taken Northern Iowa to the next level. This is a bend, but don’t break defense that ended the year with one of the best scoring defenses in the nation. It is usually nothing flashy for this group. They will pick off quite a few passes, but Ben Boothby is the only consistent pass rusher on the team. Everybody else simply wraps up and tackles, most notably linebackers L.J. Fort and Jordan Smith. Smith can come up and tackle, but he also does a great job backing into coverage. His help in the secondary adds another dynamic to an already very talented unit led by corners Varmah Sonie and J.J. Swain and safety Garrett Scott. When a team gives up a mere 16.18 points per contest, they will always be in the game and that has been the case with UNI and will continue to be the case throughout the playoffs even if the offense struggles.
Weaknesses:
The one thing keeping the offense a question mark is the health of Rennie. He missed the Youngstown State game with an ankle injury and that is not a good thing for an option quarterback. Last year Rennie rushed for 1,291 yards and 15 touchdowns. This season he has just 739 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns. That drop in production includes a small but significant drop in yards per carry. The injury had little to do with those numbers as the opposition had a much easier time figuring out exactly what the UNI offense was going to do this time around. David Johnson is the team’s main running back, but he too has not had great yards per rush numbers. The passing offense is relatively effective when the Panthers and Coach Mark Farley opt to put the ball in the air. Rennie has developed into a consistent passer who can avoid mistakes and make the easy passes. Jared Lanpher, the backup quarterback, is not nearly as mobile as Rennie, but he has a much better arm. Northern Iowa will get some offense off of the option, but a well prepared opponent can cause some problems for the Panthers. But the UNI defense can usually make up for it.
Statistical Leaders:
Rushing: Tirrell Rennie, QB, 739 yards
Passing: Tirrell Rennie, QB, 1642 yards
Receiving: Terrell Sinkfield, WR, 458 yards
Tackles: L.J. Fort, LB, 151
Sacks: Ben Boothby, DT, 7.5
Interceptions: Gerrett Scott, S , 4; Jordan Smith, LB, 4
2011 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 169.09 (39th in nation, 5th in conference)
Passing Offense: 181.27 (78, 7)
Total Offense: 350.36 (67, 6)
Scoring Offense: 27.36 (51, 5)
Rushing Defense: 120.55 (19, 2)
Pass Defense: 210.45 (67, 7)
Total Defense: 331.00 (28, 3)
Scoring Defense: 16.18 (5, 2)
Turnover Margin: 1.36 (6, 1)
Sacks: 2.09 (53, 4)
Sacks Allowed:1.64 (T-38, 4)
