2001 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

2001 Northern Iowa Panthers football
Gateway champion
NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal, L 0–38 vs. Montana
Conference	Gateway Football Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 4
Record	11–3 (6–1 Gateway)
Head coach	Mark Farley (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Bill Salmon (1st season)
Home stadium	UNI-Dome

2001 Gateway Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Northern Iowa $^		6	–	1					11	–	3
No. 12 Western Kentucky ^		5	–	2					8	–	4
No. 15 Youngstown State		5	–	2					8	–	3
Western Illinois		4	–	3					5	–	5
Southwest Missouri State		3	–	4					6	–	5
Indiana State		2	–	5					3	–	8
Illinois State		2	–	5					2	–	9
Southern Illinois		1	–	6					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 2001 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the University of Northern Iowa as a member of the Gateway Football Conference during the 2001 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by first-year head coach Mark Farley, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 11–3 with a mark of 6–1 in conference play, winning the Gateway title. Northern Iowa advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they beat Eastern Illinois in the first round and Maine in the quarterfinals, before falling to eventual national champion Montana in the semifinals.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	7:05 p.m.	Wayne State (MI)*	No. 23	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	W 34–14
September 8	6:30 p.m.	at Iowa State*	No. 24	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA	L 0–45	47,092
September 15	7:00 p.m.	at Stephen F. Austin*		Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX	Canceled		[1]
September 22		at Ball State*		Ball State Stadium Muncie, IN	W 42–39
September 29	4:05 p.m.	No. 2 Youngstown State*		UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	W 30–11
October 6	2:30 p.m.	at Southwest Missouri State	No. 18	Plaster Sports Complex Springfield, MO	W 27–3
October 13	4:05 p.m.	Southern Illinois	No. 15	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	W 19–14	13,455	[2]
October 20	1:07 p.m.	at No. 12 Western Illinois	No. 14	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	W 17–14	15,637	[3]
October 27	2:30 p.m.	at Illinois State	No. 11	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	L 14–42	10,173	[4]
November 3	4:05 p.m.	Indiana State	No. 16	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	W 34–13
November 10	4:00 p.m.	at No. 6 Western Kentucky	No. 15	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 24–23	10,300
November 17	7:05 p.m.	Cal Poly	No. 8	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	W 31–13
December 1		at No. 3 Eastern Illinois*	No. 6	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL (NCAA I-AA First Round)	W 49–43
December 8	1:30 p.m.	No. 16 Maine*	No. 6	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	W 56–28	9,525
December 15	1:00 p.m.	at No. 1 Montana*	No. 6	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)	L 0–38	18,848
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

[5][6]

References

1. "All Events Cancelled For The Weekend". sfajacks.com. September 13, 2001. Retrieved February 12, 2004.
2. Newhoff, Doug (October 14, 2001). "Special effects". The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. p. D1. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Logue, Andrew (October 21, 2001). "Strong kicking, clutch receptions boost Panthers". Des Moines Register. p. 8C. Retrieved January 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Newhoff, Doug (October 28, 2001). "Bumbling, stumbling". The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. p. D1. Retrieved December 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "2001 Football Schedule". University of Northern Iowa Athletics. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
6. "2001 Northern Iowa Football" (PDF). core.ac.uk. Retrieved February 12, 2024.