Ignore the lower-division classification.

A football smackdown is expected when Northern Iowa and Hawaii meet Saturday night at the Ching Complex.

The visiting Panthers average 245.3 rushing yards per game and 5.9 per carry. They average 6 feet 41⁄2 and 310 pounds across the starting offensive line. Running back Tye Edwards, who is 6-4 and 220 pounds, has rushed for 115.7 yards per contest and 8.9 yards a carry. Edwards’ running mate, Amauri Pesek-Hickson, is 6 feet and 240 pounds.

“They’re big every place,” said Jeff Reinebold, who coaches the Rainbow Warriors’ defensive tackles. “I mean, their coaches are big.”

The Panthers, who are the 19th-ranked FCS team in the coaches poll, went to Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium last week and did not blink. Despite the 35-7 loss, the Panthers controlled the clock for 38 minutes, 7 seconds.

“They played in front of 85,000 crazy, red-clad fans and it didn’t faze them at all,” Reinebold said. “That game wasn’t too big for them. They got after it.”

For all the motions and towering receivers spread wide, the Panthers’ plan is simple. “They’re going to line up and come straight at you,” UH associate head coach Chris Brown said. “I love that. That’s my kind of fight right there. You look a man in the eyes and put your fists up, and the toughest man wins.”

UH defensive tackle Ezra Evaimalo said: “This is going to be a big week to show your manhood, I’m going to honestly say. You’re going to have to come out and play fast and physical. If not, this team is going to run us into the dirt. This team is a great team. It doesn’t matter what league or division they’re in. This team comes to play. We have to come out and start like we know they’re going to come hard, because they are.”

In their first two games, the Warriors held Delaware State to 104 rushing yards and UCLA to 71 on 20 carries. But last week, they relinquished 257 yards on the ground in a 31-13 loss to Sam Houston. In practices Tuesday and Wednesday, the scout team provided a physical approach simulating the Panthers’ offense in drills against the Warriors’ top-of-the-rotation defense. Reinebold said the practices’ ferocity was designed with UNI in mind.

“You climb between the ropes with (the Panthers), you’re going to have two choices real soon,” Reinebold said. “You’re either going to get punched and you punch back. Or you’re going to get punched and go to the corner and wait for the ref to wave his hands over you. I anticipate we’re going to punch back. That’s what you want your guys to do. You want them to fight and compete. I think both teams are going to compete. It’s going to be a great game.”

In UH’s defensive scheme, if the edges can be bracketed, the opposing running backs will be funneled toward the middle linebacker.

Jamih Otis, who splits middle duties with Logan Taylor, said: “We like those hard running games. It’s just a big-boy fight. We say it’s a bar fight. This is one of those games where it’s going to be gritty, a lot of commotion. This is the kind of game we live for.”

Brown, who played middle linebacker for the Warriors in the early 2000s, recalled games against imposing offensive lines and tough running backs.

“For a mike linebacker, this is a dream,” Brown said. “You’re going to have busted shoulders. All your fingers are going to feel busted because these guys are going to come straight at you. It’s that type of violent game. But this is a linebacker’s dream. This is a D-lineman’s dream. This is the one that defines who’s tough. … If there’s a game that defines Hawaii football, it’s this one. Hawaii football is always known for being tough, especially on defense. This is the one to test it. Can we stop their run? Can we slow down what they do? Can we take the fight to them?”