2021 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

2021 Northern Iowa Panthers football
ConferenceMissouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATSNo. 23
FCS CoachesNo. 25
Record6–6 (4–4 MVFC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorShawn Watson (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorJeremiah Johnson (9th season)
Home stadiumUNI-Dome
Seasons
← 2020
2022 →
2021 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 1 North Dakota State $^   7 – 1     14 – 1  
No. 14 Missouri State ^   6 – 2     8 – 4  
No. 16 Southern Illinois ^   5 – 3     8 – 5  
No. 18 South Dakota ^   5 – 3     7 – 5  
No. 4 South Dakota State ^   5 – 3     11 – 4  
No. 23 Northern Iowa ^   4 – 4     6 – 6  
Indiana State   3 – 5     5 – 6  
North Dakota   3 – 5     5 – 6  
Western Illinois   2 – 6     2 – 9  
Illinois State   2 – 6     4 – 7  
Youngstown State   2 – 6     3 – 7  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2021 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the University of Northern Iowa in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Panthers competed as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and were led by 21st-year head coach Mark Farley. They played their home games at UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 43:30 p.m.at No. 7 (FBS) Iowa State*No. 21
ESPN+L 10–1661,500
September 118:00 p.m.at Sacramento State*No. 21
ESPN+W 34–168,067
September 184:00 p.m.St. Thomas (MN)*No. 18
ESPN3W 44–35,124
October 24:00 p.m.Youngstown StateNo. 15
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
W 34–78,771
October 91:00 p.m.at No. 5 North Dakota StateNo. 16
ESPN+L 20–3418,536
October 164:00 p.m. No. 21 South DakotaNo. 16
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
L 21–347,202
October 232:00 p.m.at No. 6 South Dakota StateNo. 20
W 26–1716,889
October 304:00 p.m. No. 3 Southern IllinoisNo. 16
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
W 23–165,902
November 612:00 p.m.at Illinois StateNo. 13
L 10–17 OT6,000
November 132:00 p.m.at No. 16 Missouri StateNo. 20
L 27–349,173
November 201:00 p.m.Western Illinois
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
ESPN3W 41–36,785
November 273:00 p.m.at No. 4 Eastern Washington*
ESPN+L 9–193,845

[1][2]

Game summaries

At No. 7 (FBS) Iowa State

See also: 2021 Iowa State Cyclones football team
No. 21 Northern Iowa Panthers (0–0) vs. No. 7 (FBS) Iowa State Cyclones (0–0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
No. 21 Northern Iowa 7 3 0010
No. 7 (FBS) Iowa State 3 10 0316

at Jack Trice Stadium • Ames, IA

  • Date: Saturday, September 4, 2021
  • Game time: 3:30 p.m. CDT
  • Game weather: sunny • Temperature: 73°F
  • Game attendance: 61,500
  • Referee: Kevin Hassell
  • TV announcers (ESPN+): Shawn Kenney, Sage Rosenfels, Skubie Mageza
Game information
First Quarter
  • (4:09) UNI – Quan Hampton 52 yard pass from Will McElvain, Matthew Cook kick (Drive: 5 plays, 87 yards, 3:24; UNI 7–0)
  • (1:06) ISU – Connor Assalley 35 yard field goal (Drive: 6 plays, 57 yards, 3:03; UNI 7–3)
Second Quarter
  • (7:25) ISU – Breece Hall 2 yard run, Connor Assalley kick (Drive: 14 plays, 59 yards, 7:19; ISU 10–7)
  • (2:35) UNI – Matthew Cook 41 yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 51 yards, 4:50; 10–10)
  • (0:00) ISU – Andrew Mevis 40 yard field goal (Drive 10 plays, 52 yards, 2:35; ISU 13–10)
Fourth Quarter
  • (6:18) ISU – Connor Assalley 21 yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 57 yards, 5:20; ISU 16–10)
Statistics UNI ISU
First downs 13 17
Total yards 275 336
Rushes/yards 26/45 34/136
Passing yards 230 199
Passing: Comp–Att–Int 21–34–2 21–26–0
Time of possession 28:48 31:12
Team Category Player Statistics
Northern Iowa Passing Will McElvain 21–34, 230 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing Dom Williams 12 carries, 43 yards
Receiving Quan Hampton 8 receptions, 99 yards, 1 TD
Iowa State Passing Brock Purdy 21–26, 199 yards
Rushing Breece Hall 23 carries, 69 yards, 1 TD
Receiving Xavier Hutchinson 7 receptions, 88 yards

At Sacramento State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 21 Panthers 7 0 27 0 34
Hornets 3 6 0 7 16
See also: 2021 Sacramento State Hornets football team

St. Thomas (MN)

See also: 2021 St. Thomas Tommies football team

Youngstown State

See also: 2021 Youngstown State Penguins football team

At No. 5 North Dakota State

See also: 2021 North Dakota State Bison football team
Northern Iowa Panthers (3-1) vs. North Dakota State Bison (4-0)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
No. 12 Panthers 0 10 7320
No. 5 Bison 10 3 14734

at Fargodome, Fargo, ND

  • Date: October 9, 2021
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. (CT)
  • Game weather: Indoors; 70 °F (21 °C)
  • Game attendance: 18,536
  • TV: ESPN+
Statistics Northern Iowa North Dakota State
First downs 14 15
Plays–yards 63-381 64-363
Rushes–yards 32-124 43-181
Passing yards 257 182
Passing: comp–att–int 12-31-0 11-21-0
Time of possession 27:37 32:23
Team Category Player Statistics
Northern Iowa Passing Theo Day 12/31, 257 yds, TD
Rushing Bradrick Shaw 10 car, 44 yds
Receiving Isaiah Weston 5 rec, 181 yds, TD
North Dakota State Passing Quincy Patterson 11/21, 182 yds, 2 TD
Rushing Quincy Patterson 12 car, 60 yds, 2 TD
Receiving Christian Watson 5 rec, 163 yds, TD
Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP UNI NDSU
1st 7:37 1 85 0:11 NDSU Christian Watson (#1) 85-yard touchdown reception from Quincy Patterson (#2), Jake Reinholz (#37) kick good 0 7
1st 3:37 6 40 2:11 NDSU 0 10
2nd 11:24 8 73 3:36 UNI Isaiah Weston (#80) 44-yard touchdown reception from Theo Day (#12), Matthew Cook (#97) kick good 7 10
2nd 3:00 8 73 3:36 UNI 33-yard field goal by Matthew Cook (#97) 10 10
2nd 0:23 9 71 2:37 NDSU 22-yard field goal by Jake Reinholz (#37) 10 13
3rd 11:46 2 9 1:12 NDSU Quincy Patterson (#2) 4-yard touchdown run, Jake Reinholz (#37) kick good 10 20
3rd 9:02 4 21 2:06 NDSU Noah Gindorff (#87) 3-yard touchdown reception from Quincy Patterson (#2), Jake Reinholz (#37) kick good 10 27
3rd 7:39 3 75 1:23 UNI Dom Williams (#7) 5-yard touchdown run, Matthew Cook (#98) kick good 17 27
4th 14:09 16 80 8:26 NDSU Quincy Patterson (#2) 4-yard touchdown run, Jake Reinholz (#37) kick good 17 34
4th 9:08 11 48 5:01 UNI 44-yard field goal by Matthew Cook (#98) 20 34
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 20 34

No. 21 South Dakota

See also: 2021 South Dakota Coyotes football team

At No. 6 South Dakota State

See also: 2021 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

No. 3 Southern Illinois

See also: 2021 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

At Illinois State

See also: 2021 Illinois State Redbirds football team

At No. 16 Missouri State

See also: 2021 Missouri State Bears football team
Game Ten: #20 Northern Iowa Panthers (5–4) at #16 Missouri State Bears (6–3)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
No. 20 Northern Iowa 3 3 71427
No. 16 Missouri State 6 7 71434

at Plaster Stadium • Springfield, MO

  • Date: Saturday, November 13, 2021
  • Game time: 2:05 p.m. CDT
  • Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C), Winds W 7 mph; Sunny
  • Game attendance: 9,173
  • Referee: Aaron Adams • Umpire: Keith Wohlers • Linesman: Gordon Hanson • Line judge: Scott Lively • Back judge: Kurt Dingmann • Field judge: Brad Brunet • Side judge: Leanne Surmin
  • TV announcers (ESPN+): Don West and Corey Riggs
Game information
First Quarter
  • (10:14) MSU - Jose Pizano 30 yard field goal (Drive: 6 plays, 18 yards, 02:44; MSU 3-0)
  • (04:55) UNI - Matthew Cook 27 yard field goal (Drive: 9 plays, 66 yards, 05:11; TIED 3-3)
  • (01:03) MSU - Jose Pizano38 yard field goal (Drive: 9 plays, 35 yards, 03:44; MSU 6-3)
Second Quarter
  • (12:54) UNI - Matthew Cook 47 yard field goal (Drive: 7 plays, 45 yards, 03:09; TIED 6-6)
  • (05:21) MSU - Tobias Little 1 yard run, Jose Pizano kick (Drive: 13 plays, 75 yards, 07:33; MSU 13-6)
Third Quarter
  • (12:44) MSU - Jason Shelley 3 yard run, Jose Pizano Kick (Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 0:10; MSU 20-6)
  • (06:10) UNI - Tyler Hoosman 2 yard run, Matthew Cook kick (Drive: 12 plays, 73 yards, 06:25; MSU 20-13)
Fourth Quarter
  • (13:01) MSU - Jason Shelley 8 yard run, Jose Pizano kick (Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards, 03:54; MSU 27-13)
  • (05:11) UNI - Deion McShane 8 yard pass from Theo Day, Matthew Cook kick (Drive: 8 plays, 77 yards, 02:02; MSU 27-20)
  • (02:14) UNI - Deion McShane 18 yard pass from Theo Day, Matthew Cook, kick (Drive: 5 plays, 32 yards, 01:41; TIED 27-27)
  • (00:58) MSU - Naveon Mitchell 55 yard pass from Jason Shelley, Jose Pizano kick (Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 01:16; MSU 34-27)
Statistics UNI MSU
First downs 22 18
Total yards 360 379
Rushes/yards 33/122 32/59
Passing yards 238 320
Passing: Comp–Att–Int 17-30-2 22-30-0
Time of possession 29:28 30:32
Team Category Player Statistics
Northern Iowa Passing Theo Day 17/30, 238 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Rushing Dom Williams 16 carries, 83 yards
Receiving Deion McShane 6 catches, 86 yards, 2 TD
Missouri State Passing Jason Shelley 22/33, 320 yards, 1 TD
Rushing Tobias Little 10 carries, 34 yards
Receiving Naveon Mitchell 3 catches, 74 yards, 1 TD
View from the West side during the game against Northern Iowa in 2021.

Western Illinois

See also: 2021 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

FCS Playoffs

At No. 4 Eastern Washington–First Round

1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 0 7 0 2 9
No. 4 Eagles 6 3 7 3 19
See also: 2021 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2022 NFL draft
Round Pick Player Position NFL Club
1 19 Trevor Penning OT New Orleans Saints

References

  1. ^ "2021 Northern Iowa Panthers Football Schedule".
  2. ^ "2021 Northern Iowa Panthers Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com.


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