Like most of his Northern Iowa football teammates, linebacker Tucker Langenberg embraced the opportunity to make a stand.
But a board is not easy to maneuver for a 6-foot-2, 219-pound, first-time surfer. “It’s harder than you think,” Langenberg said. “I got up to my knees one time. That’s the best for me.”
Quarterback Aidan Dunne added: “I didn’t catch any waves, but we sure were trying.”
The Panthers, who arrived on Wednesday, were able to mix free time on Waikiki Beach and at a luau with the business of football ahead of tonight’s game against Hawaii at the Ching Complex.
“For myself and a lot of guys on the team, this will be their first time — and one-and-only time — here,” said Langenberg, one of 62 Panthers who grew up in Iowa. “It was nice for the coaches to allow us free time to get the fun activities out of the way right up front. I know the players appreciated that. But at the end of the day, we’re here for a game. When it comes to practices and the game, we’re all locked in.”
Despite competing at the FCS level, where scholarship distributions are capped at 63, the 19th-ranked Panthers are comparable to FBS’ group-of-five programs in toughness, skill and fearlessness. In last week’s road game against Nebraska, the Memorial Stadium crowd of 85,546 was nearly twice the 46,000 population of Langenberg’s hometown of Urbandale. The Panthers lost, but held possession for 38 minutes, 7 seconds. Not including two penalties, their opening drive used 16 plays.
“They went into Nebraska in front of 85,000 crazy, red-clad fans, and it didn’t faze them at all,” UH defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said. “The game wasn’t too big for them. They got after it.”
It is no secret the Panthers will unleash a downhill-rushing attack against the Rainbow Warriors. The Panthers average 245.3 rushing yards per game and 5.9 per carry. Even in a pistol formation, where the running back is two yards behind the shot-gun quarterback, the Panthers do not mask their intent.
“They’re a little bigger than me,” 6-foot quarterback Dunne said of 6-2, 220-pound running back Tye Edwards (115.7 yards per game, 8.9 yards per carry) and 240-pound Amauri Pesek-Hickson (76.7 yards per game). “I think they’re pretty easily spotted back there.”
U-back Layne Pryor sets up attached to the line, in the slot, or in the backfield. Pryor is an aggressive blocker and flypaper-handed, checkdown receiver. “Layne is doing a hell of a job,” Dunne said. “It really makes it easy to run the football.”
Because the Panthers sent their equipment ahead, they did not have helmets or shoulder pads for what usually are heavy-hitting practices on Tuesday and Wednesday on the Cedar Falls campus. They wore Spyders (cushioned upper-body pads). “We were still practicing and going full speed and avoiding the bigger contact,: Dunne said. “It was good. We still got great practices in without hitting each other so hard.”
In the aftermath of last week’s 31-13 road loss to Sam Houston, the Warriors practiced in anticipation of physical game. “We banged a lot more this week, building that callous,” defensive tackle Ezra Evaimalo said. “That way in the game we’re used to the hits. My biggest thing is that we fly around in the game. I know we can play physical. But the amount of missed tackles we had in the last game, if we fly around the ball, we eliminate that.”
The Warriors focused on discipline after committing 14 penalties last week, and offensive efficiency.
“We can’t be giving up our third-down opportunities like we did,” running back Landon Sims said. “Third down is going to be a big, big part of our offense this week. If we can fix that and get dialed in, we’re going to have a successful weekend.”
