# 2017 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

The 2017 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the University of Northern Iowa in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The team was coached by Mark Farley in his 17th season and played their home games in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 6–2 in MVFC play to finish in a tie for second place. The Panthers received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Monmouth in the first round before losing in the second round to South Dakota State.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 7:00 p.m. | at Iowa State* | No. 18 | Jack Trice StadiumAmes, IA | Cyclones.tv | L 24–42 | 61,500 |
| September 9 | 4:00 p.m. | Cal Poly* | No. 21 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | PSN ESPN3 | W 45–38 $^{OT}$ | 10,246 |
| September 16 | 7:00 p.m. | at Southern Utah* | No. 21 | Eccles ColiseumCedar City, UT | Pluto TV | L 21–24 | 8,841 |
| September 30 | 6:00 p.m. | at Southern Illinois | | Saluki StadiumCarbondale, IL | ESPN3 | W 24–17 | 9,112 |
| October 7 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 15 Western Illinois | | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | PSN ESPN3 | L 29–38 | 12,642 |
| October 14 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 7 South Dakota State | | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | ESPN3 | W 38–18 | 14,347 |
| October 21 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 9 Youngstown State | | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | PSN ESPN3 | W 19–14 | 12,146 |
| October 28 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 2 North Dakota State | | FargodomeFargo, ND | ESPN3 | L 14–30 | 18,687 |
| November 4 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 6 South Dakota | | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | PSN ESPN3 | W 34–29 | 10,814 |
| November 11 | 2:00 p.m. | at Missouri State | No. 25 | Robert W. Plaster StadiumSpringfield, MO | ESPN3 | W 25–10 | 6,157 |
| November 18 | 4:00 p.m. | Indiana State | No. 24 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | PSN ESPN3 | W 41–3 | 8,232 |
| November 25 | 4:00 p.m. | Monmouth* | No. 20 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA (FCS Playoffs First Round) | ESPN3 | W 46–7 | 4,095 |
| December 2 | 4:00 p.m. | at No. 6 South Dakota State* | No. 20 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD (FCS Playoffs Second Round) | ESPN3 | L 22–37 | 7,518 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||
* Source: Schedule
* ↑ Panther Sports Network involves these channels (CFU Ch. 15/HD415; KCRG-TV Ch. 9.2; WHO-DT Ch. 13.2; KGCW Ch. 26, (NBC Sports Chicago or NBC Sports Chicago Plus, KSMO/Charter Kansas City Ch. 62.1 (for KSMO))

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | 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 | Final |
| STATS FCS | 18 | 21 | 21 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 24 | 20 | 19 |
| Coaches | 20 | 21–T | 18 | 24 | 20 | 21 | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | 21 | 19 |

## Panthers drafted

| Draft Year | Player | Position | Round | Overall | NFL Team |
| 2018 | Daurice Fountain | WR | 5 | 159 | Indianapolis Colts |