April 10, 2018 By Chris Varney
It’s never too early to start talking football. The University of Northern Iowa announced their 2018 football schedule yesterday. UNI will open the upcoming season on September 1 at traditional powerhouse Montana. The Grizzlies have a .608 winning percentage since 1963 and won 12 straight Big Sky championships between 1998 and 2009. The two schools are separated by nearly 1,300 miles so it will be a long trip for the Panthers to open the season (obviously they will fly there). The Griz and the Panthers will kick off the season at 6 pm — so far that is the only start time that has been announced.
Week two on September 15 will be a big game for Northern Iowa as the Panthers head to Kinnick Stadium to play Iowa. The last time the Panthers went to Iowa City was 2014 and they gave the Hawkeyes a big time scare. Iowa led the entire way but it was close; it was only a one point lead with just over 12 minutes left in the 4th quarter before then-Iowa QB Jake Rudock hit Desmond Powell on a 12 yard TD pass and Greg Mabin got a game clinching interception to clinch a 31-23 victory. Then-UNI QB Sawyer Kollmorgen threw for a career high 380 yards.
Other games of note for Northern Iowa will the home opener against the Hampton (Va) Pirates, which just joined the Big South Conference. UNI will face powerhouse North Dakota State on October 6th in the UNI-Dome. Homecoming will be on Oct. 20 against the 2017 runner-up South Dakota State — the Panthers faced the Jackrabbits twice last year both games on the road. Family weekend will be on November 3 against Illinois St.
This will be the senior season for Eli Dunne, the former Grinnell Tiger, who will lead the UNI offense for his second full season as starting quarterback. Before spring drills, UNI Head Coach Mark Farley said there were two factors going against Dunne last year. Number one — Eli might not have been 100% healthy. He suffered an injury early in fall drills last August and at one point, the coaches thought it might be a torn ACL. It wasn’t but it did not help Dunne’s preparation for last season. The other area was stability in the coaching staff. Dunne had to work with new assistants last year that came in a little late in the process but after a full off-season with QB/Offensive Coordinator John Bond, Dunne might feel more comfortable this year.
Spring practices continue at Northern Iowa and will culminate with the spring game on Friday, April 27 at 6 pm.
2018 Northern Iowa Football Schedule
Sept. 1 at Montana (6 pm)
Sept. 15 at Iowa
Sept. 22 Hampton
Sept. 27 at Indiana State
Oct. 6 North Dakota State (Band Day)
Oct. 13 at South Dakota
Oct. 20 South Dakota State (Homecoming)
Oct. 27 at Western Illinois
Nov. 3 Illinois State (Family Weekend)
Nov. 10 at Youngstown State
Nov. 17 Missouri State (Senior Day)