CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The facemasks remained on.

No one wearning purple shifted into the flying wedge.

And not a soul suggested rolling up the UNI-Dome's Mondo turf in favor of good old-fashioned grass.

One thing, though, seemed bright and clear by the final horn Saturday. Northern Iowa had played ancestral football -- and succeeded.

Going back to their roots, the Panthers dominated Youngstown State and snapped a two-game losing streak with a 28-7 decision.

"Knowing the position we were in, we needed to start building on something," said head coach Mark Farley. "We had to go back."

The victory lifted UNI to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in Missouri Valley Football Conference play. Thus, Farley's team still owns a chance to reach the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Before worrying about the destination, though, the Panthers relished the journey, especially Saturday's 60 minutes of it.

"That was fun," said Farley. "We had to get back on track. I think the thing I'm most pleased with on our football team is.... we went back to basics."

That became evident in the offensive approach as the Panthers built a quick lead that peaked at 21-7 by halftime.

Overall, UNI ran the ball 48 times against Youngstown State and tried just 20 passes. The Panthers racked up 230 rushing yards, including a career-high 113 from Carlos Anderson before he departed in the fourth quarter with a leg injury.

All four touchdowns came on the ground. Anderson tallied the first one, darting 12 yards in the first quarter. Quarterback Pat Grace, surviving a wicked hit that separated the senior from his helmet, rambled for TDs on runs of 2 and 3 yards. Reserve running back Matt Strathman plunged a yard for the final score of the day.

It was all part of the plan. During the week, Farley walked into an offensive line meeting and told the players, "We're putting it on your shoulders. We're gonna let you run the ball."

Said offensive tackle Austin Howard, "It feels awesome.

"We'd lost that swagger a little bit. We weren't really playing UNI football. UNI football is predominantly based on the run offense. We weren't really doing that. We were passing. We weren't running as much as we could."

The first drive and the last told the story.

On its first series, UNI rumbled 80 yards in 12 plays, consuming 5 minutes and 24 seconds. Derrick Law got out of the blocks with a 20-yard run, and Anderson crossed the finish line with his 12-yard TD burst.

Of those 12 plays, just four were passes.

To wrap up the win, UNI needed 15 plays, 74 yards and 8:09 en route to Strathman's score. Grace threw one incomplete pass.

"Sometimes, it takes time to score that way," said Farley. "It's not the quick bomb and all of a sudden you have 50 points on the board. We had our day doing that, and we'll have our day again. But now we just had to go back to doing what we know best, and that's rushing the football."

Defensively, UNI retooled, shifting Jamar Thompson back to linebacker after starting at safety in the opening eight games. Fabian Brown got the nod at defensive end and Tre'Darious Canady made his debut as the No. 1 safety.

Youngstown State scored in the second quarter, on a 10-yard pass from quarterback Brandon Summers to Dominque Barnes. But the Panthers held the Penguins to 238 total yards and a 4-for-13 success rate on third down.

Once again, it was back to the good old days.

"The past few weeks, we hadn't been playing UNI football," said defensive tackle Wes Lane. "We needed to pick it up, get the quarterback scrambling and flushed out of the pocket. We got the quarterback on the run and shut down the run a little bit."