North Butler alum Kolben Miller made his first career start for the Northern Iowa football team in Saturday’s 31-3 loss at South Dakota State.
“We have a group of guys that I know they have my back, and I had theirs today,” Miller says. “It didn’t shake out the way we wanted to, but I was super grateful to just be out there.”
The redshirt junior started at linebacker, where he tied for the team high with 10 tackles, including a team-high eight solos, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. He says he didn’t know he was starting until late in the week.
“Football is football at end of the day. If you stay prepared, you don’t have to get prepared. So I think our coaches do a really good job of making sure that every every backup knows they’re a sprained ankle away from starting, so I think our coaches really do a good job with that.”
After appearing in four games last season, Miller has appeared in each game this season, including handling punting duties in the season opener. A transfer from Iowa Central Community College, Miller describes his journey to starting at the Division I level.
“No disrespect on the culture or anything last year, but I struggled going from starting at at my Juco to thinking I was pretty decent, to coming in here and redshirting. It was just a hard year. And then this new coaching staff comes in, and I will say, I enjoy coming to work, I enjoy coming into the building and being a Panther, win lose or draw. I love every guy next to me, I love the coaches, I know they believe in me, I believe in them. We talk about pounding the stone all the time, and we may we may not be splitting the rock yet, but I think we’re close.”
Miller was named the team’s Player of the Game by the Panther Radio Network.
