2018 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

2018 Northern Iowa Panthers football
2018 Northern Iowa Panthers football
FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 16–23 vs. UC Davis
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 23
Record	7–6 (5–3 MVFC)
Head coach	Mark Farley (18th season);
Offensive coordinator	John Bond
Defensive coordinator	Jeremiah Johnson
Home stadium	UNI-Dome (c. 16,324, Field-Turf)
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^	8	–	0	15	–	0
No. 3 South Dakota State ^	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 23 Northern Iowa ^	5	–	3	7	–	6
Indiana State	5	–	3	7	–	4
Western Illinois	4	–	4	5	–	6
Illinois State	3	–	5	6	–	5
Youngstown State	3	–	5	4	–	7
South Dakota	3	–	5	4	–	7
Missouri State	2	–	6	4	–	7
Southern Illinois	1	–	7	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the University of Northern Iowa in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The team was led by Mark Farley in his 18th season and played their home games in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 5–3 in MVFC play to finish in a tie for third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, where they defeated Lamar in the first round before losing to UC Davis in the second round.

Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2017 season 8–5, 6–2 in MVFC play to finish in a tie for second place. The Panthers received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Monmouth^[1]^[2] in the first round before losing in the second round to South Dakota State.^[3]^[4]

Preseason

Preseason MVFC poll

The MVFC released their preseason poll on July 29, 2018, with the Panthers predicted to finish in third place.^[5]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	North Dakota State	390 (39)
2	South Dakota State	270
3	Northern Iowa	258
4	Youngstown State	248
5	Illinois State	248
6	South Dakota	206
7	Western Illinois	163
8	Southern Illinois	139
9	Missouri State	90
10	Indiana State	41

Preseason All-MVFC Teams

The Panthers placed six players on the preseason all-MVFC teams.^[6]

Offense

1st team

Briley Moore – TE

2nd team

Marcus Weymiller – RB

Isaiah Weston – WR

Cal Twait – OL

Defense

1st team

Rickey Neal Jr. – LB

2nd team

Xavior Williams – DB

Personnel

Roster

2018 Northern Iowa Panthers Football

Quarterback

11 Colton Howell - Senior (6'0", 213)
14 Eli Dunne - Senior (6'5", 238)
15 Jacob Keller - Freshman (6'1", 206)
17 Christian Ellsworth - Sophomore (6'2", 210)
18 John Sullivan - Freshman (6'1", 204)

Runningback

8 Marcus Weymiller - Senior (5'10", 204)
13 Jon Nzombo - Senior (5'7", 205)
21 Christian Jegen - Junior (5'11", 205)
25 Trevor Allen - Junior (5'10", 203)
30 Alphonso Soko - Freshman (5'7", 179)
31 Tyler Hoosman - Freshman (6'0", 201)
32 Jack Wegher - Sophomore (5'10", 205)

Wide Receiver

6 Terrell Carey - Freshman (5'10", 211)
35 Nick Phillips - Sophomore (5'7", 188)
37 Aaron Graham - Junior (5'11", 201)
80 Isaiah Weston - Sophomore (6'4", 207)
82 Nick Fossey - Sophomore (6'1", 199)
83 Jaylin James - Junior (6'3", 202)
87 Jalen Rima - Junior (6'0", 192)

Placekicker

58 Austin Errthum - Senior (5'10", 180)
62 Sam Drysdale - Junior (6'4", 180)
63 Nate Murphy - Freshman (6'0", 166)

Tight End

85 Elias Nissen - Senior (6'4", 243)
86 Briley Moore - Junior (6'3", 242)
89 Trey Recknor - Sophomore (6'0", 230)
Taylor Otterstatter - Sophomore (6'5", 251)

Offensive Lineman

55 Colton Lueck - Junior (6'4", 286)
59 Max Erpelding - Sophomore (6'0", 260)
61 Matthew Vanderslice - Sophomore (6'7", 257)
65 John Yount - Freshman (6'2", 295)
66 Philip Arendt - Sophomore (6'1", 303)
67 Erik Sorensen - Freshman (6'6", 320)
68 William Blaser - Sophomore (6'1", 281)
69 Tyus Phillips - Freshman (6'7", 285)
70 Trevor Penning - Freshman (6'6", 289)
71 Nick Ellis - Sophomore (6'4", 308)
72 Justin Peine - Freshman (6'5", 293)
73 Mason Beisen - Freshman (6'4", 329)
74 Jackson Scott-Brown - Junior (6'4", 312)
75 Cal Twait - Senior (6'5", 305)
76 Spencer Brown - Sophomore (6'8", 290)
78 Tyler Putney - Senior (6'6", 302)
79 Ezrah Szczyrbak - Senior (6'4", 299)

Defensive Lineman

44 Jared Brinkman - Sophomore (5'11", 290)
47 Elerson G. Smith - Sophomore (6'5", 230)
49 Desmond Chapple - Sophomore 6'3", 235)
64 Hezekiah Applegate - Junior (6'2", 285)
91 Brawntae Wells - Sophomore (6'2", 261)
94 Tim Butcher - Sophomore (6'2", 300)
95 Seth Thomas - Junior (6'5", 262)
97 Marcel Minniefield - Junior (6'2", 282)
98 Bryce Douglas - Senior (6'0", 304)

Long Snappers

57 Joe Friedrich - Junior (6'0", 206)
96 Nick Simpson - Freshman (5'8", 203)

Linebacker

7 Rickey Neal Jr. - Senior (6'1', 241)
33 Jake Hartford - Sophomore (6'3", 226)
39 Duncan Ferch - Senior (6'1", 234)
40 Alfonzo Lambert - Sophomore (6'0", 209)
41 Blake Thomas - Senior (6'1", 224)
42 Kendrick Suntken - Senior (6'0", 240)
43 Cristian Perez - Senior (6'1", 246)
45 Brock Hadachek - Freshman (6'2", 208)
48 Chris Kolarevic - Freshman (6'0", 223)
50 Bryce Flater - Freshman (6'1", 224)
51 Riley Van Whye - Freshman (6'2", 215)
52 Zac Ebeling - Sophomore (6'0", 220)
53 Weston Schultz - Sophomore (6'3", 215)
56 Ricky Grimes - Junior (6'1", 228)
Jesse Cardenas - Sophomore (6'2", 225)

Defensive Back

9 Xavior Williams - Sophomore (5'11", 175)
19 Suni Lane - Sophomore (6'3", 203)
22 Max Steffen - Sophomore (5'1", 185)
23 A.J. Allen - Senior (6'0", 215)
24 Nikholi Jaghai - Junior (5'7", 181)
26 Isaiah Nimmers - Sophomore ( 5'9", 185)
27 Austin Evans - Sophomore (6'0", 189)
29 Roosevelt Lawrence - Sophomore (6'0", 170)
36 Korby Sander - Sophomore (6'0", 212)
38 Zac Kibby - Sophomore (5'11, 203)

Punter

88 Michael Kuntz - Senior (5'11", 188)

^[7]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	8:00 p.m.	at No. 24 Montana*	No. 13	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT	PSN^[a]	L 23–26	25,018
September 15	6:30 p.m.	at Iowa*	No. 21	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	BTN	L 14–38	69,250
September 22	4:00 p.m.	Hampton*	No. 25	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	PSN/ESPN3	W 44–0	9,116
September 27	6:00 p.m.	at Indiana State	No. 23	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	W 33–0	5,487
October 6	1:00 p.m.	No. 1 North Dakota State	No. 22	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	PSN/ESPN+	L 31–56	9,899
October 13	6:00 p.m.	at No. 24 South Dakota		DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN+	W 42–28	9,513
October 20	4:00 p.m.	No. 2 South Dakota State	No. 25	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3	W 24–9	12,013
October 27	1:00 p.m.	at Western Illinois	No. 17	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN+	L 17–37	2,832
November 3	1:00 p.m.	No. 14 Illinois State		UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	PSN/ESPN+	W 26–16	10,838
November 10	11:00 a.m.	at Youngstown State	No. 22	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN+	L 10–31	8,407
November 17	4:00 p.m.	Missouri State		UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	PSN/ESPN+	W 37–0	10,072
November 24	4:00 p.m.	Lamar*		UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA (FCS Playoffs First Round)	ESPN3	W 16–13	4,082
December 1	9:00 p.m.	at No. 7 UC Davis*		Aggie Stadium Davis, CA (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	L 16–23	8,306
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Source: Schedule

^ Panther Sports Network involves these channels (CFU Ch. 15/HD415; KCRG-TV Ch. 9.2; WHO-DT Ch. 13.2; KGCW Ch. 26, (NBC Sports Chicago or NBC Sports Chicago Plus)

Game summaries

at Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Panthers	0	0	7	16	23
No. 24 Grizzlies	16	10	0	0	26

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–6	2016	MONT, 20–14

at Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Panthers	0	0	0	14	14
Hawkeyes	7	14	17	0	38

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–16	2014	IOWA, 31–23

Hampton

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pirates	0	0	0	0	0
No. 25 Panthers	10	10	21	3	44

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Panthers	3	6	14	10	33
Sycamores	0	0	0	0	0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
26–5	2017	UNI, 41–3

North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Bison	7	14	7	28	56
No. 22 Panthers	14	10	7	0	31

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
26–25	2017	NDSU, 30–14

at South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	21	7	14	42
No. 24 Coyotes	3	10	8	7	28

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
28–19–1	2017	UNI, 34–29

South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Jackrabbits	3	0	0	6	9
No. 25 Panthers	0	7	7	10	24

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
30–21–2	2017 FCS Playoffs	SDSU, 37–22

at Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Panthers	3	7	0	7	17
Leathernecks	0	16	7	14	37

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
31–15	2017	WIU, 38–29

Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Redbirds	3	0	0	13	16
Panthers	3	16	7	0	26

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
20–12	2015	ILST, 21–13

at Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Panthers	0	7	3	0	10
Penguins	7	7	14	3	31

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
21–8	2017	UNI, 19–14

Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	0	0
Panthers	10	10	7	10	37

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
33–5	2017	UNI, 25–10

FCS Playoffs

Lamar–First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	13	0	0	0	13
Panthers	3	10	0	3	16

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	1964	UNI, 19–17

at UC Davis–Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	6	0	7	3	16
No. 7 Aggies	10	6	7	0	23

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	13	21	21	25	23	22	RV	25	17	RV	22	RV	RV	23
Coaches	12	18	18–T	22	21	22	RV	RV	23	RV	24	RV	RV	RV

References

^ "Monmouth vs. Northern Iowa - Game Recap - November 25, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
^ Courier, JIM NELSON Waterloo. "UNI romps to playoff victory over Monmouth". The Quad-City Times. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
^ "FCS playoffs: South Dakota State Jackrabbits beat Northern Iowa 37–22". Argus Leader. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
^ "Northern Iowa vs. South Dakota State - Game Recap - December 2, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
^ http://www.valley-football.org/news/2018/7/19/football-north-dakota-state-tabbed-as-favorite-to-win-2018-mvfc-title.aspx
^ http://valley-football.org/documents/2018/7/31//2018_MVFC_Preseason_Team_and_Poll.pdf?id=41
^ "2018 Football Roster". UNI Athletics. Retrieved 23 July 2018.

[8] Panther Sports Network involves these channels (CFU Ch. 15/HD415; KCRG-TV Ch. 9.2; WHO-DT Ch. 13.2; KGCW Ch. 26, (NBC Sports Chicago or NBC Sports Chicago Plus)

[1] "Monmouth vs. Northern Iowa - Game Recap - November 25, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-01-17.

[2] Courier, JIM NELSON Waterloo. "UNI romps to playoff victory over Monmouth". The Quad-City Times. Retrieved 2018-01-17.

[3] "FCS playoffs: South Dakota State Jackrabbits beat Northern Iowa 37–22". Argus Leader. Retrieved 2018-01-17.

[4] "Northern Iowa vs. South Dakota State - Game Recap - December 2, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-01-17.

[5] ttp://www.valley-football.org/news/2018/7/19/football-north-dakota-state-tabbed-as-favorite-to-win-2018-mvfc-title.aspx

[6] ttp://valley-football.org/documents/2018/7/31//2018_MVFC_Preseason_Team_and_Poll.pdf?id=41

[7] "2018 Football Roster". UNI Athletics. Retrieved 23 July 2018.

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[a]

v t e Northern Iowa Panthers football
Venues	O. R. Latham Stadium (1936–1975) UNI-Dome (1976–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Drake
Culture & lore	"UNI Fight"
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
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