Ben Patterson Sports

Yes, I know. I realize, you realize, uh huh...we're all aware. The UNI Panthers will wrap up the month of September with their fourth road game of the month tomorrow, this time by way of Normal, Illinois.

It started with the man-handling of Iowa State, continued in Brookings, SD with a victory over SDSU and recently made a stop behind a woodshed in Des Moines to dismantle the Drake Bulldogs.

During this stretch, the Panthers have ascended to #3 in the Division 1-AA (NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, if you've made the switch) Polls and really look unstoppable.

I say this team is better than the squad that fell to Appy St. in the 1-AA Final a couple years ago. To this point in the season, Eric Sanders has completed 80% of his passes. Corey Lewis is averaging 110 yards on the ground per game and 75 through the air. Not too shabby.

Speaking of Appy St., they lost last week so the #1 spot in the nation suddenly became wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide open for consideration and I'm still scratching my head; how is UNI not #1 right now. Really though, they have a win over a BCS school in the Big 12 and a victory on the road at the #1 ranked Mid-major school in the country.

Sure, it makes sense in the shallow minds of many to move UNI up one rung from #4 to #3 but at what point does what you've done on the field start to speak? What has #1 Montana done? They haven't even left the state! UNI has 3 road games under its belt and Montana has been sucking down the sweet home cookin' and then eating cupcakes like Southern Utah, Fort Lewis and Albany.

At least #2 UMass has gone out on the road but Colgate has its success in the toothpaste aisle, not on the football field. The Minutemen have Boston College this weekend, so they'll be out of the way in no time.

Rankings talk aside, Saturday's game at Illinois State is by far the most important in the month of September. Sure, Drake knocked off the then #7 Redbirds in the first game of the season, but this is different; conference opponents don't take each other lightly. Especially in conference openers.

I fully expect the Panthers to go out tomorrow and get this thing done. And if they take care of business in a timely and orderly fashion, don't be surprised to see UNI leapfrog to #1 in the nation come next week.


Thanks to The Helmet Project for the helmet images.