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Lamar won 6 straight to get their first playoff appearance, but I'm pretty sure the streak will end Saturday in Cedar Falls. UNI is the better team, they're 4-1 at home, and they've won their last 3 first-round games handily.

Here's my assessment of the matchups & my pick for the game:

• • • Quarterbacks -- (push)
      
      Running Backs - Northern Iowa
      
      Receivers/TEs - Northern Iowa
      
      Offensive Line - Northern Iowa
      
      
      Defensive Line - Northern Iowa
      
      Linebackers --- Northern Iowa
      
      Secondary ---- Lamar
      
      
      Kicking ------ Northern Iowa
      
      Punting ------ Northern Iowa
      
      Return Teams - Northern Iowa
      
      Kickoffs ------ Northern Iowa
      
      
      
      
      
      • Lamar 21-41 Northern Iowa

Like Lamars surgence at the end, they couldve won a couple other matchups, but UNI is too strong and wins by around 20.

UNI by 5

UNI keeps it close for 3 quarters before Lamar overpowers their gassed defense with Bison-like efficiency and 3 unanswered TDs in the 4th.

I hesitated to post this for obvious reasons but, honestly, I think it's likely that Lamar is in the playoffs because McNeese continued to suffer injuries during the last game of the season. By the time the game was over they were playing three true freshmen on the defensive line and had almost nobody left in terms of people who were starters at the beginning of the season in the back 5 of their 4-2-5.

As the McNeese football site quoted now ex-McNeese head coach Lance Guidry:

"We had a lot of our guys hurt," said Guidry. "We just ran out of players."

I don't think Lamar is really a playoff caliber team. I think Nicholls State and Incarnate Word out of the Southland are playoff caliber teams with the caveat that Incarnate Word may not be without its starting quarterback. But Lamar is probably not.

Lamar leads 13-6, late-2Q

UNI was favored by 27.5 this morning.

13-13 at the half.

Still 13-13, early-4Q

UNI in the redzone…

Panthers win 16-13