University of Northern Iowa Athletics
1999 Football Notebook
7/29/2004 8:00:00 AM | Football
1999 PANTHER NOTEBOOK
Posted June 1, 1999
**Northern Iowa was only 3-3 at home in 1998, the worst home record since the 1988 team under Earle Bruce finished 2-3 at home and 5-6 overall. Last year's first home game really was not at home at all, however, since the Panthers had to play their opener at Waterloo's Memorial Stadium because the UNI-Dome's new roof was not yet completed. The result from that game was a 20-17 loss in overtime to highly-ranked McNeese State. Other home losses were to Southwest Missouri State and Illinois State. That gives the Panthers a three-game home winning streak.
The Panthers had a 25-game overall home winning streak heading into the 1992 1-AA semifinal game against Youngstown State. The Penguins snapped the streak with their 19-7 win on December 12. Prior to a September 24, 1994, loss to McNeese State, UNI had won 29 straight regular-season games in the Dome dating back to the 1989 season when it lost 22-14 to Mankato State in the first game of the year.
UNI is 114-29 (.795) in the UNI-Dome. Prior to 1998, the Panthers had two consecutive undefeated seasons in the Dome.
**UNI has been the top Division I program in the state of Iowa since 1985, compiling a 122-49-1 record (.712) since helping to found the Gateway Conference football division.
The Panthers are tied with Alabama, Central of Iowa, Northern Colorado and Ohio State as the 24th winningest team in all divisions in total number of victories since 1990 with 81 wins. They are the fourth winningest 1-AA team since 1990 with an 81-31 record (.723). Since 1989, they are the fifth-winningest team in 1-AA with 89 victories behind Youngstown State's 100 wins, Dayton with 99, Georgia Southern with 93 victories, and Delaware, which also has won 89 games, but has three fewer losses than UNI.
**Since joining the Gateway Conference in 1985, UNI is 122-49-1 (.712) overall. Against Gateway opponents, the Panthers are 66-16-0 (.805), leading the league in wins.
UNI has won 26 games in the last three years and is 24-9 in regular-season games. Those 26 wins ranks fifth in 1-AA in total wins from 1996, behind Montana's 30, Western Illinois' 29, and Florida A&M's and Youngstown State's 27.
**UNI's 1998 schedule was ranked the seventh toughest in 1-AA by the NCAA News. The slate included one 1A team, four games against 1-AA Top 25 opponents and two games against 1-AA teams not ranked at game time but ranked at some other time during the season. UNI's 10-6 win over Western Illinois snapped the Leathernecks' 11-game conference winning streak. The Panthers still hold the league record for consecutive Gateway wins at 13, accomplished from 1993-95.
**The Panthers placed second in the Gateway Conference in 1997 and tied for third in 1998, breaking a string of seven straight shared or outright titles. In all, UNI has won or shared the conference title nine times in the league's 14 seasons. UNI's 1998 7-4 record marked the 10th straight season it has won at least seven games. That stretch has seen the Panthers compile an impressive 89-34 record.
UNI began 1998 0-3 in the Gateway for the first time in league history. The Panthers now are 35-5 in home Gateway games, with the three losses prior to last season occuring in 1988.
**UNI is 1-4 in overtime games after losing 20-17 to McNeese State in the second game last year. The Panthers are 1-1 at home in OT and 1-2 under Coach Mike Dunbar.
**UNI's double overtime loss to Western Illinois in 1997 and the 20-17 loss in overtime to McNeese State last year have been the only times this decade when the Panthers surrendered a halftime lead (UNI led 9-0 at WIU and 7-0 against MSU). Prior to that, UNI had a 53-0 regular-season record when leading at the half.
**In the history of the Gateway, UNI has more one-point wins (six) in league games than any other league member. UNI is 6-3 in league one-point games.
**The Panthers dropped out of the Sports Network Top 25 poll for the first time in 1998 the week of October 10. They remained unranked in the Top 25 polls until being ranked 25th at the end of the regular season by both the Sports Network and ESPN/USA Today after winning five straight games to finish the season. The Panthers had been ranked in a Division 1AA poll, either the NCAA's or the Sports Network poll, since September 24, 1990, a string of 96 consecutive polls, the longest streak in the nation, until dropping out of the ESPN/USA Today poll the week of November 3, 1997.
**UNI is 82-35 (.701) against 1999 opponents.
**This year's captains are senior center Brad Meester and senior linebacker Matt Pedersen.
**Several Panthers should be considered as all-America candidates, including two-time all-American wide receiver
Mike Furrey, all-American center 
Brad Meester, and UNI's top returning tackler and first team all-conference pick, linebacker 
Matt Pedersen.
**Fifteen different players were named to 1998 all-conference teams, including five first-teamers. Returning all-conference players include first-teamers, receiver Mike Furrey, offensive lineman Matt Beals, center Brad Meester, and linebacker Matt Pedersen; second-teamer, receiver Eddie Berlin; honorable mention pick, quarterback Ryan Helming; and all-newcomers, running back Adam Benge and defensive lineman Jack Mitchell.
**Preseason all-conference candidates should include offensive lineman Matt Beals, wide receiver Eddie Berlin, quarterback Ryan Helming, defensive back Ryan Doak, and linebacker Drew Elmer, besides Furrey, Meester and Pedersen, to name a few. Beals was a first team selection a year ago, Berlin was a second team pick, Helming was honorable mention. Last year's returning All-Newcomer picks include running back Adam Benge and defensive lineman Jack Mitchell.
**UNI's tandem of Mike Furrey and Eddie Berlin became just the second pair of Gateway receivers to go over 2,000 combined yards receiving in the same season in 1998. The two finished with 2,036 combined yards. In 1997, the two gained 1,931 yards.
**The Panthers set or tied 15 school records in 1998, five UNI-Dome records and two Gateway records.
**UNI had Gateway Players of the Week selected four times in 1998, three times by Don Hansen's National Football Gazette, including one National Special Teams selection; and one ESPN/USA Today Defensive Player of the Week.
**Defensive back and return specialist Tyree Talton was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fifth round.
**Two current football players competed in track last spring -- nose tackle Tim O'Neill and defensive tackle Robert Hamre.
**UNI plays 1A Ohio University for the first time on September 11th. The Panthers have had some success against current 1A teams. They are 0-1 against Bowling Green State (1947), 0-4 against Central Michigan (last game in 1970), 0-1-1 against Colorado State (last game 1926), 4-5 against Eastern Michigan (last game 1998), 1-12 against Iowa (last game 1997), 2-14-3 against Iowa State (last game 1996), 3-0 against Kansas State (last 1989), 0-1 against Minnesota (1987), 0-1 versus UNLV (1975), 2-1 versus Northern Illinois (last 1964), 0-1 against Oklahoma State (1990), 0-1 against Pittsburgh (1988), 4-11-2 against Western Michigan (last 1949) and 0-1 against Wyoming (1993).
Most of the success has come in the last 13 years, with a 6-8 mark against 1A teams since 1985.
**UNI is 49-44-7 in season openers and 6-3 in the last nine years. UNI defeated 1A Eastern Michigan in last year's season opener, and opens at 1-AA perennial power McNeese State September 4th this year.
**The Panthers ended the 1998 season ranked in the top 50 nationally in 1-AA in seven individual categories. Ryan Helming was ranked 18th in passing efficiency and 27th in total offense, Mike Furrey was ranked fifth in receptions per game, 18th in receiving yards per game and 31st in punt returns; Eddie Berlin was tied for 24th in receptions per game, Randy Hall was 50th in punting, and Tyree Talton was 11th in kickoff returns.
As a team, the Panthers were 63rd in rushing, 15th in passing, 18th in total offense, 50th in scoring offense, 35th in rushing defense, 46th in pass efficiency defense, 42nd in total defense, were tied for 16th in scoring defense, were 46th in net punting and punt returns, 10th in kickoff returns, and tied for 85th in turnover margin.
**UNI made great strides defensively last season, even though the record remained the same from 1997. In 1997, UNI was ranked 86th in net punting, 40th in kickoff returns, 102nd in rushing defense, 95th in pass efficiency defense, 104th in total defense, and 101st in scoring defense. Last year's numbers are given above.
**Team awards handed out at the annual banquet included senior defensive end Erik Nelson as the MVP, center Brad Meester was named Best Blocker, junior linebacker/snapper Andy Morris was named Special Teams MVP, and senior defensive end Scott Meredith was given the Stan Sheriff Award, bestowed upon the player who is most inspirational. Senior running back Steve Jenkins was given the Tape Can Award, given to the player by the training staff who uses the most tape throughout the season.
**All but one of last year's games was played on artificial turf in 1998, with the one exception the McNeese State game played at Waterloo's Municipal Stadium before the UNI-Dome's roof was completed. Over the past eight years, UNI is 7-13 on natural grass, including 0-4 in 1997 and 0-1 in 1998, and 22-8 on artificial surfaces on the road. Three of UNI's games in 1999 will be played on natural grass -- at McNeese State, at Ohio, and at Western Illinois.
**The Panthers have three new staff members in receivers coach Garrick McGee, assistant secondary coach Chris Whitmore and tight ends and assistant offensive line coach Jay Kaiser. 1998 defensive coordinator Denny Schuler now is a secondary coach at Stanford, defensive back coach Paul Haynes is the secondary coach at his alma mater, Kent, and quarterbacks coach Ryan Huzjak currently is in the corporate office with the Chicago White Sox. Several returning assistants have been assigned new positions or have taken on additional responsibilities.
**UNI said goodbye to 13 seniors in 1998, including quarterback Todd Goebbel, injured in the second game of the year and lost for the season; all-American defensive back and return specialist Tyree Talton, wide receiver Nate Ludwig, a workhorse on special teams; defensive back Terrance Malone, leading rusher Steve Jenkins, punter Randy Hall, defensive tackle Dempsey Miller, defensive end Scott Meredith, offensive tackles Brian Billick and Nate Zehr, offensive guard Brian Beck, defensive end Erik Nelson and tight end Dorrick Roy. Other familiar names not returning to the team include placekicker Julio Guzman and linebacker Greg McKinstry.
Posted June 1, 1999
**Northern Iowa was only 3-3 at home in 1998, the worst home record since the 1988 team under Earle Bruce finished 2-3 at home and 5-6 overall. Last year's first home game really was not at home at all, however, since the Panthers had to play their opener at Waterloo's Memorial Stadium because the UNI-Dome's new roof was not yet completed. The result from that game was a 20-17 loss in overtime to highly-ranked McNeese State. Other home losses were to Southwest Missouri State and Illinois State. That gives the Panthers a three-game home winning streak.
The Panthers had a 25-game overall home winning streak heading into the 1992 1-AA semifinal game against Youngstown State. The Penguins snapped the streak with their 19-7 win on December 12. Prior to a September 24, 1994, loss to McNeese State, UNI had won 29 straight regular-season games in the Dome dating back to the 1989 season when it lost 22-14 to Mankato State in the first game of the year.
UNI is 114-29 (.795) in the UNI-Dome. Prior to 1998, the Panthers had two consecutive undefeated seasons in the Dome.
**UNI has been the top Division I program in the state of Iowa since 1985, compiling a 122-49-1 record (.712) since helping to found the Gateway Conference football division.
The Panthers are tied with Alabama, Central of Iowa, Northern Colorado and Ohio State as the 24th winningest team in all divisions in total number of victories since 1990 with 81 wins. They are the fourth winningest 1-AA team since 1990 with an 81-31 record (.723). Since 1989, they are the fifth-winningest team in 1-AA with 89 victories behind Youngstown State's 100 wins, Dayton with 99, Georgia Southern with 93 victories, and Delaware, which also has won 89 games, but has three fewer losses than UNI.
**Since joining the Gateway Conference in 1985, UNI is 122-49-1 (.712) overall. Against Gateway opponents, the Panthers are 66-16-0 (.805), leading the league in wins.
UNI has won 26 games in the last three years and is 24-9 in regular-season games. Those 26 wins ranks fifth in 1-AA in total wins from 1996, behind Montana's 30, Western Illinois' 29, and Florida A&M's and Youngstown State's 27.
**UNI's 1998 schedule was ranked the seventh toughest in 1-AA by the NCAA News. The slate included one 1A team, four games against 1-AA Top 25 opponents and two games against 1-AA teams not ranked at game time but ranked at some other time during the season. UNI's 10-6 win over Western Illinois snapped the Leathernecks' 11-game conference winning streak. The Panthers still hold the league record for consecutive Gateway wins at 13, accomplished from 1993-95.
**The Panthers placed second in the Gateway Conference in 1997 and tied for third in 1998, breaking a string of seven straight shared or outright titles. In all, UNI has won or shared the conference title nine times in the league's 14 seasons. UNI's 1998 7-4 record marked the 10th straight season it has won at least seven games. That stretch has seen the Panthers compile an impressive 89-34 record.
UNI began 1998 0-3 in the Gateway for the first time in league history. The Panthers now are 35-5 in home Gateway games, with the three losses prior to last season occuring in 1988.
**UNI is 1-4 in overtime games after losing 20-17 to McNeese State in the second game last year. The Panthers are 1-1 at home in OT and 1-2 under Coach Mike Dunbar.
**UNI's double overtime loss to Western Illinois in 1997 and the 20-17 loss in overtime to McNeese State last year have been the only times this decade when the Panthers surrendered a halftime lead (UNI led 9-0 at WIU and 7-0 against MSU). Prior to that, UNI had a 53-0 regular-season record when leading at the half.
**In the history of the Gateway, UNI has more one-point wins (six) in league games than any other league member. UNI is 6-3 in league one-point games.
**The Panthers dropped out of the Sports Network Top 25 poll for the first time in 1998 the week of October 10. They remained unranked in the Top 25 polls until being ranked 25th at the end of the regular season by both the Sports Network and ESPN/USA Today after winning five straight games to finish the season. The Panthers had been ranked in a Division 1AA poll, either the NCAA's or the Sports Network poll, since September 24, 1990, a string of 96 consecutive polls, the longest streak in the nation, until dropping out of the ESPN/USA Today poll the week of November 3, 1997.
**UNI is 82-35 (.701) against 1999 opponents.
**This year's captains are senior center Brad Meester and senior linebacker Matt Pedersen.
**Several Panthers should be considered as all-America candidates, including two-time all-American wide receiver
Mike Furrey, all-American center Brad Meester, and UNI's top returning tackler and first team all-conference pick, linebacker Matt Pedersen. **Fifteen different players were named to 1998 all-conference teams, including five first-teamers. Returning all-conference players include first-teamers, receiver Mike Furrey, offensive lineman Matt Beals, center Brad Meester, and linebacker Matt Pedersen; second-teamer, receiver Eddie Berlin; honorable mention pick, quarterback Ryan Helming; and all-newcomers, running back Adam Benge and defensive lineman Jack Mitchell.
**Preseason all-conference candidates should include offensive lineman Matt Beals, wide receiver Eddie Berlin, quarterback Ryan Helming, defensive back Ryan Doak, and linebacker Drew Elmer, besides Furrey, Meester and Pedersen, to name a few. Beals was a first team selection a year ago, Berlin was a second team pick, Helming was honorable mention. Last year's returning All-Newcomer picks include running back Adam Benge and defensive lineman Jack Mitchell.
**UNI's tandem of Mike Furrey and Eddie Berlin became just the second pair of Gateway receivers to go over 2,000 combined yards receiving in the same season in 1998. The two finished with 2,036 combined yards. In 1997, the two gained 1,931 yards.
**The Panthers set or tied 15 school records in 1998, five UNI-Dome records and two Gateway records.
**UNI had Gateway Players of the Week selected four times in 1998, three times by Don Hansen's National Football Gazette, including one National Special Teams selection; and one ESPN/USA Today Defensive Player of the Week.
**Defensive back and return specialist Tyree Talton was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fifth round.
**Two current football players competed in track last spring -- nose tackle Tim O'Neill and defensive tackle Robert Hamre.
**UNI plays 1A Ohio University for the first time on September 11th. The Panthers have had some success against current 1A teams. They are 0-1 against Bowling Green State (1947), 0-4 against Central Michigan (last game in 1970), 0-1-1 against Colorado State (last game 1926), 4-5 against Eastern Michigan (last game 1998), 1-12 against Iowa (last game 1997), 2-14-3 against Iowa State (last game 1996), 3-0 against Kansas State (last 1989), 0-1 against Minnesota (1987), 0-1 versus UNLV (1975), 2-1 versus Northern Illinois (last 1964), 0-1 against Oklahoma State (1990), 0-1 against Pittsburgh (1988), 4-11-2 against Western Michigan (last 1949) and 0-1 against Wyoming (1993).
Most of the success has come in the last 13 years, with a 6-8 mark against 1A teams since 1985.
**UNI is 49-44-7 in season openers and 6-3 in the last nine years. UNI defeated 1A Eastern Michigan in last year's season opener, and opens at 1-AA perennial power McNeese State September 4th this year.
**The Panthers ended the 1998 season ranked in the top 50 nationally in 1-AA in seven individual categories. Ryan Helming was ranked 18th in passing efficiency and 27th in total offense, Mike Furrey was ranked fifth in receptions per game, 18th in receiving yards per game and 31st in punt returns; Eddie Berlin was tied for 24th in receptions per game, Randy Hall was 50th in punting, and Tyree Talton was 11th in kickoff returns.
As a team, the Panthers were 63rd in rushing, 15th in passing, 18th in total offense, 50th in scoring offense, 35th in rushing defense, 46th in pass efficiency defense, 42nd in total defense, were tied for 16th in scoring defense, were 46th in net punting and punt returns, 10th in kickoff returns, and tied for 85th in turnover margin.
**UNI made great strides defensively last season, even though the record remained the same from 1997. In 1997, UNI was ranked 86th in net punting, 40th in kickoff returns, 102nd in rushing defense, 95th in pass efficiency defense, 104th in total defense, and 101st in scoring defense. Last year's numbers are given above.
**Team awards handed out at the annual banquet included senior defensive end Erik Nelson as the MVP, center Brad Meester was named Best Blocker, junior linebacker/snapper Andy Morris was named Special Teams MVP, and senior defensive end Scott Meredith was given the Stan Sheriff Award, bestowed upon the player who is most inspirational. Senior running back Steve Jenkins was given the Tape Can Award, given to the player by the training staff who uses the most tape throughout the season.
**All but one of last year's games was played on artificial turf in 1998, with the one exception the McNeese State game played at Waterloo's Municipal Stadium before the UNI-Dome's roof was completed. Over the past eight years, UNI is 7-13 on natural grass, including 0-4 in 1997 and 0-1 in 1998, and 22-8 on artificial surfaces on the road. Three of UNI's games in 1999 will be played on natural grass -- at McNeese State, at Ohio, and at Western Illinois.
**The Panthers have three new staff members in receivers coach Garrick McGee, assistant secondary coach Chris Whitmore and tight ends and assistant offensive line coach Jay Kaiser. 1998 defensive coordinator Denny Schuler now is a secondary coach at Stanford, defensive back coach Paul Haynes is the secondary coach at his alma mater, Kent, and quarterbacks coach Ryan Huzjak currently is in the corporate office with the Chicago White Sox. Several returning assistants have been assigned new positions or have taken on additional responsibilities.
**UNI said goodbye to 13 seniors in 1998, including quarterback Todd Goebbel, injured in the second game of the year and lost for the season; all-American defensive back and return specialist Tyree Talton, wide receiver Nate Ludwig, a workhorse on special teams; defensive back Terrance Malone, leading rusher Steve Jenkins, punter Randy Hall, defensive tackle Dempsey Miller, defensive end Scott Meredith, offensive tackles Brian Billick and Nate Zehr, offensive guard Brian Beck, defensive end Erik Nelson and tight end Dorrick Roy. Other familiar names not returning to the team include placekicker Julio Guzman and linebacker Greg McKinstry.
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