2018 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

American college football season

2018 Northern Iowa Panthers football

NCAA Division I 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 (1st season)
Defensive coordinator| Jeremiah Johnson (6th season)
Home stadium| UNI-Dome

Seasons

← 2017

2019 →

2018 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf. |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

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.

## Preseason

[edit]

### Preseason MVFC poll

[edit]

The MVFC released their preseason poll on July 29, 2018, with the Panthers predicted to finish in third place.[1]

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

[edit]

The Panthers placed six players on the preseason all-MVFC teams.[2]

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

|

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Time| Opponent| Rank| Site| TV| Result| Attendance

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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 (NCAA Division I First Round)

| ESPN3| W 16–13| 4,082
December 1| 9:00 p.m.| at No. 7 UC Davis*| |

* Aggie Stadium
* Davis, CA (NCAA Division 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

1. ^ 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)

## Ranking movements

[edit]

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

## Game summaries

[edit]

### At Montana

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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No. 13 Panthers  | 0  | 0  | 7  | 16 | 23
No. 24 Grizzlies | 16  | 10  | 0  | 0 | 26

See also: 2018 Montana Grizzlies football team

### At Iowa

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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No. 21 Panthers  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 14 | 14
Hawkeyes | 7  | 14  | 17  | 0 | 38

See also: 2018 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

### Hampton

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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Pirates  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0 | 0
No. 25 Panthers | 10  | 10  | 21  | 3 | 44

See also: 2018 Hampton Pirates football team

### At Indiana State

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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No. 23 Panthers | 3  | 6  | 14  | 10 | 33
Sycamores  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0 | 0

See also: 2018 Indiana State Sycamores football team

### North Dakota State

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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No. 1 Bison | 7  | 14  | 7  | 28 | 56
No. 22 Panthers  | 14  | 10  | 7  | 0 | 31

See also: 2018 North Dakota State Bison football team

### At South Dakota

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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Panthers | 0  | 21  | 7  | 14 | 42
No. 24 Coyotes  | 3  | 10  | 8  | 7 | 28

See also: 2018 South Dakota Coyotes football team

### South Dakota State

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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|
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No. 2 Jackrabbits  | 3  | 0  | 0  | 6 | 9
No. 25 Panthers | 0  | 7  | 7  | 10 | 24

See also: 2018 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

### At Western Illinois

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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|
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No. 17 Panthers  | 3  | 7  | 0  | 7 | 17
Leathernecks | 0  | 16  | 7  | 14 | 37

See also: 2018 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

### Illinois State

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
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No. 14 Redbirds  | 3  | 0  | 0  | 13 | 16
Panthers | 3  | 16  | 7  | 0 | 26

See also: 2018 Illinois State Redbirds football team

### At Youngstown State

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
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No. 22 Panthers  | 0  | 7  | 3  | 0 | 10
Penguins | 7  | 7  | 14  | 3 | 31

See also: 2018 Youngstown State Penguins football team

### Missouri State

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

|
|
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|
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Bears  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0 | 0
Panthers | 10  | 10  | 7  | 10 | 37

See also: 2018 Missouri State Bears football team

### Lamar—NCAA Division I First Round

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

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|
|
|
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Cardinals  | 13  | 0  | 0  | 0 | 13
Panthers | 3  | 10  | 0  | 3 | 16

See also: 2018 Lamar Cardinals football team

### At UC Davis—NCAA Division I Second Round

[edit]

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Panthers  | 6  | 0  | 7  | 3 | 16
No. 7 Aggies | 10  | 6  | 7  | 0 | 23

See also: 2018 UC Davis Aggies football team

## Personnel

[edit]

### Roster

[edit]

2018 Northern Iowa Panthers Football

Quarterback

* 11 Colton Howell – Senior (6'0", 213)
* 13 Will McElvain – Freshman (5'10", 195)
* 14 Eli Dunne – Senior (6'5", 238)
* 15 Jacob Keller –  Freshman (6'1", 206)
* 16 Luke Gillett – Freshman (6'1", 190)
* 17 Christian Ellsworth –  Sophomore (6'2", 210)
* 18 John Sullivan –  Freshman (6'1", 204)

Running back

* 5 Martavin Hall – Freshman (5'11", 220)
* 8 Marcus Weymiller – Senior (5'10", 204)
* 13 Jon Nzombo – Senior (5'7", 205)
* 20 Sam Schnee – Freshman (5'8", 182)
* 21 Christian Jegen – Junior (5'11", 205)
* 25 Trevor Allen – Junior (5'10", 203)
* 30 Alphonso Soko –  Freshman (5'7", 179)
* 32 Tyler Hoosman –  Freshman (6'0", 201)
* 32? Jack Wegher –  Sophomore (5'10", 205)
* 36 Trevon Alexander – Freshman (6'1", 195)

Wide receiver

* 2 Sam Ingoli – Freshman (6'5", 205)
* 3 Suni Lane – Sophomore (6'3", 203)
* 4 Deion McShane – Freshman (5'9", 155)
* 10 Eric Mooney – Freshman (6'1", 190)
* 12 Nick Phillips –  Sophomore (5'7", 188)
* 28 Leslie Owusu – Senior (6'2", 200)
* 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

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

Tight end

* 81 Tristan Bohr – Junior (6'4", 246)
* 84 Jayden Scott – Freshman (6'5", 230)
* 85 Elias Nissen – Senior (6'4", 243)
* 86 Briley Moore – Junior (6'3", 242)
* 89 Alex Allen – Freshman (6'6", 220)
* 89? Trey Recknor –  Sophomore (6'0", 230)
* Taylor Otterstatter –  Sophomore (6'5", 251)

|   |

Offensive Lineman

* 52 William Blaser – Sophomore (6'1", 281)
* 55 Colton Lueck – Junior (6'4", 286)
* 57 Kurt Countryman – Freshman (6'1", 285)
* 59 Max Erpelding –  Sophomore (6'0", 260)
* 61 Chase Arends – Freshman (6'1", 270)
* 65 John Yount –  Freshman (6'2", 295)
* 66 Philip Arendt –  Sophomore (6'1", 303)
* 67 Erik Sorensen –  Freshman (6'6", 320)
* 68 Brink Jolly – Graduate Student (6'5", 330)
* 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)
* 77 Matthew Vanderslice – Sophomore (6'7", 257)
* 78 Tyler Putney – Senior (6'6", 302)
* 79 Ezrah Szczyrbak – Senior (6'4", 299)

Defensive Lineman

* 44 Jared Brinkman – Sophomore (5'11", 290)
* 46 Devin Rice – Freshman (6'5", 220)
* 47 Elerson G. Smith –  Sophomore (6'6", 245)
* 49 Desmond Chapple –  Sophomore 6'3", 235)
* 64 Hezekiah Applegate – Junior (6'2", 285)
* 90 Khristian Boyd – Freshman (6'4", 305)
* 91 Brawntae Wells –  Sophomore (6'2", 261)
* 92 Sean Wendel – Freshman (6'5", 240)
* 94 Tim Butcher – Sophomore (6'2", 300)
* 94 Sonny Onken –  Sophomore (6'3", 256)
* 95 Seth Thomas – Junior (6'5", 262)
* 96 Caden Houghtelling – Freshman (6'5", 240)
* 97 Marcel Minniefield – Junior (6'2", 282)
* 98 Bryce Douglas – Senior (6'0", 304)

Long snappers

* 66 Nick Simpson –  Freshman (5'8", 203)
* 93 Joe Friedrich – Junior (6'0", 206)

|   |

Linebacker

* 7 Rickey Neal Jr. – Senior (6'1", 241)
* 22 Bryce Flater –  Freshman (6'1", 224)
* 31 Jevon Brekke – Freshman (6'3", 185)
* 33 Jake Hartford –  Sophomore (6'3", 226)
* 34 Sam Thompson – Freshman (6'2", 205)
* 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 Jordan Gayer – Freshman (6'3", 195)
* 51 Riley Van Wyhe –  Freshman (6'2", 215)
* 53 Weston Schultz – Sophomore (6'3", 215)
* 56 Ricky Grimes – Junior (6'1", 228)
* 59 Zac Ebeling –  Freshman (6'1", 230)
* Jesse Cardenas –  Sophomore (6'2", 225)

Defensive back

* 1 Roosevelt Lawrence – Junior (6'0", 170)
* 3 Suni Lane – Sophomore (6'3", 203)
* 5 Korby Sander –  Sophomore (6'0", 212)
* 9 Xavior Williams –  Sophomore (5'11", 175)
* 19 Shakespeare Williams – Freshman (5'11", 187)
* 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 Tayler Johnson – Freshman (6'2", 155)
* 35 Max Steffen – Sophomore (5'11", 185)
* 38 Zac Kibby –  Sophomore (5'11, 203)

Punter

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

[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "North Dakota State Picked to Win 2018 MVFC Title".
2. ^ "Preseason All-Conf and Team (PDF) - Missouri Valley Football Conference" (PDF).
3. ^ "2018 Football Roster". UNI Athletics. Retrieved July 23, 2018.

* 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

Seasons|

* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
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* 1905
* 1906–1907
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*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[No.]: Number