2021 Northern Iowa Panthers football

NCAA Division I First Round, L 9–19 vs. Eastern Washington
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 23
FCS Coaches	No. 25
Record	6–6 (4–4 MVFC)
Head coach	Mark Farley (21st season)
Offensive coordinator	Shawn Watson (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Jeremiah Johnson (9th season)
Home stadium	UNI-Dome
Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

2021 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^	7	–	1	14	–	1
No. 14 Missouri State ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
No. 16 Southern Illinois ^	5	–	3	8	–	5
No. 18 South Dakota ^	5	–	3	7	–	5
No. 4 South Dakota State ^	5	–	3	11	–	4
No. 23 Northern Iowa ^	4	–	4	6	–	6
Indiana State	3	–	5	5	–	6
North Dakota	3	–	5	5	–	6
Western Illinois	2	–	6	2	–	9
Illinois State	2	–	6	4	–	7
Youngstown State	2	–	6	3	–	7

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

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 Stadium Ames, IA	ESPN+	L 10–16	61,500
September 11	8:00 p.m.	at Sacramento State*	No. 21	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	ESPN+	W 34–16	8,067
September 18	4:00 p.m.	St. Thomas (MN)*	No. 18	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3	W 44–3	5,124
October 2	4:00 p.m.	Youngstown State	No. 15	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA		W 34–7	8,771
October 9	1:00 p.m.	at No. 5 North Dakota State	No. 16	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN+	L 20–34	18,536
October 16	4:00 p.m.	No. 21 South Dakota	No. 16	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA		L 21–34	7,202
October 23	2:00 p.m.	at No. 6 South Dakota State	No. 20	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD		W 26–17	16,889
October 30	4:00 p.m.	No. 3 Southern Illinois	No. 16	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA		W 23–16	5,902
November 6	12:00 p.m.	at Illinois State	No. 13	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL		L 10–17 ^OT	6,000
November 13	2:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Missouri State	No. 20	Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO		L 27–34	9,173
November 20	1:00 p.m.	Western Illinois		UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3	W 41–3	6,785
November 27	3:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Eastern Washington*		Roos Field Cheney, WA (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN+	L 9–19	3,845
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Game summaries

Northern Iowa Panthers (0–0) vs. Iowa State Cyclones (0–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Northern Iowa	7	3	0	0	10
Iowa State	3	10	0	3	16

Game information
First Quarter (4:09) UNI – Quan Hampton 52 yard pass from Will McElvain, Matthew Cook kick (Drive: 5 plays, 87 yards, 3:24; UNI 7–0) (1:06) ISU – Connor Assalley 35 yard field goal (Drive: 6 plays, 57 yards, 3:03; UNI 7–3) Second Quarter (7:25) ISU – Breece Hall 2 yard run, Connor Assalley kick (Drive: 14 plays, 59 yards, 7:19; ISU 10–7) (2:35) UNI – Matthew Cook 41 yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 51 yards, 4:50; 10–10) (0:00) ISU – Andrew Mevis 40 yard field goal (Drive 10 plays, 52 yards, 2:35; ISU 13–10) Fourth Quarter (6:18) ISU – Connor Assalley 21 yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 57 yards, 5:20; ISU 16–10)

Game information

(4:09) UNI – Quan Hampton 52 yard pass from Will McElvain, Matthew Cook kick (Drive: 5 plays, 87 yards, 3:24; UNI 7–0)
(1:06) ISU – Connor Assalley 35 yard field goal (Drive: 6 plays, 57 yards, 3:03; UNI 7–3)

(7:25) ISU – Breece Hall 2 yard run, Connor Assalley kick (Drive: 14 plays, 59 yards, 7:19; ISU 10–7)
(2:35) UNI – Matthew Cook 41 yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 51 yards, 4:50; 10–10)
(0:00) ISU – Andrew Mevis 40 yard field goal (Drive 10 plays, 52 yards, 2:35; ISU 13–10)

(6:18) ISU – Connor Assalley 21 yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 57 yards, 5:20; ISU 16–10)

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northern Iowa	Passing	Will McElvain	21–34, 230 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Dom Williams	12 carries, 43 yards
	Receiving	Quan Hampton	8 receptions, 99 yards, 1 TD
Iowa State	Passing	Brock Purdy	21–26, 199 yards
	Rushing	Breece Hall	23 carries, 69 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Xavier Hutchinson	7 receptions, 88 yards

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

v t e Northern Iowa Panthers football
Venues	O. R. Latham Stadium (1936–1975) UNI-Dome (1976–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Drake
Culture & lore	"UNI Fight"
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

v t e 2021 NCAA Division I FCS playoff participants
Davidson East Tennessee State Eastern Washington Florida A&M Holy Cross Incarnate Word James Madison Kennesaw State Missouri State Montana Montana State North Dakota State Northern Iowa Sacramento State Sacred Heart Sam Houston South Dakota South Dakota State Southeastern Louisiana Southern Illinois Stephen F. Austin UC Davis UT Martin Villanova
Champion – North Dakota State