While breaking down games and giving you our insight to what's going to happen on Saturday is all well and good, we feel it's also important to get to know the opponent directly from those that cover and follow the team on a daily basis. Thus, we bring you "Opposition Q&A."
Helping us out today is Doug Newhoff of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, which is the hometown paper of the Northern Iowa Panthers.
So, without further ado, here is "Opposition Q&A" for week 1:
MTB: UNI has a ton of FBS opponents on it's schedule this season, what have the coaches set as expectations from these largely $$$$ games?
Doug: Actually, UNI has two FBS opponents in 2012 in Wisconsin and Iowa. The Panthers always try to schedule one FBS “money” game, usually against Iowa or Iowa State, but the opportunity to play the Badgers and help the athletic department’s bottom line was too good to pass up this season. From a competitive standpoint, head coach Mark Farley has talked publicly about two things – doing everything possible to be competitive with the Badgers and Hawkeyes while not losing sight of the fact that these games aren’t the most important on the schedule. At the FCS level, it’s all about getting into the playoffs, and that means winning a conference championship and earning an automatic bid or securing enough overall wins to get an at-large berth (eight is usually a sure thing and seven a strong possibility with the FCS playoffs now at 20 teams and headed to 24).
MTB: Coming into this game off of a QB battle of your own, you'll be going with a redshirt freshman that has never started let alone played a game in college. What does Sawyer Kollmorgen bring to the table?
Doug: UNI expected a two-way battle for the starting job heading into fall camp, but it became a four-man competition after Stephen Kaiser transferred in from SMU and freshman Justin Black arrived from Florida. Jared Lanpher and Kollmorgen both played well in the spring. Lanpher was slowed a little bit by an injury during the preseason, but Kollmorgen went out and won the job.
MTB: UNI is one of the powers of FCS football, but is there any worry that the FBS level games will be a distraction to what they are trying to accomplish in 2012?
Doug: I don’t think so. Farley does an incredible job of keeping his team focused on the big picture, which for UNI is the FCS playoffs. It will be more about execution, discipline and fundamentally sound football that UNI can build on than a win or a loss Saturday. I am sure he is presenting these FBS games to his team as tremendous opportunities to play against outstanding opponents in electric environments, although knowing Coach Farley, he might play the lack of respect card as some additional motivation.
MTB: Defensively how do you see the Panthers trying to attack Wisconsin? Who are some names Badger fans should be watching out for on that side of the ball?
Doug: I don’t think you attack Wisconsin defensively. You try to absorb the Badgers, limit their possessions and shorten the game. If you can create a turnover or two with some tough, physical play, that much the better. UNI has a solid secondary, although they aren’t big in stature. Varmah Sonie is an excellent cornerback. The linebackers and d-line have a lot of new faces. There are some talented athletes with good size and strength stepping into those positions, but they’re unproven and about to be tested like they’ve never been tested before.
MTB: Prediction?
Doug: As a general rule, I never go against the Panthers, but this one is an exception. Opening game of the season, a rookie quarterback, a rebuilt front seven on defense, that boisterous Badger crowd at Camp Randall and what certainly looks like another outstanding Wisconsin team are probably too much for most teams to overcome. I think this will be a very good UNI football team in time, but this week it looks like …
Wisconsin 38, UNI 13.
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