2019 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

2019 Northern Iowa Panthers football
ConferenceMissouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATSNo. 5
FCS CoachesNo. 5
Record10–5 (6–2 MVFC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorRyan Mahaffey (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorJeremiah Johnson (7th season)
Home stadiumUNI-Dome
2019 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 1 North Dakota State $^   8 0     16 0  
No. 5 ^   6 2     10 5  
No. 7 Illinois State ^   5 3     10 5  
No. 10 South Dakota State ^   5 3     8 5  
Southern Illinois   5 3     7 5  
South Dakota   4 4     5 7  
Indiana State   3 5     5 7  
Youngstown State   2 6     6 6  
Missouri State   1 7     1 10  
Western Illinois   1 7     1 11  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2019 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the University of Northern Iowa as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by 19th-year head coach Mark Farley, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 10–5 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing second in the MVFC. Northern Iowa received an at-large bid to NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where the Panthers defeated San Diego in the first round and South Dakota State in second round before losing to the national runner-up James Madison, in the quarterfinals. The team played home games at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 31 11:00 a.m. at No. 21 FBS Iowa State* No. 18 FS1 L 26–29 3OT 61,500
September 7 4:00 p.m. Southern Utah* No. 11 PSN[a], ESPN3 W 34–14 9,241
September 21 4:00 p.m. Idaho State* No. 9
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
PSN, ESPN+ W 13–6 8,339
September 28 7:00 p.m. at No. 5 Weber State* No. 9 Pluto TV L 17–29 6,582
October 5 4:00 p.m. No. 18 Youngstown Statedagger No. 13
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
PSN, ESPN3 W 21–14 10,137
October 12 1:00 p.m. at No. 1 North Dakota State No. 10 ESPN+ L 14–46 18,178
October 19 4:00 p.m. South Dakota No. 14
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
PSN, ESPN+ W 42–27 10,201
October 26 2:00 p.m. at Missouri State No. 11 ESPN+ W 29–6 6,583
November 2 12:00 p.m. at No. 7 Illinois State No. 9 NBCCH, ESPN+ W 27–10 6,705
November 9 4:00 p.m. Indiana State No. 5
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
PSN, ESPN+ W 17–9 8,442
November 16 2:00 p.m. at No. 8 South Dakota State No. 4 ESPN3 L 7–38 7,317
November 23 1:00 p.m. Western Illinois No. 9
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
ESPN3 W 38–7 8,920
November 30 1:00 p.m. San Diego* No. 6
ESPN3 W 17–3 3,743


December 7 1:00 p.m. at No. 10 South Dakota State* No. 6
  • Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
  • Brookings, SD (NCAA Division I Second Round)
ESPN3 W 13–10 4,102
December 13 6:00 p.m. at No. 2 James Madison* No. 6
ESPN2 L 0–17 8,741
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

[1][2]

  1. ^ 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)

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
Week
PollPre12345678910111213Final
STATS FCS1811119913101411954965
Coaches201210871310151210751065

Preseason

MVFC poll

In the MVFC preseason poll released on July 29, 2019, the Panthers were predicted to finish in fifth place.[3]

Preseason All–MVFC team

The Panthers had three players selected to the preseason all-MVFC team.[4]

Game summaries

At Iowa State

1 2 3 4OT2OT3OT Total
No. 18 Panthers 0 0 13 0373 26
No. 21 (FBS) Cyclones 3 0 7 3376 29

Southern Utah

1 2 3 4 Total
Thunderbirds 0 0 7 7 14
No. 11 Panthers 7 17 10 0 34

Idaho State

1 2 3 4 Total
Bengals 3 3 0 0 6
No. 9 Panthers 0 3 0 10 13

At Weber State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 9 Panthers 3 7 0 7 17
No. 5 Wildcats 20 7 2 0 29

Youngstown State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 18 Penguins 0 7 7 0 14
No. 13 Panthers 7 14 0 0 21

At North Dakota State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 10 Panthers 0 14 0 0 14
No. 1 Bison 15 3 7 21 46

South Dakota

1 2 3 4 Total
Coyotes 21 3 3 0 27
No. 14 Panthers 14 7 14 7 42

At Missouri State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 11 Panthers 0 19 10 0 29
Bears 0 0 0 6 6

At Illinois State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 9 Panthers 7 7 0 13 27
No. 7 Redbirds 0 7 3 0 10

Indiana State

1 2 3 4 Total
Sycamores 3 3 3 0 9
No. 5 Panthers 7 10 0 0 17

At South Dakota State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 4 Panthers 0 0 7 0 7
No. 8 Jackrabbits 0 7 10 21 38

Western Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total
Leathernecks 7 0 0 0 7
No. 9 Panthers 7 10 14 7 38

San Diego—NCAA Division I First Round

1 2 3 4 Total
Toreros 0 3 0 0 3
No. 6 Panthers 7 0 0 10 17

The Panthers were selected for the postseason tournament, with a first-round pairing against San Diego.[5]

At South Dakota State—NCAA Division I Second Round

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 6 Panthers 0 3 7 3 13
No. 10 Jackrabbits 10 0 0 0 10

At James Madison—NCAA Division I Quarterfinal

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 6 Panthers 0 0 0 0 0
No. 2 Dukes 7 3 0 7 17

References

  1. ^ "Northern Iowa Panthers Schedule 2019". ESPN. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  2. ^ "2019 Football Schedule". University of Northern Iowa. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  3. ^ "North Dakota State Picked to Win Missouri Valley Football Crown". www.valleynewslive.com. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  4. ^ "MVFC Announces Preseason All-Conference Team". valley-football.org. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  5. ^ "FCS bracket revealed for 2019 Division I football championship". ncaa.com. November 24, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.