My pleasure. I'll go position by position and happy to answer any followups...
The offensive philosophy is 'Run for yards, throw for miles'. Highest scoring offense in the Valley last year and averaged over 40 points in the last 6 games last year once everything clicked.
QB- Theo Day is the best we've had from a talent standpoint since Kurt Warner. 1st Team All League, All American. Big Arm, fairly mobile, big frame. Just not a lot of those guys at the FCS level.
RB- All 3 listed are going to get touches on Saturday. Edwards was a late transfer from UTSA and played quite a bit of football there. Bey-Buie and Jenkins have kind of been 'next' since early last year playing behind a 5th year that graduated.
WR- Sam Schnee (pronounced SCHNAY) is a very good possession receiver that has that ability to get himself open. Morancy was a State Champion sprinter in Florida and is the home run threat. Logan Wolf just simply hasn't been able to stay healthy but was one of the highest rated recruits we've had offensively in recent years but he's still kind of a mystery. Hutson is a big target that kind of became the security blanket down the stretch. Buntin is a transfer from Kent State. The freshman was a Pennsylvania state track champion. It gets spread around pretty well in this offense so you'll hear all those names.
TE- Alex Allen is a lot like his brother. Big target, good hands, good blocker and will find himself in an NFL camp next summer. UNI doesn't run many multiple TE sets.
OL- Jared Penning is the only returning starter. He's an NFL guy like his brother but isn't elite like Trevor is. Arends started two years ago but missed most of last year thanks to a lat tear. Roper, Pelton, Amos and Anderson have played a lot of football at UNI but were behind older guys. Anderson started 6 games at guard last year but has bumped out to tackle. Vold and Kelly are both FBS transfers (Iowa and Arkansas State)
Defense-Long time coordinator Jeremiah Johnson is back after a year as DC at Kent State. Last year did not look like UNI at all defensively and the new coordinator was demoted after week 3 and fired after the season. It was a disaster.
DL- Lots of experienced playmakers up front. Khristian Boyd is multiple time All League and very good against the run. Devin Rice is a 3 year starter but missed a bunch of time with injuries last year. Corrdarious Bailey is and Iowa State transfer that led the team in sacks last year but he's not great against the run. Butler started a bunch last year and is a long pass rusher. Kriebs and Hewitt played a bunch last year as redshirt freshmen. Peeples and Crook-Jones are FBS transfers (Memphis and K-State)
LB- Two AA LBs graduated. Ben Belken played quite a bit last year and is solid. Not much experience otherwise. This is my biggest area of concern on the roster.
DB-Woo Governor was All League and led the team in INTs. Edwin Dearman was the leading tackler on the team last year. The rest is transfers and young guys. Galvin was a big priority in the 22 class but everything else that we're going to see are transfers that haven't played a snap at UNI. This would be the other area of concern for me. There's talent but I don't know how it meshes.
Specialists- Kicker Matthew Cook is an All American. All time leader in FGs in the Valley and back for his COVID year. Same guy that hit 2 50 yarders in Ames as a true frosh. He'll get some NFL looks, I would imagine. Two very good punters. Loecher started early last year before getting sick and ending up the ICU with a rare lung condition that nearly killed him and ended his season, he's got a clean bill of health. Noah Pettinger was 2nd team all league after taking over. We'll fair catch everything and the return game most likely won't be a factor.
Honestly, assuming the defense figures it out, this is as excited as I've been for UNI football in over a decade.
