Breaking down the UNI Panthers
- Thread starter bsaltyman
- Start date
I saw Korby Sander play a little in high school and some at UNI. Kid is pretty fast and I think is a potential undervalued player for their defense. Also interesting to see how their center especially and rest of the O Line handle Iowa State's defensive line. Is the center a new starter for the fall? What happened to that kid from Aplington - Parkersburg? Sorry I feel like I'm playing 20 questions here.
Always good to have these warmups But in the Big picture they are no win situations
Win big = no big deal
close is bad
losing blows up the whole season
Win big = no big deal
close is bad
losing blows up the whole season
You're good!
You're right on Sander. He just flat plays hard and they REALLY missed him when he had the ACL and missed Fall 19.
Both centers listed played in the spring after the returning starter had a career ending injury on the second play of the first game in February. Sorenson was originally the guy but missed 3 games due to COVID and Arends looked really good as well. The thing with UNI's offensive line troubles is that it's scheme not talent so hopefully with new coaching it shores that up a little. Gun to my head, Arends gets the start if McElvain starts because he's shorter.
The kid from A-P, Nick Ellis, had two neck surgeries and a hip surgery within the last year and has taken a medical hardship and retired.
Iowa State is literally in the playoff conversation. Widely assumed the Big12 Championship will be between Iowa State and Oklahoma. We have 3 first team All-Americans, 1 second team, and a few others who could easily be in the conversation by the end of the season. We return more starters than just about any other team in the country, and have more depth than we’ve ever had before.
It shouldn’t be close.
Remember all those Iowa State games where we got completely blown out? That’s us this year, doing it to other teams.
It shouldn’t be close.
Remember all those Iowa State games where we got completely blown out? That’s us this year, doing it to other teams.
So are UNI fans upset or happy about this?
Campbell has generally used the early season games a bit like a live scrimmage, trying to work some things out. With all the veterans, I doubt we see that as much except in the kicking game where we struggled last year.
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Here's a breakdown on UNI. I'll try (probably unsuccessfully) to be brief
First, I wouldn't put much in to what happened in the spring. The OC left for a job with the Packers a day before the first game, due to COVID precautions they were never able to practice more than 25 bodies at a time and lost over 200 starts to COVID. It was a year totally in a vacuum and they've moved on as though it didn't happen..
As has been the case for the last decade or so, the defense is as good as you get at the FCS level and is really fast and physical. The offense has talent everywhere but the quarterback position is totally in flux and hasn't at all been consistent.
Offense--
QB- Appears to be a two way battle between returning starter Will McElvain (5-11, 185) and Michigan State transfer Theo Day (6-5, 235). McElvain is the better athlete but isn't an accurate thrower and isn't patient in the pocket. The game he had in Ames in 2019 is head and shoulders the best game he's ever played. Day has a big arm and is a true pro-style quarterback. He was a 4 star recruit out of high school and did see the field in limited capacity at Michigan State. He was a casualty of the coaching change there. I expect McElvain to be the guy because Farley jsut can't quit him.
RB- There's a nice mix of youth and experience but no true stand out. Should be a 'by committee' situation that goes as the offensive line goes. Should see action from 4 backs:
32 Tyler Hoosman (6-0 215) (Plainfield, IL)
7 Dom Williams (5-10 200) (Kansas Transfer)
36 Bradrick Shaw (6-1 225) (Cal Transfer
31 Kendall Robinson (6-0 220) (Waterloo East)
WR- Deep, talented group with lots of experience but can anybody get the ball to them?
80 Isaiah Weston (Jr, 6-4 210) (Albertville, MN)
17 Logan Wolf (So, 6-5 200) (Cedar Falls)
1 Deion McShane (Jr, 5-6 175) (Freeport, IL)
4 Quan Hampton (Sr, 5-10 180) (Kansas Transfer)
13 Tysen Kershaw (Fr, 6-3 185) (Fort Dodge)
82 Sergio Morency (True Fr, 6-2 180) (Naples, FL)
TE- Not a feature in the offense. Used more as an extra tackle. 84 Jayden Scott (So, 6-5 255) (Omaha) and 42 Kyle Fortenbury (Grad, 6-4 245) (Opelika, AL) will get most of the snaps there.
OL- Big and physical but not well coached or schemed at times. New OL coach brought in so there is some optimism that its better. Trevor Penning will be drafted and is the definite standout of the bunch
LT- 70 Trevor Penning (RS Jr, 6-7 325) (Clear Lake)
LG- 75 Jared Penning (RS Fr, 6-6 338) (Clear Lake)
C- 61 Chase Arends (RS So, 6-1 300) (Dike)
or 66 Erik Sorenson (RS Jr, 6-6, 320) (Waukee)
RG- 72 Justin Peine (RS Jr, 6-6 329) (Parker, KS)
or 78 Matt VanderSlice (Sr, 6-8 335) (Overland Park, KS)
RT- 76 Antoine Frazier (Grad, 6-6, 315) (Huffman, TX) (Kansas Transfer)
Defense (4-2-5 Hybrid)--
DT- Led by Valley DPOY DT 44 Jared Brinkman (Sr, 6-2, 290) (Iowa City). Brinkman is a disrupter that is very good against the run and led the team in sacks last year. 99 Khristian Boyd (RS So, 6-4, 300) (Blue Springs, MO) and 94 Tim Butcher (Sr, 6-2 300) (Palmer, IA) will handle the other tackle. Boyd is the better pass rusher and athlete, Butcher is the better run stopper
DE- UNI tends to look for length and athleticism at the end spot and tends to look for pass rushers over run stoppers. Should see four guys get the majority of the snaps
93 Caden Houghtelling (So, 6-5 255) (Cambridge, NE)
91 Brawntae Wells (Sr, 6-4 300) (Dowling)
8 Devin Rice (RS So, 6-3 255) (Liberty, MO)
96 Cannon Butler (RS Fr, 6-7 215) (Waterloo Columbus)
LB- Three All Conference guys for two spots. Very good group though Flater will be limited as he had shoulder surgery after the first game of the spring.
22 Bryce Flater (RS Jr, 6-1 230) (Grundy Center)
41 Spencer Cuvelier (RS Sr, 6-3 235) (Cresco)
47 Riley Van Wyhe (RS Jr, 6-3 230) (Rock Rapids)
Hybrid- Swing safety/LB hybrid that will line up all over the place
40 Alfonso Lambert (RS Sr, 6-1 220) (Rockford, IL)-Running Downs
10 Eric Mooney (So, 6-3 190) (West Dundee, IL)- Passing Downs
37 Jace Andregg (RS Fr, 6-3 215) (Solon)
S- Not the most athletic group but they're physical and experienced and do a nice job against the run. Sapp gets an NFL look if he runs well enough.
9 Benny Sapp III (Jr, 6-1 205) (Ft Lauderdale, FL) (Minnesota Transfer)
5 Korby Sander (RS Jr, 6-1 215) (Belmond-Klemme)
0 Jevon Brekke (Jr, 6-3 200) (Minneapolis De La Salle)
CB-Another real strength of the defense. Omar Brown was national defensive freshman of the year two years ago and then didn't get many honors last year because nobody threw at him (6 balls all spring and he intercepted 2 of them). He's a draft pick eventually and is probably UNIs most talented defensive player overall.
24 Omar Brown (So, 6-1 200) (Minneapolis North)
27 Austin Evans (RS Sr, 6-1 190) (Kansas City Archbishop O'Hara)
3 Demarcus Governor (So, 5-11 185) (Plant City, FL)
34 Edwin Dearman (So, 5-11 200) (Houston, TX)
K/P- You all saw what Cook could do the last time UNI played in Ames. Struggled a little in the spring outdoors but I'm guessing there won't be snow piled on the sidelines in a couple weeks
K 97 Matthew Cook (So, 5-11 180) (Cedar Falls)
P 63 Nate Murphy (RS Jr, 6-1 175) (West Des Moines Valley)
As I said above, this game is somewhere between 31-14 and 42-6 depending on what UNI can do on offense. The defense is legit and can hang as long as they aren't on the field all day. UNI isn't going to back down so I think it's the perfect FCS game for Iowa State. A team like this needs to have somebody that isn't going to roll over and take the check and we know UNI won't do that.
My prediction--Iowa State 38-10. Competitive for 2 and a half quarters, something like 14-3 at halftime and then Iowa State's depth and the fact UNIs defense is on the field too much lets Iowa State cruise in the 4th.
@1UNI2ISU Your post is more substantial than anything on the Panther Nation site. It's a ghost town over there.
It's a dying site. No mods left. One moron makes it intolerable. Having a mid-major site make it 15 years is kind of unheard of so that's something to be proud of, I guess.
There's a few of us working on a new project we hope to have launched by basketball season.
As for Xavier Williams, he's a no doubt pro. With all of the uncertainty of last year, you can't begrudge him for doing what he needed to do. It's just another awesome thing that COVID did.
Given our history with UNI, I will be happy with any victory of two touchdowns or better. I just don’t want the game to be in doubt into the fourth quarter. Agree that UNI will sell out to stop Breece. Therefore, I hope the team comes out throwing some high percentage underneath passes, bubble screens, and look to get the TEs involved. That should open up the running game.
That “some reason” would be because our offensive line hasn’t been good. For a very, very long time.
That is no longer the case.
That's always the issue. UNI will load up to stop the run. They will blitz and stunt like crazy. While ISU always has better athletes on the perimeter, it's tough to ask the QB to be on the same page with WRs in game 1 enough to win a game. There are bound to be some miscommunications. Good teams with good OLs just ground it out on FCS teams and wear them down. Go over the top with play action since WRs are usually in single coverage. I think that we finally have the OL to just overpower UNI this year. It may take a quarter or two to lean on them enough where they start making mistakes, but it will happen.
Obviously I want to see our running game dominate, but I want to see some big plays. A couple bombs in the first half and a long run or two. Make them fold early.
Here is my issue with CMC team's playing UNI
Coach wants the game to be ugly, physical and played on the line of scrimmage. That is where Farley has built his program. They are as fundamentally sound as we will play all year in their gap control. This is also game 1.. So Farley gets an entire camp to prep for ISU and comes into the game as healthy as possible
Until we can establish our will on the lone of scrimmage... UNI games will be closer than we want them to be
Coach wants the game to be ugly, physical and played on the line of scrimmage. That is where Farley has built his program. They are as fundamentally sound as we will play all year in their gap control. This is also game 1.. So Farley gets an entire camp to prep for ISU and comes into the game as healthy as possible
Until we can establish our will on the lone of scrimmage... UNI games will be closer than we want them to be
But it’s a catch 22 right? You’ll never establish your will on the line of scrimmage until you do? If this year’s o-line is as good as it’s been advertised, we won’t have an issue with their line.
My dream scenario for Iowa State on 9/5 is conversations about how the the 2022 season is going to be in good hands after the second and third string teams continue the domination once CMC pulls our studs
In reality. I actually think this games goes EXACTLY like the Fiesta Bowl and the Tech games. Dominate the stats and possession while leaving people wanting more out of a final score
In reality. I actually think this games goes EXACTLY like the Fiesta Bowl and the Tech games. Dominate the stats and possession while leaving people wanting more out of a final score
