He’s seen a lot of quarterbacks, but looking down the ISU football schedule, defensive coordinator Wayne Bolt thinks he may be seeing one of the best Saturday.

Bolt, who has spent more than 20 years coaching, said UNI quarterback Eric Sanders is near the top of the list of quarterbacks the Cyclones will see this season.

“I’ve looked at all the quarterbacks we’ll face at the start of the summer and he’s right up there with them,” Bolt said. “He leads their football team and he does a great job with leadership.”

Besides being a good leader, Sanders has posted a 23-8 record as a starter. The redshirt senior from Oelwein has also passed for more than 6,000 yards with Northern Iowa.

“You’ve got to put pressure on him and you can’t let him sit back there [in the pocket],” Bolt said. “He’s done a good job against the blitz in the past, so we’ve got to be sound in what we’re doing.”

Bolt said one of the most important things will be making sure Sanders doesn’t get comfortable. Last season he completed 23 of 29 passes for 158 yards and one touchdown in Northern Iowa’s 28-27 loss to the Cyclones.

“He’s very confident for a reason,” said coach Gene Chizik. “He’s had great success, and he plays on a great football team, and last year they played great and got an upper hand.”

Besides confidence, Sanders will have weapons. Junior Corey Lewis rushed for 79 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries in the Panthers’ 41-14 victory over Minnesota State. Senior Darian Williams added 52 yards rushing and a touchdown for Northern Iowa, and was last year’s Gateway Conference Newcomer of the Year.

“We’ve got to step up our game in all phases, stopping the run and getting the quarterback,” said defensive end Kurtis Taylor.

In order to stop Sanders and the rest of Northern Iowa’s offense, Bolt said he’ll use an assortment of defenses to keep the Panthers’ offense off balance.

“You’ve got to put four-man pressure and you’ve got to have man pressure too,” Bolt said. “You can’t do too much or he’ll hurt you. You’ve got to pick your places.”

No matter how dangerous Sanders may be, Bolt said he’s excited to see him in Jack Trice Stadium.

“I look forward to meeting the kid,” he said.

Rivalry history

The last time the Panthers defeated the Cyclones was in 1994, when Iowa State was led by coach Jim Walden. The 28-14 loss, which came in the opening game of the season, was the start of a six-game losing streak for the Cyclones. Iowa State, which finished the season 0-10-1, tied Oklahoma State 31-31 in week seven.