# 2011 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

The 2011 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the University of Northern Iowa in the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Panthers were coached by Mark Farley and played their home games at the UNI-Dome. They are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 10–3, 7–1 in MVFC play to share the conference championship with North Dakota State. They received an at-large bid into the FCS playoffs where they defeated Wofford in the second round before falling to Montana in the quarterfinals.
L. J. Fort was named MVFC defensive player of the year.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 6:00 pm | at Iowa State* | No. 7 | Jack Trice StadiumAmes, IA | | L 19–20 | 54,672 |
| September 10 | 6:00 pm | at No. 16 Stephen F. Austin* | No. 4 | Homer Bryce StadiumNacogdoches, TX | | W 34–23 | 8,741 |
| September 24 | 4:00 pm | Western Illinois | No. 2 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | | W 38–10 | 16,059 |
| October 1 | 1:00 pm | at Missouri State | No. 2 | Plaster Sports ComplexSpringfield, MO | | W 42–7 | 14,827 |
| October 8 | 4:00 pm | No. 17 Indiana State | No. 2 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | | W 23–9 | 16,890 |
| October 15 | 6:00 pm | at South Dakota State | No. 2 | Coughlin–Alumni StadiumBrookings, SD | ESPN3 | W 31–14 | 11,131 |
| October 22 | 4:00 pm | Southern Illinois | No. 2 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | Panther Sports Network | W 17–10 | 15,265 |
| October 29 | 3:00 pm | at No. 3 North Dakota State | No. 2 | FargodomeFargo, ND | FCS | L 19–27 | 18,886 |
| November 5 | 4:00 pm | Youngstown State | No. 6 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | Panther Sports Network | W 21–17 | 11,523 |
| November 12 | 6:00 pm | Southern Utah* | No. 5 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | | W 34–21 | 12,480 |
| November 19 | 11:00 am | at No. 14 Illinois State | No. 4 | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL | ESPN3 | W 23–20 $^{2OT}$ | 6,092 |
| December 3 | 4:00 pm | No. 12 Wofford* | No. 2 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 28–21 | 6,915 |
| December 10 | 7:05 pm | at No. 5 Montana* | No. 2 | Washington–Grizzly StadiumMissoula, MT (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN | L 10–48 | 23,049 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||||

## Game summaries
### Game 1: vs. Iowa State Cyclones

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 3 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 19 |
| Cyclones | 0 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 20 |
at Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, Iowa
* Date: September 3
* Game time: 6:00 p.m. CDT
* Game weather: Temperature: 71 • Wind: W 5-10 • Weather: humid, scat. showers
* Game attendance: 54,672
* Referee: Referee: Greg Burks • Umpire: Scott Campbell • Linesman: George Gusman • Line judge: Doug Moore • Back judge: Brian Ernest • Field judge: Nick Lave • Side judge: Gene Semko • Scorer: Shuey/Pope
Game information :
First quarter
UNI - 12:09 Tyler Sievertsen 42 yd field goal (UNI 3-0)
Second quarter
UNI - 08:55 Tyler Sievertsen 24 yd field goal (UNI 6-0)
ISU - 00:00 Steele Jantz 1 yd run, Zach Guyer XP good (ISU 7-6)
Third quarter
UNI - 02:30 David Johnson 1 yd run, Tyler Sievertsen XP good (UNI 13-7)
Fourth quarter
ISU - 04:30 John Lenz 27 yd pass from Steele Jantz, Zach Guyer XP good (ISU 14-13)
UNI - 04:17 David Johnson 80 yd pass from Tirrell Rennie, Tirrell Rennie pass failed (UNI 19-14)
ISU - 00:40 Steele Jantz 1 yd run, Steele Jantz pass intercepted (ISU 20-19)
Top passers
UNI – Tirrell Rennie 15/32, 181 yards, 1 TD
ISU – Steele Jantz 18/40, 187 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT's
Top rushers
UNI – Tirrell Rennie 18 attempts, 127 yards
ISU – Steele Jantz 20 attempts, 80 yards
Top receivers
UNI – David Johnson 2 receptions, 83 yards, 1 TD
ISU – Aaron Horne 7 receptions, 69 yards
Top tacklers
UNI – L.J. Fort 13 tackles
ISU – Jake Knott 15 tackles :

## Personnel
### Roster

* 2011 Roster

### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Year at Northern Iowa | Alma Mater (Year) |
| Mark Farley | Head coach | 11th | Northern Iowa (1987) |
| Rick Nelson | Recruiting coordinator Offensive Line | 12th | Northern Iowa (1984) |
| Bill Salmon | Associate head coach Offensive coordinator Receivers | 11th | Northern Iowa (1980) |
| Mario Verduzco | Co-offensive coordinator Quarterbacks | 11th | San José State (1988) |
| Jeremiah Johnson | Recruiting coordinator/Asst. Defensive Coach | 5th | Kansas (2000) |
| Dan Clark | Tight ends | 2nd | Simpson (1995) |
| Jovan Dewitt | Defensive coordinator Linebackers | 3rd | Northern Michigan (1999) |
| Matt Entz | Defensive line | 2nd | Wartburg (1995) |
| Eric Sanders | Running backs | 2nd | Northern Iowa (2008) |
| Blue Adams | Defensive backs | 1st | Cincinnati (2003) |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final |
| The Sports Network | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| FCS Coaches | 7 | T-3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 |