CEDAR FALLS - Saturday afternoon's all right for fighting if you want to win a Football Championship Subdivision title.

Northern Iowa will get a shot at advancing to the FCS finals when it hosts Richmond in the UNI-Dome. Kickoff of this semifinal game is set for 3 p.m. Saturday, and it will be televised on ESPN.

When the Panthers beat New Hampshire in the quarterfinal matchup, nothing had been decided about time or date. Sunday, the word came - UNI will battle the Spiders on Saturday afternoon. The winner goes to Chattanooga for the championship game with either James Madison or Montana as the opponent.

"I guess I'd prefer whatever would get us the best crowd, but I don't have the answer to that," said Panthers head coach Mark Farley when asked when he wanted to play the semifinal against Richmond.

To paraphrase Elton John, Saturday night was also all right for fighting from UNI's football perspective. The Panthers overcame three turnovers and a shoulder injury to quarterback Pat Grace to beat New Hampshire for the third time in four years. Those three Panther victories have been reached by a total of eight points.

Before taking on the Wildcats, Farley knew that Richmond had upset defending FCS champion Appalachian State in their quarterfinal round matchup. That upset meant that with a victory over New Hampshire, the Panthers would get a third home playoff game.

Nonetheless, UNI tried to ignore Appalachian State's demise

"We didn't talk about it," said Farley. "We talked about New Hampshire and what we had to do to beat New Hampshire. But it did put a little more stress on this game, knowing that if we got a win, we could come back home again."

Said Panther linebacker Josh Mahoney, "That doesn't affect anything, especially in the playoffs. You're completely focused on New Hampshire. Stuff like that (Appalachian State loss), you don't even really consider it."

After beating New Hampshire, the Panthers were more than willing to consider one significant statistic.

UNI forced six Wildcat turnovers. Mahoney picked off two R.J. Toman passes, the first leading to a touchdown. Cornerback Terrell McMoore's pick and 36-yard return put the margin of victory on the board in the third quarter. De'Veon Harris stopped a threat with his interception in the final quarter.

Tackle Mark Huygens and Ben Schmidt each recovered a fumble.

"I don't think you ever go into a game expecting to get six turnovers," said McMoore, who scored his first college touchdown Saturday. "The coaches put us in position, and we made the plays when they came our way."

Grace, meanwhile, lost a fumble and threw an interception that New Hampshire defensive back John Clements returned 100 yards for a score on the final play of the first half.

Then UNI's junior quarterback hurt his left (non-throwing) shoulder scrambling for yardage late in the third quarter. Missing two possessions, Grace returned to finish the game.

On the profit side of the ledger, Grace was UNI's leading rusher with 84 yards in 14 carries. He hit 18 of 26 passes for 255 yards, including drive-sustaining long gainers to Maurice Turner, Josh Collins and Schuylar Oordt.

Farley said Grace's injury appeared to be only a shoulder contusion. Grace himself said he would be ready for Richmond.

"It feels a lot better now, especially when we got the win," said the Panther quarterback. "Oh, yeah, I'll be going next week."

Contact Jim Sullivan at (319) 291-1434 or jim.sullivan@wcfcourier.com