On Saturday, Oct. 17, UNI was set on overpowering Western Illinois on homecoming night for the Panthers.

With the final score, 24-19, the Panthers now face a 2-4 record and their third consecutive loss in three weeks.

Head coach, Mark Farley, stressed very heavily that excuses were no longer an option.

“I could think of a thousand things to answer that question but instead of having a reason,” said Farley of what went wrong Saturday, “we have to find answers.”

UNI’s offense was felt very uneven once again, putting 260 total offensive yards with just 68 plays. 91 of these came from the ground with 32 attempts.   

Discouraged with the numbers he saw, Farley said he wants the Panther offense firing on all cylinders every time they step on the field.

“I thought we’d throw the ball a little better than we did,” Farley said.

On the defensive side of things, defensive back Deiondre Hall was just as upset, seeing problems on both sides of the ball.

“We just came out flat and slow,” Hall said. “We came back fighting in the second half. We just didn’t make enough plays in the end.”

Western Illinois led 14-0 by halftime. After the break, Michael Schmadeke hit two field goals for six points. Hall then recorded his    

fourth career pick-six, closing the gap to 21-13.

Not long after, Aaron Bailey had an impressive drive, topped off by his 5-yard carry for a touchdown. Wide receiver Darius Fountain received a bullet of a pass as he could not hold onto it for the two -point conversion.

David Griffith of Western Illinois picked off Bailey as one of his last passes of the game sailed a little high. After running out the clock, they came out on top, beating the Panthers, 24-19.

“When we got down, 14-0, we   

couldn’t come back quickly,” Farley Said. “We gave them only three points in the second half and the offense worked their way back into it, but it took them the whole half to do so and in this day and age, you should pull some stuff off quicker than that.”

Next Saturday, the Panthers will hit the road as they face South Dakota State in Brookings, hoping to end this negative streak.