Coach Mark Farley had time to evaluate several positions after two consecutive away defeats

CEDAR FALLS – A lot of change is on the horizon for the Northern Iowa football team now and in the future.

After the Panthers (2-2) were able to reset their internal clock with a bye week following trips to Nebraska and Hawaii in Weeks 3 and 4, they will face two-time defending champion South Dakota State this Saturday (4 p.m., ESPN+ ).

The question is: How different?

“I made some (changes) based on what I saw in these first four games,” UNI coach Mark Farley said Monday at his weekly news conference. “Last week I had three (exercises) to test my ideas and thoughts and did they work or not? There will be some changes, some movement.”

Farley’s most notable adjustment might be at quarterback.

Sophomore Matthew Schecklman replaced starter Aidan Dunne late in the third quarter of UNI’s 36-7 loss at Hawaii and shared first-team reps with Dunne during bye-week practices last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

“I wanted to get (Schecklman) some real snaps in a real situation against a good football team on the road, so we figured out what he would be like before we had that series of games,” Farley said.

Not surprisingly, Farley hasn’t named a starter for Saturday’s Missouri Valley Conference opener against the top-ranked Jackrabbits, but he didn’t rule out Schecklman getting the nod.

“He had more opportunities in practice last week,” Farley said. “(Schecklman) has the opportunity to be the starter (Saturday). (Dunne) didn’t do anything wrong, I just wanted to see what (Schecklman) could do.”

Farley also pointed out Monday that explosive plays on defense could be limited and execution on special teams could be improved, along with the possible quarterback change to breathe life into UNI’s Air Raid offense, which hasn’t yet gotten off the ground.

Personnel and schedule changes are part of the adjustments, but ultimately better execution is what the Panthers need.

“We need to raise (our) standards everywhere,” Farley said. “It’s personnel. It’s coaching. It’s everything. When you get to know (coach and players), you need four games to really see what they were like in game situations. Then try to evaluate each coach, each segment (and each player) to find the balance of what you will do in the next two months.”

When it comes to future changes for UNI, a recent appeal made by University President Mark Nook at a Board of Regents meeting on Sept. 19 to make in-state tuition available to students from neighboring states would have a major positive impact on the UNI football program.

“That would change the game,” Farley said. “It makes your player deployment budget more efficient and levels the playing field because a lot of our other public schools around us can come into our state and give our students in-state instruction if we recruit against them. But if I cross the (state) line, I pay out-of-state (tuition). When one ship rises, we all rise, and that ship would rise exponentially if we had the opportunity.”