1996 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

1996 Northern Iowa Panthers football
Gateway champion
ConferenceGateway Football Conference
Ranking
Sports NetworkNo. 3
Record12–2 (5–0 Gateway)
Head coach
Home stadiumUNI-Dome
1996 Gateway Football Conference standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 3 Northern Iowa $^   5 – 0     12 – 2  
No. 10 Western Illinois ^   3 – 2     9 – 3  
No. 21 Southwest Missouri State   3 – 2     7 – 4  
Indiana State   3 – 2     6 – 5  
Southern Illinois   1 – 4     5 – 6  
Illinois State   0 – 5     3 – 8  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 1996 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the University of Northern Iowa as a member of the Gateway Football Conference during the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Terry Allen, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 12–2 with a mark of 5–0 in conference play, and won the Gateway title for the seventh consecutive season. Northern Iowa advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where the Panthers defeated Eastern Illinois in the first round and William & Mary in the quarterfinals before losing to the eventual national champiom, Marshall, in the semifinals.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
August 31at Southern Utah*No. 7
W 31–21[1]
September 7St. Cloud State*No. 6
W 44–7[2]
September 14No. 3 Stephen F. Austin*No. 5
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
W 38–1211,078[3]
September 21at Iowa State*No. 3
L 23–4240,122[4]
September 28McNeese State*No. 5
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
W 43–1014,692[5]
October 12Illinois StateNo. 3
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
W 47–1014,522[6]
October 19No. 5 Southwest Missouri StateNo. 3
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
W 38–3114,727[7]
October 26at Southern IllinoisNo. 3
W 33–72,400[8]
November 2at No. 21 Youngstown State*No. 3
W 23–1012,507[9]
November 9at No. 21 Indiana StateNo. 3
W 34–19[10]
November 16No. 8 Western IllinoisNo. 3
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA
W 30–615,476[11]
November 30No. 16 Eastern Illinois*No. 3
W 21–14[12]
December 7No. 7 William & Mary*No. 3
  • UNI-Dome
  • Cedar Falls, IA (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)
W 38–3510,796[13]
December 14at No. 1 Marshall*No. 3
L 14–3114,414[14]

References

  1. ^ "SUU falls short in major upset bid". The Daily Spectrum. September 1, 1996. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Panthers' returns top SCSU". St. Cloud Times. September 8, 1996. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Northern Iowa answers doubts with 38–12 victory". The Des Moines Register. September 15, 1996. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "ISU play selection like broken record". Omaha World-Herald. September 22, 1996. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Clayton, Stovall lead Panthers to 43–10 victory". The Des Moines Register. September 29, 1996. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Panthers romp in Gateway opener". The Courier. October 13, 1996. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Strong start saves UNI". The Des Moines Register. October 20, 1996. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Ogden, J.R. (October 27, 1996). "Panthers do what it takes". The Gazette. p. 4B. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "No. 3 Panthers keep rolling". The Des Moines Register. November 3, 1996. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Panthers clinch tie in Gateway". The Sunday Globe. November 10, 1996. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ McCool, Dan (November 17, 1996). "UNI tramples Western Illinois to claim Gateway title outright". The Des Moines Register. p. 11D. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Turnovers pave way for UNI". Quad-City Times. December 1, 1996. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "UNI survives, moves to I-AA semifinals". The Rock Island Argus. December 8, 1996. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Panthers trampled by Herd". The Courier. December 15, 1996. Retrieved January 6, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.