2016 UNI SPRING FOOTBALL GUIDE UNIVERSITY INFORMATION HEAD COACH AT A GLANCE School University of Northern Iowa Head Coach Mark Farley (16th Season) Founded 1876 Alma Mater UNI Enrollment 12,043 Career Record 129-61 Nickname Panthers UNI Record 129-61 Colors Purple and Old Gold MVFC Record 78-34 Stadium UNI-Dome Capacity 16,324 FOOTBALL STAFF Affiliation NCAA FCS Conference Missouri Valley Football Bill Salmon Associate Head Coach/ President Dr. William Ruud RBs Athletic Director David Harris Ryan Mahaffey Co-Offensive Coordinator/ NCAA Faculty Rep Elaine Eshbaugh WRs Athletic Website www.unipanthers.com Ben Barkema Offensive Line University Website www.uni.edu Nick Danielson TEs/Offensive Tackles Jeremiah Johnson Defensive Coordinator/ FOOTBALL INFORMATION Linebackers Brandon Lynch Assistant Head Coach 2015 Record 9-5 for Defense/Defensive Backs 2015 MVFC Record 5-3 Bryce Paup Defensive Line/ 2015 MVFC Finish 4th Player Development 2015 Postseason FCS Playoffs (Quarterfinals) Olaitan Oguntodu Safeties Final Rank 6 D.J. Hord Director of Operations Mike Bursik Analytics/Research STADIUM INFORMATION Deserai Deery Recruiting Operations Home Facility UNI-Dome SUPPORT STAFF Capacity 16,324 Surface Turf Jed Smith Strength & Conditioning Field Opening 1976 Nick Davis Strength & Conditioning Stadium Opening 1976 Steve Nurse Equipment Manager Travis Stueve Athletic Training 2016 SCHEDULE Sep. 3 Iowa State TABLE OF CONTENTS Sep. 10 Montana Sep. 17 Eastern Washington Quick Facts............................................................................1 Oct. 1 Southern Illinois (Homecoming)* Spring Roster ........................................................................2 Oct. 8 South Dakota* The Program .........................................................................4 Oct. 15 Youngstown State* Oct. 22 Missouri State (Family Weekend)* Personnel Breakdown.........................................................5 Oct. 29 North Dakota State* Spring Preview .....................................................................6 Nov. 5 Indiana State* 2016 Newcomers..................................................................8 Nov. 12 Western Illinois* 2015 Honors...........................................................................14 Nov. 19 South Dakota State (Senior Day)* 2015 Standouts .....................................................................15 The Last Time ........................................................................17 *Conference Games 2015 Statistics .......................................................................18 Home Games In Bold 2015 Game Recaps...............................................................24 1 NUMERICAL ROSTER No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown/Prev. School 2 Rickey Grimes WR 6-1 205 R-Fr. Eldridge, Iowa/North Scott HS 3 Willie Beamon DB 5-11 170 So. Lincoln, Neb./Southeast HS 4 Charles Brown WR 5-10 175 Sr. Fort Meyers, Fla./Fort Meyers 6 Ray Buchanan Jr. DB 5-11 180 Sr. Suwanee, Ga./Peachtree Ridge HS/Arkansas 7 Dalton Demos QB 6-6 203 Sr. St. Louis, Mo./CBC HS/Hutchinson CC 8 Marcus Weymiller WR 5-11 203 So. Waukon, Iowa/Waukon HS 10 Daurice Fountain WR 6-3 203 Jr. Madison, Wis./James Madison Memorial HS 12 Reggie Schulte QB 6-2 205 Jr. Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier HS 13 Dewayne Collins DB 6-2 195 R-Fr. Chicago, Ill./Wendell Phillips Academy 14 Eli Dunne QB 6-4 227 So. Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell HS 15 Aaron Bailey QB 6-2 226 Sr. Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS/Illinois 16 Logan Cunningham WR 5-11 190 Sr. Arcadia, Ind./Hamilton Heights HS 18 D.J. Singleton DB 6-3 199 Sr. Union, N.J./St. Peter’s Prep 19 Brandon Napoleon DB 5-11 185 Sr. Rahway, N.J./St. Peter’s Prep 20 Rashadeem Gray DB 5-10 170 Jr. Whitefish Bay, Wis./Whitefish Bay HS 22 Damon Hendrix DB 6-1 215 Sr. Phoenix, Ariz./Camelback HS/Phoenix College 23 A.J. Allen LB 6-2 204 So. Waukee, Iowa/Waukee HS 25 Trevor Allen RB 6-1 198 R-Fr. Waukee, Iowa/Waukee HS 26 Dalton Ferch WR 5-10 207 Sr. State Center, Iowa/West Marshall HS/Iowa State 26 Rickey Neal LB 6-3 218 So. Racine, Wis./Horlick HS 29 Jamison Whiting DB 6-3 188 Sr. Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS 30 D’Shawn Dexter LB 5-11 200 Sr. Orlando, Fla./East Rive HS/Iowa Central 31 Michael Malloy RB 6-0 210 Sr. Sioux City, Iowa/Bishop Heelan HS/Iowa 32 Tyvis Smith RB 6-3 224 Sr. Davenport, Iowa/Central HS 33 Aaron Graham RB 6-1 189 R-Fr. Oak Grove, Mo./Oak Grove HS 33 Barkley Hill LB 6-0 223 Sr. Denver, Iowa/Cedar Falls HS/Iowa 34 J’Veyon Browning RB 5-9 195 Jr. Kansas City, Kan./F.L. Schlagle 35 Tyler Eads DB 6-0 199 R-Fr. Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa City West HS 38 Elias Nissen TE 6-6 237 So. Springville, Iowa/Springville HS 39 Duncan Ferch LB 6-2 226 So. State Center, Iowa/West Marshall HS 40 D.J. Robinson DB 5-10 173 Sr. West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley HS/Iowa Central 41 Blake Thomas LB 6-2 206 So. Waterloo, Iowa/Waterloo West HS 42 Griffin Gaeta DL 6-6 247 Sr. Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine HS 44 Wes Burnside RB 5-9 202 Sr. Dysart, Iowa/Union HS/Iowa Central 46 Jared Farley LB 6-1 221 Jr. Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls HS 50 Matt Easley PK 5-11 200 Sr. Newton, Iowa/Newton HS 51 Jesse Cardenas LB 6-2 225 R-Fr. Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS 52 Jacob Appleman OL 6-6 302 So. Rock Island, Ill./Alleman HS 55 Colton Lueck OL 6-4 277 R-Fr. Dyersville, Iowa/Beckman Catholic HS 58 Clint Heaven LB 6-0 233 Jr. Bradenton, Fla./Manatee HS/North Carolina 60 Lee Carhart OL 6-4 297 Jr. Omaha, Neb./Creighton Prep 61 Preston Woods DL 6-2 264 Jr. South St. Paul, Minn./South St. Paul HS 62 Sam Drysdale PK 6-0 160 R-Fr. Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie HS 64 Hezekiah Applegate DL 6-3 270 R-Fr. Johnston, Iowa/Johnston HS 66 Philip Arendt OL 6-2 289 R-Fr. Iowa City, Iowa/Regina HS 67 Byron Rich OL 6-45 315 Jr. Mobile, Ala./McGill-Toolen HS/Fort Scott CC 69 Trevor Hanson OL 6-6 290 Sr. West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley HS 72 Robert Rathje OL 6-3 295 Sr. Van Horne, Iowa/Benton Community HS 74 Jackson Scott-Brown OL 6-5 307 R-Fr. Council Bluffs, Iowa/St. Alberts HS 75 Cal Twait OL 6-7 286 So. Manson, Iowa/Manson-Northwest Webster HS 2 NUMERICAL ROSTER No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown/Prev. School 77 Bryce Sweeney OL 6-7 316 Jr. Sioux City, Iowa/Bishop Heelan HS 78 Tyler Putney OL 6-7 280 So. Forest City, Iowa/Forest City HS 79 Chris Schleuger OL 6-3 291 Jr. Wesley, Iowa/West Hancock HS/Iowa Western 80 Brandon Smith WR 6-3 200 Sr. Lee’s Summit, Mo./Lee’s Summit HS/NDSU Science 81 Xavier James WR 6-2 175 Jr. Des Moines, Iowa/East HS 82 Trent Simpson LS 6-0 243 Sr. Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Catholic HS/Ellsworth CC 83 Jaylin James WR 6-4 176 R-Fr. Des Moines, Iowa/East HS 84 Cody McCoy WR 6-1 208 Sr. Altoona, Iowa/Southeast Polk 86 Connor Ham WR 6-2 182 R-Fr. Solon, Iowa/Solon HS 88 Michael Kuntz P 6-1 179 So. Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls HS 89 Taylor Otterstatter TE 6-6 244 R-Fr. Mayer, Minn./Mayer Lutheran HS 91 Ezra Szczyrbak DL 6-5 278 So. Moose Lake, Minn./Moose Lake HS 92 Sam Kuhter P 6-0 207 Jr. Toledo, Iowa/South Tama HS 93 Karter Schult DL 6-2 265 Sr. Tripoli, Iowa/Tripoli HS 95 Seth Thomas DL 6-6 244 R-Fr. Stillwell, Kan./Blue Valley Southwest HS 97 Zach Skibinski DL 6-4 250 Jr. Sioux City, Iowa/Bishop Heelan HS 98 Bryce Douglas DL 6-2 335 So. Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield HS/Illinois 99 Adam Reth DL 6-5 271 Jr. Manchester, Iowa/Manchester-West Delaware HS COACHING STAFF PRONUNCIATION Mark Farley .............................................................Head Coach J’Veyon Browning .................................................. Jay-VEE-On Bill Salmon .................................. Associate Head Coach/RBs Dalton Demos ............................................................DEE-Mess Ryan Mahaffey ...............................Co-Offensive Coord./WRs Eli Dunne.............................................................................. Done Ben Barkema ...................................................... Offensive Line Griffin Gaeta .....................................................................GAY-Ta Nick Danielson ..................................... TEs/Offensive Tackles Rashadeem Gray ..............................................Rash-AH-Deem Jeremiah Johnson ................................Defensive Coord./LBs Robert Rathje .............................................................. Rach-Eee Brandon Lynch ....................Asst. Head Coach Defense/DBs Chris Schleuger ......................................................SHH-Lugger Bryce Paup....................Defensive Line/Player Development Ezra Szczyrbak............................................................Zerr-Beck Olaitan Oguntodu ..........................................................Safeties Marcus Weymiller ..................................................WHY-Miller D.J. Hord ................................................Director of Operations 3 THE PROGRAM In the Polls UNI has finished the year in the Top 25 in 12 of the last 15 seasons, and the Panthers have taken home a top-five ranking in seven of the last 15 seasons. UNI finished the 2015 season ranked No. 6 in the FCS Coaches Poll. In Good Company UNI, Appalachian State and Montana are the only Division I FCS schools that have finished the season ranked in the top-five seven times since 2001. Around the Country Only five Division I football programs in the nation (FBS and FCS) have been ranked in the top-five of the final polls at least seven times since 2001 - USC, Ohio State, Appalachian State, Montana and UNI. Home Sweet Home UNI celebrated the 40th year in the UNI-Dome in 2015 with its 200th win inside the historic building. The Panthers now hold a 201-51-1 all-time record in the UNI-Dome. Top of the League UNI has had 46 student-athletes named to the MVFC All-Conference first- team since 2007, counting as the most in the league. At the Helm In Missouri Valley Football Conference play, head coach Mark Farley has guided the Panthers to a record of 78-34 for an impressive .696 winning percentage in league play. Farley is the MVFC’s all-time coaching wins leader with 78 league victories. Panther Opponents UNI has 79 wins over Top-25 opponents and 20 over Top-10 foes since 2001.