UNI football: Panthers head to Wyoming to face their first road contest of 2025

UNI Panthers (1-0 / 0-0 MVFC) at Wyoming Cowboys (1-0 / 0-0 MW)

3 p.m. CT | September 6, 2025
Laramie, Wyoming | War Memorial Stadium (29,181)
Mountain West Network (Nate Kreckman: Play-by-Play / Jared Petrino: Analyst)
Panther Sports Radio Network | (J.W. Cox: Play-by-Play / Scott Peterson: Analyst)

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The UNI Panther football team heads to Laramie, Wyoming for its first road contest of 2025 on September 6 at War Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. CT on the Mountain West Network.

The Panthers head to Wyoming to face the Cowboys for the second time in program history. The last time these teams met, Wyoming came away with a 45-42, shootout victory in Laramie in 1993. That game saw Kurt Warner start under center before an injury knocked him out for the day and Brett O'Donnell was brought in.

UNI is coming off a season-opening victory over the Butler Bulldogs last weekend. The 38-14 contest saw UNI lead wire-to-wire, including a second-half shutout from the Panther defense. In that matchup, Matthew Schecklman was efficient through the air, recording 214 passing yards and four touchdowns on 15 completions for a 184.7 quarterback rating. On the ground, the duo of Bill Jackson and Harrison Bey-Buie combined for 157 yards and one touchdown on 12 rushing attempts each. Tysen Kershaw led the Panther receiving room with 65 yards on two receptions with one touchdown. On defense, Tucker Langenberg led the Cats with 12 total tackles and one QB hurry.

Head coach Todd Stepsis became the 15th head coach in program history to start his tenure with a 1-0 record. UNI is now 10-1 in season openers inside the UNI-Dome since 1990 and 234-66-1 inside the UNI-Dome all-time.

Matthew Schecklman's four passing touchdown performance is the first time a Panther QB has thrown for four touchdowns since Theo Day did it against Youngstown State in 2023.

The Panther team sits amongst the top-10 in FCS football in a number of statistical categories after their first matchup including third-down conversion (10th - 60%), fewest penalties (4th - 2), fewest penalties per game (3rd - 2), fewest penalty yards (10th - 21), fewest penalty yards per game (9th - 21), passes intercepted (5th - 2), and turnover margin (3rd - 3). UNI leads the MVFC in third-down conversion, fewest penalties, fewest penalties per game, and passes intercepted and is second in fewest penalty yards, fewest penalty yards per game, passing yards per completion (13.82), and team passing efficiency (178.36).

Individually, Jonathan Cabral-Martin leads the nation with five passes defended after four pass breakups and an interception. The cornerback is third in the FCS with one interception, both Valley-leading marks.

Matthew Schecklman's name sits in the top-10 of multiple FCS categories including passing TDs (2nd - 4), points responsible for and responsible for per game (5th - 24), and passing efficiency (9th - 184.7). Scheck's points and passing TDs lead the MVFC and his passer rating and passing yards per completion (14.27) are second in the league.

Tysen Kershaw leads the Valley in yards per reception with the eighth-best mark in the FCS with 32.50 yards per reception aided by a 49-yard catch against Butler.

Bill Jackson is five yards from 1,000 career rushing yards. Jackson's first career rush came at Wyoming in 2022 as a member of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Matthew Schecklman is 10 passing yards away from 1,500 career passing yards. Harrison Bey-Buie is 42 rushing yards away from his 1,000th career rushing yard after 479 in 2021 at Eastern Illinois and 479 in his time with the Panthers. Tysen Kershaw is 34 receiving yards from 500 career receiving yards. Tucker Langenberg is 25 total tackles from the 200 career tackle mark.

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 coaches that are new 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 of them are true freshman including a trio from across the street at Cedar Falls High School. Of the 117 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 five 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) in the CFL.

The Wyoming Cowboys posted the first shut out in a season opener since the 1977 season in a 10-0 over Akron inside InfoCision Stadium in Akron, Ohio on Thursday evening. It was also the first shutout since the Pokes shut out since beating Gardner-Webb 27-0 in 2017.

The Cowboys were led by wide receiver Chris Durr Jr. with seven catches for 146 yards and a score. He recorded 128 yards after the catch in the contest. Quarterback Kaden Anderson added 260 yards passing with 19 completions on 36 attempts. He also threw for a score. Sam Scott rushed for a career-high 132 yards on 29 carries. Linebacker Brayden Johnson added eight tackles and an interception. Andrew Johnson added a career-high six tackles in the game with Evan Eller and Jones Thomas adding career-highs with five tackles.

The Cowboys opened the scoring in the second quarter with a field goal from Erik Sandvik from 25-yards for the first of his career. The drive was set up by a 49-yard reception from Chris Durr Jr. to put Wyoming inside Zip territory. Both teams' defenses would hold lot scoring attempts late in the second quarter, but the Pokes would maintain the 3-0 lead into the half. Durr Jr. added a 35-yard score on a screen pass to give Wyoming a 10-0 lead with four minutes left. The Wyoming defense held strong with the last shut out in an opener coming against Air Force in a 0-0 game in 1977.

The Wyoming offense recorded 426 yards of total offense on the night with 260 yards passing and 166 yards on the ground. UW was 9-of-20 on third down. The Pokes defense held the Zips to 228 yards total with 89 rushing yards allowed on the night. UW held Akron to 3 of 15 on third down after leading the nation last season.

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.

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