Northern Iowa has been picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference this year after finishing as co-champs last season. Coach Mark Farley, who’s entering his 12th year as head of the UNI program, has two big concerns about his team. The first is replacing quarterback Tirrell Rennie, who ran for over 1,000 yards last season scoring nine touchdowns and throwing for 14 more. The second area of concern is on defense, where the Panthers have lost six starters including linebacker L.J. Fort and lineman Ben Boothby.

Farley says he’s trying to determine who will be UNI’s defensive leaders and what scheme will be used to “allow this group of players to be successful.” Fort led the nation in total tackles last season. One bright spot for the Panthers heading into this season is the running back position. Senior Carlos Anderson is closing in on the 2,000 yard mark for his career while sophomore David Johnson recorded 100 or more all-purpose yards in seven games last season. Farley says how Anderson and Johnson are utilized this year will depend on who emerges at quarterback.

“It’ll hinge off of who the quarterback is probably more so than who the running back is, based off our scheme and it’ll develop as the season goes on,” Farley said. The Panthers have a few holes to fill as they return seven starters on offense and just five on defense. Farley said it’s too early to name young players who might become standouts or fan favorites. “We’re just too young and inexperienced in some places that it’s going to take some time and games to say who those people really are,” Farley said in conference call with reporters Thursday. The Panthers non-conference schedule includes Big Ten powerhouses Wisconsin (September 1) and Iowa (September 15).

“It’s the most challenging (non-conference schedule) that we’ve ever had,” Farley said. “There’s no question they’re not just BCS teams, they’re top 20 BCS teams and probably two of the greatest venues anyone could ever play in. They have home field advantage on top of the talent they have and the advantage they have over us, I mean, there’s no question there’s a huge challenge ahead of us.” UNI finished 2011 with 10-3 overall record and a 7-1 mark in the Valley. Defending FCS national champion North Dakota State is picked to finish first in the conference. The Bison received 37 of 38 first place votes in a poll of league coaches, media and sports information directors.

2012 UNI Football Schedule
Date / Opponent / Site / Time
Sept. 1 at Wisconsin / Madison, Wis. 2:30 p.m.
Sept. 8 Central State (Ohio) / UNI-Dome 6 p.m.
Sept. 15 at Iowa / Iowa City, Iowa 2:30 p.m.
Sept. 22 Youngstown State / Youngstown, Ohio 6 p.m.
Sept. 29 North Dakota State / UNI-Dome 6 p.m.
Oct. 13 Southern Illinois / Carbondale, Ill. 2 p.m.
Oct. 20 South Dakota State / UNI-Dome 4 p.m.
Oct. 27 Illinois State / UNI-Dome 4 p.m.
Nov. 3 Western Illinois / Macomb, Ill. 1 p.m.
Nov. 10 South Dakota / Vermillion, S.D. 12 p.m.
Nov. 17 Missouri State / UNI-Dome 4 p.m.

(Radio Iowa)

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Another quarterback battle is under way at Iowa State. Senior Steele Jantz and sophomore Jared Barnett say the players who improves his accuracy is likely to get the starting job. The two start preseason practice dead even on the depth chart after each led the team to three victories during the Cyclones’ 6-7 season a year ago. But Jantz completed just 53 percent of his passes, Barnett was a 50 percent passer and they combined for 17 interceptions against 16 touchdowns. Offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham says they have to settle for taking what the defense gives them instead of trying to force the ball in hopes of making a big play.

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Duke, Louisville and Memphis will be among the teams playing in this year’s Battle 4 Atlantis holiday basketball tournament. The eight-team field, which has a combined 160 NCAA tournament appearances, will play Thanksgiving weekend on a court inside a converted ballroom. The field also will include Missouri, Minnesota, Virginia Commonwealth, Stanford and Northern Iowa. Harvard won the inaugural tournament last year on its way to the school’s first NCAA tournament berth in 66 years. The tournament started as a doubleheader in 2010 and was given exempt status by the NCAA in 2011.

Defending national champion North Dakota State is the preseason pick to win the Missouri Valley Football Conference title this season. The Bison, who won the Football Championship Subdivision championship last year, shared the conference title last season with Northern Iowa, which is second in the preseason poll conducted by league coaches, media and sports information directors. NDSU returns six starters on offense and seven on defense from a team that finished 14-1. The Bison received 37 of 38 first-place votes in the preseason poll. The other went to Illinois State. Youngstown State is third in the poll, Illinois State fourth and Indiana State fifth. The rest of the top ten is South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, South Dakota, Western Illinois and Missouri State.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Tamba Hali didn’t turn down a single autograph request. Even after a grueling two-hour workout on the campus of Missouri Western State University on Thursday, the star outside linebacker signed for more than half an hour. In Hali’s world, nothing gets done halfway. The 28-year-old Penn State product serves as the elder statesman and most experienced player on Kansas City’s defense, a unit that ranked in the top half of the league last year. Hali led the Chiefs in sacks five of his first six seasons after Kansas City took him with a first-round draft choice in 2006. Coming off a 7-9 season, the Chiefs are counting on Hali to help the younger players around him develop.

DENVER (AP) — Tyler Colvin hit a tiebreaking double and rookie Josh Rutledge homered in his fourth straight game, lifting the Colorado Rockies over the St. Louis Cardinals 8-2 Thursday night to avert a three-game sweep. Wilin Rosario hit his first career pinch-hit homer, a two-run shot off reliever Brian Fuentes in the eighth inning, and Jordan Pacheco went 3 for 3 with two doubles and two RBIs to help the Rockies snap a five-game losing streak. It was their first win in their last eight games at Coors Field. With the score deadlocked at 2, DJ LeMahieu singled off reliever Fernando Salas (1-4) to start the seventh inning and was sacrificed to second. Colvin then doubled to left to put the Rockies back on top.