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Three thoughts ahead of Northern Iowa football's 2021 season-opener vs. Iowa State

CEDAR FALLS, Ia. — Among those in college football most ready for normalcy, the entire FCS level has to be at or near the top of the list.

Schools in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and elsewhere will cram two seasons into one calendar, with many squeezing in nearly 20 games in a nine-month span. Ending in April only to resume in September will present challenges to even the most veteran squads.

Throughout the spring's pandemic-altered play, some of those FCS football giants looked like themselves. But several others, including Northern Iowa, could only construct an incomplete product must less potent than its hypothetical 2020 self.