University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Illinois State
UNI football: Panthers head to Normal, Illinois to take on the Redbirds
10/29/2025 4:44:00 PM | Football
UNI Panther football stays on the road for its only back-to-back roads test of the season.
UNI Panthers (2-6 / 0-4 MVFC) at Illinois State (5-3 / 2-2 MVFC)
- 2 p.m. CT | November 1, 2025
- Normal, Illinois | Hancock Stadium
- ESPN+ (Kurt Peglar: Play-by-Play, Zach Annexstad: Analyst)
- Panther Sports Radio Network | (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Scott Peterson: Analyst)
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The Panthers stay on the road for their first, and only, back-to-back road trip of the season as they face the Illinois State Redbirds on November 1 at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois. The last time the Panthers were in Normal, Illinois was in 2023 when UNI beat RV Illinois State 24-21. The contest came down to the wire and saw the Panthers pick up an onside kick to seal the deal against the Redbirds.
No active offensive player for the Panthers recorded any stats at Illinois State in 2023, but wide receiver Jaiden Ellis-Lahey caught one pass for 20 yards against the Redbirds in that contest. On the defensive side of the ball, Tucker Langenberg and Tate Sander were the lone current Panthers with stats in the matchup as Langenberg tallied five tackles, including two for a loss of two yards. Sander finished with one assisted tackle.
The Cats are still searching for both their first MVFC victory as well as first road victory of the season after a 31-17 loss at Southern Illinois on October 25. That matchup saw Jaxon Dailey take over at quarterback in the second half and throw for a pair of touchdowns, UNI's second-straight multi-touchdown contest. Dailey finished with career highs of 93 yards and two touchdowns. The touchdowns were the first of his career.
Both quarterbacks for the Panthers finished with career highs in the run game as Dailey set career highs with 49 total rushing yards and a long-rush of 28 yards while Schecklman finished with a career-long 43-yard rush in the first quarter.
Punter Noah Pettinger finished with a career-high eight punts for 418 yards with five inside the 20, also a career-high. Pettinger's 52.3 yards per punt was 0.1 yards away from tying the UNI single-game record of 52.4 yards per punt by Sam Kuhter in 2015 against South Dakota. The senior punter was a weapon, as he flipped the field for the Cats, pinning SIU inside their own 20 yard line on five of his eight punts, inside their own 10 on four of his punts, inside the five on two, and at the two yard line on one.
On defense, Kolben Miller led the way for UNI with a career-high 12 tackles. Other career marks on the defensive side of the ball include John Powers with a career-high four tackles, Ethan Schoville with seven, and Ryan Kuennen with his first career fumble recovery.
The Panther special teams unit has had a knack for blocking kicks in 2025. This season, the Panthers have blocked FOUR kicks through eight contests, including one field goal (Jaylen Pettus) and three punts (Braden McShane, Anthony Isley, and Calvin Jaworski). The Cats blocked two punts against Southern Illinois on October 25. The last time UNI blocked two KICKS in the same game was in 2017 when Adam Reth blocked a pair of field goals. The last time UNI blocked two PUNTS was in 2014 when Tate Omil and De'angelo Jennings each blocked a Redbird boot.
The Panther team sits amongst the top-10 in FCS football in a number of statistical categories after their first eight contests, including blocked kicks (4th - 4), blocked punts (3rd - 3), kickoff return defense (4th - 13.75), and red zone defense (8th - 0.692) and are 24th in the nation with an average time of possession of 31:36. The Panthers' blocked kicks, blocked punts, and kickoff return defense are the best marks in the Valley while their redzone defense is second and team tackles for loss (6.3 per game) are third.
Individually, Ryan Crandall is 9th in the FCS and second in the league, recording 5.38 solo tackles per game. The redshirt-senior linebacker is also second in the Valley and 22nd in the FCS with 1.25 tackles for loss per game and fourth in the MVFC and 24th in the FCS with 9.0 total tackles per game.
Jonathan Cabral-Martin is second in the MVFC with 0.25 forced fumbles per game. The cornerback is sixth in the league with 1.0 passes defended per game.
The Panthers return 100% of quarterback play from the 2024 season. Matthew Schecklman and Aidan Dunne return to the Panther squad for another season following a year that saw 2,231 passing yards and 16 passing touchdowns with a 61% completion percentage. 35% of UNI's wide receiver production is back in 2025. The Panthers return 65 receptions for 772 yards and four touchdowns from last season. Just 4% of running back production returns in 2025 after losing Tye Edwards and Amauri Pesek-Hickson from the 2024 roster. Harrison Bey-Buie returns to UNI after a season that saw him appear in just two games due to injury, recording 17 carries for 74 yards.
The Panthers bring in transfer Bill Jackson from Tulsa in the backfield. With the Golden Hurricanes, Jackson appeared in 10 games, totaling 319 rushing yards and 104 receiving yards, and scored two receiving touchdowns in 2024. The redshirt-senior appeared in a total of 33 games at Tulsa, totaling 919 rushing yards and one touchdown on 189 carries and 156 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 28 receptions. UNI also welcomes Owen Ostroski to the defensive line from Tulsa. In 2024, Ostroski appeared in 12 games and totaled 36 tackles (14 solo, 22 assist) and recorded 8.5 TFL for 43 yards, including two sacks for 17 yards. In his time at Tulsa, the redshirt-senior played in 35 games and totaled 91 tackles, including 22 for loss. The lineman had one forced fumble and one fumble recovery with the Golden Hurricanes.
The 2025 Panther roster includes nine new coaches to the Panther program, including head coach Todd Stepsis. On top of the coaching staff, the roster includes 33 true freshmen and 11 transfers that will be new to UNI in 2025.
The 2025 roster of 118 players includes 70 athletes from the great state of Iowa. Of these 70, 21 are true freshmen, including a trio from across the street at Cedar Falls High School. Of the 118 athletes on the roster, 97 call either Iowa or its six bordering states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska or South Dakota) home.
The UNI Football team currently has six alumni on active professional rosters including Elijah Campbell (Safety - Miami Dolphins), Spencer Brown (Offensive Lineman - Buffalo Bills), Khristian Boyd (Defensive Lineman - New Orleans Saints), and Trevor Penning (Offensive Lineman - New Orleans Saints) on NFL rosters and Jared Brinkman (Defensive Lineman - Edmonton Elks) and Benny Sapp III (Cornerback - Saskatchewan Roughriders) on CFL rosters.
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UNI football action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Football), X (@UNIFootball) and on Instagram (@unipantherfootball). The full 2025 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
