University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Missouri State
Panthers to face off with Missouri State in final regular-season road game
11/8/2023 4:01:00 PM | Football
UNI and Missouri State face off in a battle of the two best passing offenses in the MVFC.
#15/20 UNI (6-3 / 5-1 MVFC) at Missouri State (3-6 / 2-4 MVFC)
- 2 p.m. CT | Nov. 11, 2023
- Springfield, Missouri | Robert W. Plaster Stadium (17,500)
- ESPN+ (Don West - Play-by-Play / Tom Mast - Analyst)
- Panther Sports Radio Network (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Scott Peterson: Analyst)
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- Panther football hits the road for the final time this regular season with a matchup in Springfield, Missouri against the Missouri State Bears.
The Panthers hold the all-time series record with 35 wins in 42 meetings. Head coach Mark Farley has recorded the most wins against a single team in his career with 19 victories over the Bears. Northern Iowa has won eight of the last 10 meetings between these storied programs and 17 of the last 20 matchups. In Springfield, UNI has a 16-4 record with its most recent victory in Springfield coming in 2019.
The Panthers are amid their first 5-1 start to conference play since 2019. UNI has gone on to make the playoffs in each of its last seven seasons when winning five of its first six league matchups. Under head coach Mark Farley, the Panthers have finished the season with six or more conference victories eight times, each time they made it to the FCS playoffs, and in all but one have made it past the first round.
UNI PANTHERS
UNI's passing offense continues to be one of the top threats in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), putting up 269.6 yards per game. On top of that, the Panthers lead the MVFC with 14.02 yards per reception, the best mark in the conference and ninth-best in the FCS. Quarterback Theo Day captains the offense with a conference-leading 261.4 yards per game as well as 2,353 total yards through the air and 252.6 yards of total offense per game. Day is close to moving up in UNI's passing record book as he is just 11 completions away from passing fourth place Eli Dunne (2015-18) for completions in a career and 163 yards of total offense away from passing fourth place Jay Johnson (1989-92) for total offense in a career.
On the other side of Theo Day's arm, the receiving core for UNI has been a big part of the numbers that the offense has been able to put up. Wide receiver Sam Schnee proves to be WR1 for the Panther quarterback with 5.1 receptions per game. With those receptions, Schnee has recorded the second-highest total receiving yards this season (779) and third-highest receiving yards per game (86.6). Schnee is just 28 yards away from becoming the 11th member of UNI's 2,000 receiving-yard club.
The Panther ground game aims to get back to the two-headed monster from the beginning of the season with the return of Tye Edwards, to complement Amauri Pesek-Hickson, who appeared in his first full game back from injury against Western Illinois. In that game, Edwards rushed for a game-high 96 yards on 12 attempts, averaging eight yards per carry. Pesek-Hickson finished with 73 yards in his 12 attempts averaging 6.1 yards per carry.
The Northern Iowa defense continues to make plays that put the Panthers in positions to win games. UNI has two top-10 tacklers on their defense with Cordarrius Bailey recording 0.67 sacks per game (fourth-best conference mark) and 1.1 tackles for loss per game (fifth-best conference mark). Tucker Langenberg has recorded one tackle for loss per game which sits as the conference's sixth-best mark. In his three games back this season, Caden Houghtelling has had an eye for the ball, recovering two fumbles which is the conference's second-best total. Both of his fumble recoveries led to UNI touchdowns.
Last week against Western Illinois, placekicker Matthew Cook broke the school record for points scored in a career, a mark previously held by David Johnson (2010-14). Cook has scored a total of 394 points in his career and has his eyes set on being one of just two players in MVFC history to break the 400-point threshold. He also looks to pass NDSU's Cam Petersen for second on the MVFC all-time scoring list at 399. Cook also extended his streak of made PATs with six successful attempts. He has now made all 151 attempted PATs in his career. One more PAT will move him into second place on the program's all-time PAT scoring list, passing Brian Wingert (2003-06). If that wasn't enough, Cook extended his program-record consecutive game point scoring streak with his 39th game against Western Illinois.
MISSOURI STATE BEARS
Coming off a one-point loss to Illinois State on a two-point conversion to seal the deal, the Missouri State Bears are looking for their third conference win of the season and second at home. In that matchup, quarterback Jordan Pachot finished with 290 passing yards and two touchdowns as well as two interceptions. The lone passing offense in the conference that remains above UNI, the Bears record an MVFC-leading 301.8 passing yards per game. Catching both of Pachot's touchdown passes and racking up 105 receiving yards in the process, was junior wide receiver Raylen Sharpe. Sharpe has proven to be Pachot's No. 1 receiver this season, recording 745 of the team's 2,716 receiving yards as well as five touchdowns. He averages a conference-best 93.1 receiving yards per game.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bears allow the most passing yards per game in the conference, averaging 254.2 passing yards allowed per game. Going along with that, they allow the third-most rushing yards per game at 181.4 rushing yards allowed per game. Sophomore safety Todric McGee has shown that he is a force in the secondary for the Bear, recording 9.8 total tackles per game and 5.4 solo tackles per game, both second-best marks in the MVFC. Last week against Illinois State, McGee matched a career-high with 15 tackles and is 12 tackles shy of 100 for the season which would make him the first Bear to eclipse that mark since 2021.
ÂCELEBRATING 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.
