# 2021 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

The 2021 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the University of Northern Iowa in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Panthers competed as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and were led by 21st-year head coach Mark Farley. They played their home games at UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 4 | 3:30 p.m. | at No. 7 (FBS) Iowa State* | No. 21 | Jack Trice StadiumAmes, IA | ESPN+ | L 10–16 | 61,500 |
| September 11 | 8:00 p.m. | at Sacramento State* | No. 21 | Hornet StadiumSacramento, CA | ESPN+ | W 34–16 | 8,067 |
| September 18 | 4:00 p.m. | St. Thomas (MN)* | No. 18 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | ESPN3 | W 44–3 | 5,124 |
| October 2 | 4:00 p.m. | Youngstown State | No. 15 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | | W 34–7 | 8,771 |
| October 9 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 5 North Dakota State | No. 16 | FargodomeFargo, ND | ESPN+ | L 20–34 | 18,536 |
| October 16 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 21 South Dakota | No. 16 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | | L 21–34 | 7,202 |
| October 23 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 6 South Dakota State | No. 20 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | | W 26–17 | 16,889 |
| October 30 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 3 Southern Illinois | No. 16 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | | W 23–16 | 5,902 |
| November 6 | 12:00 p.m. | at Illinois State | No. 13 | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL | | L 10–17 $^{OT}$ | 6,000 |
| November 13 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 16 Missouri State | No. 20 | Robert W. Plaster StadiumSpringfield, MO | | L 27–34 | 9,173 |
| November 20 | 1:00 p.m. | Western Illinois | | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | ESPN3 | W 41–3 | 6,785 |
| November 27 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 4 Eastern Washington* | | Roos FieldCheney, WA (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPN+ | L 9–19 | 3,845 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At No. 7 (FBS) Iowa State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 21 Northern Iowa | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| No. 7 (FBS) Iowa State | 3 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
at Jack Trice Stadium • Ames, IA
* Date: Saturday, September 4, 2021
* Game time: 3:30 p.m. CDT
* Game weather: sunny • Temperature: 73°F
* Game attendance: 61,500
* Referee: Kevin Hassell
* TV announcers (ESPN+): Shawn Kenney, Sage Rosenfels, Skubie Mageza
| Statistics | UNI | ISU |
| First downs | 13 | 17 |
| Total yards | 275 | 336 |
| Rushes/yards | 26/45 | 34/136 |
| Passing yards | 230 | 199 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 21–34–2 | 21–26–0 |
| Time of possession | 28:48 | 31:12 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Northern Iowa | Passing | Will McElvain | 21–34, 230 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT |
| Northern Iowa | Rushing | Dom Williams | 12 carries, 43 yards |
| Northern Iowa | Receiving | Quan Hampton | 8 receptions, 99 yards, 1 TD |
| Iowa State | Passing | Brock Purdy | 21–26, 199 yards |
| Iowa State | Rushing | Breece Hall | 23 carries, 69 yards, 1 TD |
| Iowa State | Receiving | Xavier Hutchinson | 7 receptions, 88 yards |

### At Sacramento State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 21 Panthers | 7 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 34 |
| Hornets | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 16 |

### At No. 5 North Dakota State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 12 Panthers | 0 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| No. 5 Bison | 10 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 34 |
at Fargodome, Fargo, ND
* Date: October 9, 2021
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. (CT)
* Game weather: Indoors; 70 °F (21 °C)
* Game attendance: 18,536
* TV: ESPN+
| Statistics | Northern Iowa | North Dakota State |
| First downs | 14 | 15 |
| Plays–yards | 63-381 | 64-363 |
| Rushes–yards | 32-124 | 43-181 |
| Passing yards | 257 | 182 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 12-31-0 | 11-21-0 |
| Time of possession | 27:37 | 32:23 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Northern Iowa | Passing | Theo Day | 12/31, 257 yds, TD |
| Northern Iowa | Rushing | Bradrick Shaw | 10 car, 44 yds |
| Northern Iowa | Receiving | Isaiah Weston | 5 rec, 181 yds, TD |
| North Dakota State | Passing | Quincy Patterson | 11/21, 182 yds, 2 TD |
| North Dakota State | Rushing | Quincy Patterson | 12 car, 60 yds, 2 TD |
| North Dakota State | Receiving | Christian Watson | 5 rec, 163 yds, TD |
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | UNI | NDSU |
| 1st | 7:37 | 1 | 85 | 0:11 | NDSU | Christian Watson (#1) 85-yard touchdown reception from Quincy Patterson (#2), Jake Reinholz (#37) kick good | 0 | 7 |
| 1st | 3:37 | 6 | 40 | 2:11 | NDSU | | 0 | 10 |
| 2nd | 11:24 | 8 | 73 | 3:36 | UNI | Isaiah Weston (#80) 44-yard touchdown reception from Theo Day (#12), Matthew Cook (#97) kick good | 7 | 10 |
| 2nd | 3:00 | 8 | 73 | 3:36 | UNI | 33-yard field goal by Matthew Cook (#97) | 10 | 10 |
| 2nd | 0:23 | 9 | 71 | 2:37 | NDSU | 22-yard field goal by Jake Reinholz (#37) | 10 | 13 |
| 3rd | 11:46 | 2 | 9 | 1:12 | NDSU | Quincy Patterson (#2) 4-yard touchdown run, Jake Reinholz (#37) kick good | 10 | 20 |
| 3rd | 9:02 | 4 | 21 | 2:06 | NDSU | Noah Gindorff (#87) 3-yard touchdown reception from Quincy Patterson (#2), Jake Reinholz (#37) kick good | 10 | 27 |
| 3rd | 7:39 | 3 | 75 | 1:23 | UNI | Dom Williams (#7) 5-yard touchdown run, Matthew Cook (#98) kick good | 17 | 27 |
| 4th | 14:09 | 16 | 80 | 8:26 | NDSU | Quincy Patterson (#2) 4-yard touchdown run, Jake Reinholz (#37) kick good | 17 | 34 |
| 4th | 9:08 | 11 | 48 | 5:01 | UNI | 44-yard field goal by Matthew Cook (#98) | 20 | 34 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 20 | 34 |

### At No. 16 Missouri State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 20 Northern Iowa | 3 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 27 |
| No. 16 Missouri State | 6 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 34 |
at Plaster Stadium • Springfield, MO
* Date: Saturday, November 13, 2021
* Game time: 2:05 p.m. CDT
* Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C), Winds W 7 mph; Sunny
* Game attendance: 9,173
* Referee: Aaron Adams • Umpire: Keith Wohlers • Linesman: Gordon Hanson • Line judge: Scott Lively • Back judge: Kurt Dingmann • Field judge: Brad Brunet • Side judge: Leanne Surmin
* TV announcers (ESPN+): Don West and Corey Riggs
| Statistics | UNI | MSU |
| First downs | 22 | 18 |
| Total yards | 360 | 379 |
| Rushes/yards | 33/122 | 32/59 |
| Passing yards | 238 | 320 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 17-30-2 | 22-30-0 |
| Time of possession | 29:28 | 30:32 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Northern Iowa | Passing | Theo Day | 17/30, 238 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT |
| Northern Iowa | Rushing | Dom Williams | 16 carries, 83 yards |
| Northern Iowa | Receiving | Deion McShane | 6 catches, 86 yards, 2 TD |
| Missouri State | Passing | Jason Shelley | 22/33, 320 yards, 1 TD |
| Missouri State | Rushing | Tobias Little | 10 carries, 34 yards |
| Missouri State | Receiving | Naveon Mitchell | 3 catches, 74 yards, 1 TD |

### Western Illinois
## FCS Playoffs
### At No. 4 Eastern Washington–First Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| No. 4 Eagles | 6 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 19 |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 1 | 19 | Trevor Penning | OT | New Orleans Saints |