Panther football takes on North Dakota in homecoming weekend matchup

RV/RV UNI (3-3 / 2-1 MVFC) vs. #11/9 North Dakota (4-2 / 2-1 MVFC)

4p.m. CT | Oct. 21, 2023
Cedar Falls, Iowa | UNI-Dome (16,324)
MFVC TV (Scott Warmann: Play-by-Play / Danan Hughes / JC Pearson: Analysts)
Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Scott Peterson: Analyst)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI football aims to get back in the win column on Saturday with a homecoming meeting inside the UNI-Dome with the No. 11/9-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks.

The Panthers have won six of their last ten homecoming games, including a 34-7 victory over the Penguins of Youngstown State in their 2021 homecoming matchup. After falling just short of a victory at North Dakota last season, the Panthers have the Fighting Hawks in their sights in the two teams' 40th matchup, and look to take a commanding lead in the series record which is currently held by the Panthers at 25-14. Northern Iowa is looking to knock off UND for the first time since their meeting in 1978 where the Panthers took home a 35-17 victory.

UNI PANTHERS
After a tough matchup for the purple and gold, UNI looks to snap back with a victory over UND. Their last matchup featured a 41-6 loss at No. 1-ranked South Dakota State. Turnovers pestered the Panthers in a game that saw five of the first six UNI drives end in a turnover.

Quarterback Theo Day continues to climb the Panther record lists as he became the fifth Panther quarterback to surpass 7,000 yards of offense in a career. He joined Eric Sanders, Ryan Helming, Mike Smith, and Jay Johnson in the game against SDSU. Day is just 22 pass attempts away from moving up to ninth all-time on UNI's passing attempts board with Tom Petrie (2001-04) within reach. Day also needs just two completions against North Dakota to move into sixth all-time in completions ahead of Sawyer Kollmorgen (2011-15) and just one passing touchdown to tie former quarterback Eli Dunn (2015-18) for fifth place all-time in passing touchdowns. The redshirt senior passer also, he leads the MVFC in passing yards (1,624), passing yards per game and total offense (261.7). Day's 270.7 yards per game through the air is the 12th-best average in FCS.

Wide receiver Sam Schnee continues to to be a top-tier receiver week in and week out, continuing to record big numbers on a consistent basis. The redshirt senior from Dubuque, Iowa brought in four receptions for 104 yards against one of the top secondaries in the nation on Saturday at SDSU. That was the fifth time in his career with a 100+ yard receiving game. Schnee leads the league with four receiving touchdowns and ranks second in total receiving yards (557) and receiving yards per game (92.8).

On the defensive side of the ball, Cordarrius Bailey ranks second in the MVFC with six total sacks on the season, seventh most in the nation while averaging 6.1 yards lost per sack. He looks to be a force up front for the Panther defensive line against a Fighting Hawks offensive line that gives up an average of two sacks per game this season. In the secondary, Jahsiah Galvan continues to be a hawk for the ball with an interception and a forced fumble which came against SDSU. Against a team that has proven they are able to take care of the football, the Panther secondary looks to disrupt that rhythm with a defense that has forced eight takeaways on the defensive side of the ball.

The SDSU matchup saw Matthew Cook pass Bill Halgren (2007-10) on UNI's all-time scoring list with all six points in the contest. Cook also tied the program record for consecutive games with at least one point set by Brian Wingert (2003-06) at 36 games. He has his eyes set on both the program record for consecutive games with a point and the top spot on the all-time Panther scoring list in the matchup with the Fighting Hawks on Saturday.

Punter Noah Pettinger remains one of the best punters in the nation with a 44 yards per punt average, leading the MVFC and ranking ninth nationally.

NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS
Coming off an upset of the North Dakota State Bison, the Fighting Hawks are looking for their third conference victory of the season and their third victory over UNI in the last three meetings.

The UND offense proved they could score at will against the Bison on Saturday, notching at least a touchdown in every quarter of the game in route to a 49-24 victory over the defending national runners up from a season ago.

Quarterback Tommy Schuster remains one of the cleanest quarterbacks in the nation with zero interceptions through six weeks. Boasting a 72.9 completion percentage, Schuster ranks third among FCS quarterbacks in completion percentage and 11th nationally with a 155.4 pass efficiency. The senior has accounted for at least one touchdown in 27 of his last 29 games. He has now recorded 221 pass attempts without throwing an interception.

A force in the backfield, running back Gaven Zierbath is coming off a career day against NDSU which saw him rack up 156 rushing yards (a career best) and the third 100+ rushing yard game of his career. Zierbath ranks eighth nationally with 7.61 rushing yards per carry and 30th nationally with 78.7 rushing yards per game. On top of Zierbath, running back Luke Skokna became just the third player in UND history to record a 100-yard kickoff return. He was the first to return a kickoff for a touchdown since a 99-yard return in 2018. He did it on the opening kickoff against NDSU.

On both sides of the ball, the Fighting Hawks have proven to be one of the cleanest teams in the nation coming into Saturday with the fifth-fewest penalties and third-fewest penalty yards in the FCS through six weeks. Recording just 24 penalties and 195 total penalty yards, North Dakota boasts both an efficient offense and stout defense which remains technically sound through all 60 minutes. UND has also only lost a total of three turnovers all season which is the fourth-best mark in the FCS.

HOMECOMING
The Panthers celebrate their homecoming week with a variety of events spanning the weekend. Fans are encouraged to take part in the homecoming festivities across campus all weekend long! For a full schedule of events, visit https://homecoming.uni.edu.

HY-VEE FAN ZONE
The Hy-Vee Fan Zone tailgate returns and will take place prior to kickoff of the UNI-North Dakota game in the northwest corner of the west UNI-Dome parking lot. The hassle-free tailgate experience features live music and free food samples, drinks and beer for sale. Fans can arrive at the Fan Zone at 1:30 p.m. and stay until 3:30 p.m. CT.

CELEBRATING 125 SEASONS OF PANTHER FOOTBALL
This year marks the 125th season of play for the UNI football program. Kicking off games in 1895, the Panthers have played every year since, with the exception of 1906, 1907, 1944 and 1945, with over 1,300 players wearing the purple and gold. UNI will celebrate the milestone season all year long with special history lessons on social media, a 125th season website and more. The Panthers will honor this anniversary season with a 125th season decal on their helmets all season long.

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