KXEL Presents: The Home of the Panthers Pre-Game Podcast - October 28, 2022

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Welcome

to the Home of the Panthers podcast produced by News Talk 1540 KXCL and presented by I'm On Communications.

Experience the I'm On difference.

I'm Tim Harwood.

Stay tuned to this week's conversation with UNI Panther Spencer Covalier right after this from I'm On Communications.

Who used all the Wi-Fi?

Ah,

apartment life.

Bad Wi-Fi, mystery laundry piles, and a roommate who says, I'll Venmo you.

Maybe 2027 deserves an upgrade.

Coming August 2027, Four Lakes Properties introduces the brand new Union Station apartments.

Furnished, in-unit washer and dryer, internet included, a great central downtown location, one to five bedroom apartments, and no double occupancy fees.

That's less adulting and more actually enjoying where you live.

Union Station apartments, now leasing from Four Lakes Properties.

Wait, we have a washer and dryer in the apartment?

Newstalk 1540 KXCL is your home of the Panthers and the Panther football team now back to 500 trying to climb up above the break even mark.

at Southern Illinois today.

The Panthers a big win last week.

41 to 20 over the Missouri State Bears wrapping up a four game homestand at the Unidom in Cedar Falls to talk about that.

And today's game we're joined now by UNI Panther senior linebacker Spencer Covalier.

Spencer congratulations on the big win and the role that the defense played in that big win.

Thank you very much Tim.

It was a really fun game to play and we executed the game playing well I felt.

And again, the defense coming up big early.

Talk about that for fans who weren't with us on Saturday last weekend and what that meant to set the tone for the rest of the game.

Right off the crack of the bat, it was actually special teams that really made the biggest momentum swing of the game.

The opening kickoff kicked it off and they must have had a little confusion on who was going to catch the ball.

Took two hops down by the 10 or five yard line and

The returner grabbed it, and we had some guys screaming down on kickoff.

Giovanni Brecchi to name one, and actually tackled the guy in the end zone.

Everyone was thinking safety.

I was on the sideline yelling safety, and I was kind of, you know, I was pumped up, and then, you know, they placed the ball at like the half yard line.

We ran out there, they run two plays, and on their second play they ran.

We ended up having an interception, and then the first, you know, turn around offense comes to the field, and then they...

first play the offense runs the touchdown by Don Williams is one of his four touchdowns he had on Saturday so yeah kinda set the tone early in the game against Missouri State and uh... you know when you can score seven points in the first minute of the game what whether you start with a ball or not it's uh... it's a pretty good start to a game

Let me ask you about a couple things you mentioned there.

You mentioned watching the special teams play on the sidelines.

You mentioned Dom Williams scoring a touchdown and that lends itself to the question that I'm not sure a lot of fans are necessarily plugged into.

How much of the game do you get to see from the sidelines when you're not playing because you come off the field and usually you're talking with the coaches.

Yeah, I actually learned more about how the game went.

when I rewatched on film and or on TV, which is kind of funny.

I was talking to one of my teammates on defense and we ran a double pass last Saturday against Missouri State and Sam Schnee threw a dime to Alex Allen downfield on a, like I said, a double pass and one of my buddies on defense came up to me after the game and I told him about that and he's like, what are you talking about?

He's like, we were in a double pass.

And I was like, yeah, we were in a double pass.

I didn't even see that.

And so us as a defense, and I'm sure the offense as well.

When one of us are on the field and off, I feel like when we're communicating with our team, trying to figure out what we've got to do for the next drive, we're definitely prone to miss plays by either side of the ball.

We're talking with UNI Panther senior linebacker Spencer Kuvalier and talking right now about last week's big win against Missouri State.

Let me come back to special teams one more time too.

How do you feel like that helped you as a player?

Because everybody at one time or another is asked to play on special teams.

It does help to develop some of those skills that are part of what you do down in and down out.

But in some ways, too, those special team skills are unique because you're only using them a few plays a game.

It really makes you feel like you're contributing to the team.

It's got to be a high energy.

Deal so when you go out there on kickoff, you know, it's it's a it's a group of guys that are taking pride in what they do and Like I said, there's gonna be high energy guys high effort guys going down there trying to make a play You know trying to cause a fumble or you know get a safety on a kickoff or score touchdown kickoff return have a have a you know a ceiling block and a punt return for a touchdown like it they take pride in what they do and when I played a lot of special teams I was the same way, you know, I try to go out there and

You only get so many plays playing special teams.

And so you want to make them count.

And so you're really locked in, focused in, and it kind of introduces you to college football in a way.

You know, it's typically when you're a younger guy is when you really experience being on a lot of different special teams and the ability it takes to perform well on special teams.

And so it's a great starting spot for a lot of young guys who are developing into going to be starters at some point.

One more question about last weekend's game against Missouri State.

It was the end of that long four game month long home stand for the Panthers.

Three in one, not too bad.

Give me your assessment of the whole body of work over those four games.

I felt like we continually got better, especially these last two games.

I feel like our defense specifically have played really well.

You know, Jason Shelley at the Missouri State quarterback this last week.

You know, I think there were the number two passing offense in the Missouri Valley Conference and we held them do 150 yards.

I think we held into roughly 70 yards rushing and so defensively we came in with a good scheme and we're just playing fast and we're playing fun.

You know, I think we played some dangerous football as in, you know, guys are flying around and not worried about making mistakes.

You know, we've made our mistakes and worrying about it doesn't do anything.

And when you can kind of just put that behind you and just go play freely.

and try to have a short-term memory loss.

I think we play so much better, not letting a previous play affect our play for the rest of the game.

And I feel like we've come together collectively as a defensive unit these last couple games, and I'm excited for the rest of the season.

We're talking with UNI Panther senior linebacker Spencer Covalier.

The Panthers getting ready to take on the Salukis of Southern Illinois, one of three really significant games remaining on the Panthers schedule as UNI tries to make a push towards the FCS playoffs.

And let me talk about playoffs with you though in a different context because after last night across high school football in Iowa, all classes, now everybody is into the postseason.

What do you remember about playing postseason high school football for Crestwood and how did that experience help you above and beyond what you learned during the regular season?

So I was actually, fortunately enough, able to play in a playoff game in high school.

Back when I was a senior they only had the top two teams make it out of each district and so I think there was only

five or four playoff games in some way.

I mean, you go in there playing a pretty good team, you know, either they won their district or, you know, we'll run our runners up in their district.

So I remember playing the playoff game and the way it ended up is that we lost, but it was kind of surreal in a way.

I mean, high school football was probably the most fun football I've ever played.

I have to take that back.

I'd say college football is a lot more fun, but back in high school, that's what I thought.

When I was in high school, I was like, this is

This is it and then honestly, it's kind of what propelled me to want to play college football after that last high school football game.

I don't always have thought about playing college football, but it wasn't until we lost that final playoff game that I realized I wanted to continue playing football.

I feel like I had more to give to the game and I felt like I just couldn't let football go that fast.

And so, I don't know, it really opened up an opportunity for me to work hard at something beyond high school football in a way.

And in your high school, if I remember right, was changing classes around the time that you would have been a senior as well.

So not only qualifying for the class, but just the whole different world that you were jumping into from one class to the next.

Yeah.

Well, so my sophomore year, you know, we were 3A and at my junior year, we were also 3A and we want to combine two games in those two seasons, which was too bad at the time.

And when you're not winning football games, it makes it difficult to enjoy.

I still enjoy my teammates and playing football and stuff like that.

And then turn around my senior year, we got moved down a two-way, which is probably the right size for our class size.

And we ended up losing our first two games in the season.

And then turn around, had our week through as our first district game, we won seven games in a row.

And when you start winning football games as a team, I think everybody

Steps up to another level and then and you can just tell by the community and the way people talk and it's just it's just a great You know coming together moment winning football games, especially though in the fashion that we did

Yeah, what was that like around Cresco when when suddenly after a couple of seasons of challenging results Suddenly you're on a roll.

That's got to be a great feeling especially as a senior

Yeah, absolutely, and you know what we walked into that playoff game

which was our last game of the season, but it was at home, and it was the most people I'd seen at a Cresco football game my entire life.

You know, it was actually unbelievable.

Looking up in the stands, I remember standing at midfield, looking up and seeing how many fans, it was cold, it was cold while they were all dressed in coats, and some people had umbrellas and things like that, but it was actually amazing.

I saw people stand along the fence line, and it's kind of a picture I'll never forget.

And that also did lead to one more.

Sort of high school football game for you the shrine ball game too, and it's not directly tied to the playoffs Let me just ask about that really truly last experience as a high school football player at the dome and What what stands out about that opportunity?

We've talked about it many times here on KXEL when it's happening in July,

but

we don't necessarily get the chance to talk with a player who's been part of the atmosphere and

now find out years later what that experience meant.

The Shrine Bowl was one of the most memorable weeks in my life, to be completely honest with you.

The guys that I met there from, so I was on the North team and I could list off probably 10 to 15 other guys that were on my team.

And just because we were all kind of in a similar situation, you know, we were pretty good in high school and we were able to come to the Shrine Bowl, but it wasn't even just a football game that was fun about it.

It was the week leading up to it.

the practices and the team behind the stuff we did and hanging out with the kids and just the whole process of the shrine bowl was really something special.

You know, and if some athlete out there has an opportunity to do that, I mean, I would take full advantage of it.

It was truly something special.

We're talking with UNI Panther senior linebacker Spencer Kouvalier about some high school football experiences, but let's shift back into the present and Southern Illinois, the Salukis, the long trip to Carbondale after the Panthers have been home.

How do you shake off some of the memory loss, I guess, of going on the road and all the routine that comes with that because it's been a while?

Yeah, it's gonna be, it'll be a little different.

But it's gonna, I'm excited for it.

You know, I think the team is to

especially after rolling these last two weeks, we were excited to go on the road and play a challenging opponent.

And it's going to be a great challenge for us as a team, offense and defense and special teams.

And so going into Carbondale with, you know, we haven't been on the road in a while, but I don't think that's going to affect us too much.

We're just going to try to go in there and win some football.

Now you talked about the dome air at one point, I think it was last week and how much, you know, that type of thing makes a difference.

last days of October, but I don't think a lot of people appreciate just how far south southern Illinois really is.

That's a long trip and it's pretty much just that direction south.

You're going to walk into a totally different climate than what we're seeing here in Cedar Falls.

What is that like at this point of somebody who's been all over the map playing college football games and knows that what you leave is not necessarily what you're walking into this time of year?

It's actually, it's really interesting.

Um, and I'll even take you back to last last year.

We went out to Eastern Washington.

You know, we had snow on the ground here.

Well, when we left for that playoff game and we went out to Eastern Washington and it was, it was, it was just different.

It was just dark and gloomy.

It was rainy.

It was, I felt like it was cloudy the entire time, but it wasn't, you know, that brisk hold, like when the cold, when you walk outside and, uh, that, that wind hits in the face and see her falls.

It's just like you said, the climate is just a little bit different.

And so going down to Carbondale this weekend will be a little bit different atmosphere.

Um,

But I think we're going to be prepared on all levels regardless.

The weather plays some factors with some teams, but I think if we just continue to do what we've done the last few weeks, it shouldn't be an issue.

We're talking with UNI Panther senior linebacker Spencer Kouvelier.

The Salukis are coming off a loss and maybe just as significantly, the Salukis are coming off a game at all because all the Panther opponents in recent weeks seem like they're coming off a bye week.

So what do you anticipate when it comes to the opponent, their approach, their situation that they're in after a four and one start in conference for Southern Illinois?

What's this game going to be like?

And is it from just the record?

standpoint, the conference record standpoint, seems like there's more on the line for UNI.

Yeah, and I think that's the way it's going to look on paper as well.

I think a lot of people would agree with that, but the way we're looking at it as a team is that each week's a playoff game, and that started two weeks ago.

You know, after the loss to Illinois State, we turned around and had to play Dixie State, and we know that we can't really afford to lose one.

And so each game, we're treating like a playoff game, we're treating like playoff football, high energy, playing through injuries, playing tough football.

And that's really what you're going to get from us throughout the rest of the season.

And so going on SIU, they might be in the same boat.

I think they're five and three.

I'm playing some good football, but we're going to go in there and have to step up and make some noise as a team.

So last week, we talked about Jason Shelley.

Who is the player for Southern Illinois who is top of your mind as you look through the scouting report as you get ready on game day and want to make sure that this is the guy who doesn't beat you.

Their quarterback is a he's a winner.

I think it's the best way to describe him.

He's a dual threat guy.

He makes some good decisions.

I think he completes over 70 percent of his passes that he makes.

So and I think they're

top 10 in the country and not giving up the ball or they don't turn over the ball and so that's going to be a main focus for us is try to you know steal a couple balls whether we force some fumbles or you know jump a couple balls and get some interceptions.

But yeah their quarterback is a special player and so really just trying to get him off point will be a main focus of ours this week.

Nick Baker is that quarterback who the Panthers are going to be trying to stop and you'll hear much more about who the Panthers are seeing on the other side of the football and about how you and I comes into this game when we send you to Carbondale and up to the press box to JW Cox and coach Scott Peterson coming up in just a moment or two.

Spencer, thanks for being back with us once again and we will talk again next week.

Absolutely, Tim.

Thanks for having me.

Thanks for listening to the Home of the Panthers podcast with UNI Panther Spencer Covalier presented by Imon Communications.

Experience the Imon Difference.

Join us again before next week's UNI football game for the Home of the Panthers podcast and listen to the game live on the Home of the Panthers News Talk 1540 KXEL.

I'm Tim

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