CEDAR FALLS — With the program's brand-new team room serving as the backdrop for this year's Northern Iowa football media day, Wednesday afternoon in Cedar Falls felt like the first flip to fall.
It's a familiar assessment as Mark Farley readies for his 22nd season leading the Panthers. UNI enters 2022 with defensive confidence while needing offensive questions answered as the Panthers look to climb back among the elite in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
It's been an eventful stretch since UNI won double-digit games for the first time in nearly a decade and reached the playoffs' quarterfinal round in 2019.