UNI coach Mark Farley says the Panthers need to do a better job of finishing drives and that was a factor in their loss at Indiana State in their Missouri Valley Football Conference opener. The Panthers dropped their conference opener a year ago and that began a five game losing skid. Farley does not think Saturday’s loss will linger. Farley says the Panthers need to be more consistent in the games. They fell behind 14-0 in the opening quarter at Indiana State.

UNI visits South Dakota on Saturday and the Coyotes are expected to regain the services of junior quarterback Kevin Earl. He passed for 370 yards in South Dakota’s overtime win in Cedar Falls last year. South Dakota coach Joe Glenn expects the game to go down to the wire.

The last two years have feature close games, including a South Dakota overtime victory in 2013. Like UNI, the Coyotes are 2-3 overall. South Dakota lost at Southern Illinois 41-10 last week.

(Learfield Sports)