Monmouth's Opponent Saturday Is No Stranger To The FCS Playoffs

WEST LONG BRANCH – With their first ever NCAA FCS playoff berth safely secured, the Monmouth University Hawks must now turn its attention to their first-round opponent – the University of Northern Iowa Panthers.

While the Hawks will be encountering a myriad of firsts on their journey into uncharted territory, the Panthers are grizzled veterans of the FCS playoff wars with a rich tradition at the FCS level.

Monmouth will travel to UNI for a first-round game scheduled for Saturday at 5:00 P.M. on ESPN 3.

Located in Cedar Falls, Iowa the University of Northern Iowa may not be a household name to the casual football enthusiast, but the Panthers football program is actually one of the oldest in the country dating back to 1895.

To put that in perspective, the first ever game of intercollegiate football played between Princeton and Rutgers was 26 years earlier in 1869.

UNI has an enrollment of 12,000 students and the school colors are purple and gold.

The Panthers play their home games at the UNI-Dome which was constructed in 1976 with a seating capacity of 16,324.

In 2009 UNI set an attendance record of 17,190 in a game against Southern Illinois so you can be assured the Hawks will be greeted by a raucous crowd somewhere in that neighborhood. It’s an extremely hard place to play for the visiting team with the Panthers home record standing at 207-55-1 for a 74 percent home-game winning percentage.

In 1985 UNI was admitted into the Missouri Valley Football Conference which is annually ranked the No.1 football conference in the FCS by most media outlets. They’ve been a FCS (DI-AA) member since 1981 after moving up from the DII level.

Since 1985, the Panthers have won 16 MVFC championships with the most recent title coming in 2011. Overall the football program has won 33 conference titles since its inception.

UNI will be making its 20th FCS playoff appearance holding an overall record of 22-19.Their most recent playoff outing was in 2015 when they advanced to the quarterfinals before losing 23-13 to MVFC rival North Dakota State, who went on to win its unprecedented fifth consecutive FCS championship.

In 2005 the Panthers marched to their first and only FCS championship game before losing 21-16 to Appalachian State and ended the season ranked No. 2 nationally in FCS football.

The Panthers have 16 wins against FBS (DI-A) opponents, the last coming in 2016 when they beat Big 12 member Iowa State 25-20 for their sixth win against the Hawkeyes in program history. Iowa State returned the favor this season defeating the Panthers 42-24 in the first game of the season for both schools in Ames, Iowa, home of the Hawkeyes.

UNI (7-4, 6-2) finished tied for second with South Dakota State (9-2, 6-2) - ranked sixth nationally in the FCS coaches poll - in the Missouri Valley Football Conference this season a game ahead of Western Illinois – ranked 10th.

The Panthers are ranked 21st in the country, two spots ahead of Monmouth (9-2, 4-1) at No. 23, and are 77th in total offense (338.4), 63rd in total defense (373.6) and No. 1 in red zone offense.

Monmouth is 33rd in total offense (413.3), 74th in total defense (380.1) and fifth in scoring offense (35.2 ppg).

Head coach Mark Farley has been at the helm since 2001 and has accumulated an overall record of 134-67 with seven MVFC titles to his credit.

He played linebacker for UNI from 1983-1985 under head coach Terry Allen and was named CO-DPOY in 1985. In 1986 Farley signed on a graduate assistant at UNI before being named linebackers coach two years later, a position he held until 1997 when he followed Allen to the University of Kansas in that same capacity until he took over the head job at his alma mater in 2001.

The Panthers have won three in a row and five of six this season with its only loss during the streak at North Dakota State (10-1, 7-1) – ranked fourth in the FCS. They beat South Dakota St and lost to Western Illinois during the season.

Thirty six UNI players have played in some capacity in the NFL with 13 being drafted into the league including: Former Jets running back Derrick Ward, linebacker Bryce Paup, a four time Pro Bowler and NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1995 with the Buffalo Bills, center Brad Meester, who started for 13 seasons for the Jaguars, Arizona Pro-Bowl running back David Johnson and free agent Super Bowl MVP quarterback Kurt Warner.

Northern Iowa is as close to an FBC school as you can get and the Hawks will be tested mightily. Regardless of the outcome Saturday’s game the Hawks appearance in the FCS playoffs is a boon to the football program in many different areas, principally in terms of recruitment.