2018 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

2018 Northern Iowa Panthers football
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 →

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.

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

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

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]

Schedule edit

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 edit

At Montana edit

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

At Iowa edit

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

Hampton edit

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

At Indiana State edit

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

North Dakota State edit

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

At South Dakota edit

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

South Dakota State edit

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

At Western Illinois edit

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

Illinois State edit

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

At Youngstown State edit

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

Missouri State edit

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

FCS Playoffs edit

Lamar–First Round edit

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

At UC Davis–Second Round edit

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

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

References edit

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

[4] 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] "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.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[a]