Northern Iowa-Nebraska game will pit Husker AD against former coach

Northern Iowa in Lincoln on Sept. 14. A collision of past and present for the new NU athletic director.

Dannen’s career as a college administrator took off with stops at Tulane and Washington before Nebraska hired him this spring. But it began in Cedar Falls, where the UNI alumnus served as AD for more than seven years through 2015. The football coach he supported throughout — Mark Farley — will be on the opponent sideline for the Huskers’ third game of the season.

“It’ll be a little bit of a different thing standing across the field because I proudly have a UNI football helmet sitting on my bookcase alongside a Tulane one and a Washington one,” Dannen said. “I won’t be rooting for Mark at least that week. This is probably the first time I’ve ever been in a position for this type of stuff to happen.”

History says a Panthers upset is unlikely — Nebraska is 13-0 all-time against I-AA/FCS opponents since the reclassification in 1978 and most recently beat Fordham (2021) and North Dakota (2022). Meanwhile, Northern Iowa went 6-5 last season. It is transitioning offenses and quarterbacks while flush with defensive inexperience.

Farley, from his office, said he’s still thrilled his team will get its chance. The Panthers have beaten three FBS foes under his watch — Iowa State in 2007, 2013 and 2016 — and lost to 21 others, mostly a blend of the Cyclones and Iowa. Nebraska will pay $600,000 for the game, which is “huge” for the budget of the entire UNI Athletic Department.

The agreement for the schools’ first-ever football meeting came together in June 2022 when Cedar Falls native Trev Alberts was the Husker athletic director. Alberts’ nephew, redshirt sophomore Caden Palmer, will likely be Northern Iowa’s starting kicker.

In Dannen, Farley now has another contact already in his phone to jokingly ask for a Nebraska scouting report and perhaps rib a bit. The coach sent a friendly text to Dannen when he took his new job after less than six months on the West Coast: You didn’t stay at Washington very long.

“I’ll probably call him up and try to get extra tickets from him now that he’s the AD,” Farley said with a laugh. “I know I need some extra tickets for people up here, so I’ll have to go through Troy. We’ll see how good of friends we are.”

Farley has indirectly affected Nebraska and many of its former prominent players through the years. He gave Scott Frost his first full-time college job as linebackers coach in 2007 and Joe Ganz his first coordinator title in 2020. Multiple other past Husker assistants rose through the ranks under Farley, including Erik Chinander and Mario Verduzco.

The only time Farley wasn’t wearing purple and gold in his 40-plus years as a college player or coach was between 1997 and 2000 while working with Kansas linebackers. KU nearly pulled the upset in 1999, he reminds, before Eric Crouch and Bobby Newcombe led a late comeback. Trips to Lincoln in 1998 and 2000 produced losses by a combined score of 97-17.

“It’s an awesome place to play,” Farley said. “We’re looking forward to coming down, but we also know we’ve got our work cut out. Not coming down to get my butt beat or get beat up — we’re coming down for all the right reasons — but appreciative to that university for allowing us to do it.”

The schools have exchanged players in the portal, too. Safety Omar Brown was an All-American for UNI before joining Nebraska for the 2022 and 2023 campaigns. Former Nebraska receiver Kamonte Grimes is now on the FCS roster.

One takeaway Farley had from UNI’s April 19 spring game: The Panthers must get a lot better before they leave for Nebraska. Gone is three-year starting quarterback Theo Day. Ongoing is a QB battle between Arkansas State transfer Jaxon Dailey and redshirt junior Aidan Dunne. The two Iowa natives have combined to throw 54 college passes.

Leading rusher Tye Edwards (535 yards and five touchdowns on 109 carries) returns, as does No. 2 receiver Sergio Morancy (31 catches for 449 and two). Former Western Iowa eight-player phenom Layne Pryor of Woodbine might be UNI’s best athlete as a 6-foot-3 and 250-pound tight end. An offensive line loaded with older veterans will anchor the unit.

Significant staff turnover has been an offseason challenge with both coordinators and multiple positional assistants — including Ganz to Middle Tennessee State — hired away to FBS programs. Farley will assume defensive play-calling duties while new 29-year-old offensive coordinator Luke Falk, a former Washington State quarterback under late coach Mike Leach, arrives as one of college football’s youngest play-callers.

Much of the spring has been about learning new terminology and playbooks, Farley said. UNI’s attack will be “Air Raid adjacent,” with a high volume of pass plays deceptively built around the same few general schemes with enhanced roles for tight ends and running backs. The Panthers will embody a unique blend of their head coach’s complementary football style with Falk’s unapologetic aerial attack.

“You’ll be reading about ‘Air Raid’ this and who’s the quarterback and that type of stuff,” Farley said. “‘Air Raid’ is a term that’s loosely used but the philosophy is effective.”

How successful it can be in a Memorial Stadium atmosphere that Farley calls “one of the best, if not the best” remains to be seen. The 61-year-old keeps track of the reports out of Lincoln. He heard something about Nebraska’s Red-White Spring Game and how the Huskers may have found their next quarterback. He’s impressed by Matt Rhule.

One thing he already knows is Rhule’s boss — Farley’s old boss — will be an asset in helping football thrive.

“Troy will put his whole heart in that thing,” Farley said. “He’ll give you everything he’s got.”