University of Northern Iowa
South Dakota State
Panther football to host two-time reigning FCS National Champion SDSU Jackrabbits on Family Weekend
10/3/2024 1:53:00 PM | Football
The 18th-ranked Panthers welcome the top-ranked Jackrabbits of SDSU to the UNI-Dome for the MVFC opener.
UNI football (2-2 / 0-0 MVFC) vs South Dakota State (3-1 / 0-0 MVFC)
- 4 p.m. CT | Oct. 5, 2024
- Cedar Falls, Iowa | UNI-Dome (16,324)
- MVFC TV / ESPN+ (Brad Wells: Play-by-play, JC Pearson: Analyst, Terry Allen: Analyst)
- Panther Sports Radio Network | (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Scott Peterson: Analyst)
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The UNI Panther football team plays host6 to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the conference opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon. The matchup will take place over Northern Iowa's annual Family Weekend.
Fresh off a bye week, both teams look to open conference play with a victory. The Panthers are coming off a 36-7 loss at Hawaii before last week's bye week. In that matchup, Aidan Dunne finished with 104 yards on 13 completions with one rushing touchdown while Amauri Pesek-Hickson led the Panther ground game with 48 yards on seven carries. Sergio Morancy led the Panther receivers with 38 yards on three receptions.
Robbie Peterson Jr. and Tucker Langenberg recorded back-to-back interceptions at the end of the first half for the Panthers. It was the first pick of Peterson Jr.'s Panther career and Langenberg's second.
The teams meet for the 61st time in program history. UNI holds a 33-25-2 record all-time against the Jackrabbits, a 20-12-2 record at home, and a 5-6 record against South Dakota State inside the UNI-Dome. Since SDSU joined the MVFC in 2008, the Panthers and the Jackrabbits are all evened up at 9-9.
After the bye week, head coach Mark Farley holds a 17-5 record (excluding the COVID 2021 season) in his time at UNI and a perfect 10-0 record when playing inside the Dome after a bye week. Coach Farley has a 15-7 record (excluding the COVID 2021 season) in conference openers including a 9-1 record over 10 conference openers inside the Dome.
The Panthers lead the Valley, only allowing 0.75 sacks per game through four games this season. Tye Edwards leads the MVFC with 7.72 yards per carry. That mark is the sixth-best mark in the nation. Amauri Pesek-Hickson's 5.67 yards per carry is sixth-best in the Valley.
South Dakota State comes into the matchup fresh off a 41-0, shutout victory at Southeastern Louisiana. The back-to-back, defending FCS National Champions, the Jackrabbits have not allowed a touchdown in their last eight quarters of play and have only given up three points. Over the past 16 seasons, South Dakota State has recorded a 9-7 record in MVFC openers with five straight over the last five seasons.
The Jackrabbits currently hold a 30-game winning streak against FCS opponents with a 209-game streak against ranked opponents. SDSU has also held the top spot in the Stats Perform FCS poll since October 17, 2022.
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