It was a day of fun filled festivities as the UNI Panthers welcomed fans to the UNI-Dome for the first home game of the fall season, as they hosted St. Thomas. Despite the Tommies being forcefully promoted to Division I after years of domination down in Division III (including two national championships), the Panthers were able to make mincemeat of them and treat the home crowd to a well-deserved blowout. 

After coming in as a second-half substitute in the previous week’s road victory over Sacramento State, redshirt sophomore Theo Day was promoted to the starting quarterback position. He immediately seized the opportunity by leading the team to an opening drive touchdown, which came from a 36-yard run by Dom Williams. After missing a pair of field goals last week, Matthew Cook bounced back by making good on all three of his attempts, with his first giving the Panthers a 10-0 advantage heading into the second quarter. 

Vance McShane added his name to the scorer’s sheet by punching in a 41-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter. It became a punting contest for multiple drives, with St. Thomas scoring their only points of the game near the end of the first half as an interception against Day resulted in a Tommy field goal. 

Williams kicked off the second half with a bang as he returned the kickoff for 53 yards. The Purple & Gold weren’t able to fully capitalize on the great field position, settling for a field goal. Benny Sapp III kept his interception streak going as he was able to rack up two picks on Tommy quarterback Cade Sexauer, with the latter setting up another field goal. 

“Benny is a great football player,” said UNI head coach Mark Farely. “Just watching him play every night, he plays as hard as anyone from sideline to sideline. He practices like that, and that’s how he plays,” Farley added. 

The fourth quarter saw the culmination of UNI’s offense as the Panthers scored three touchdowns. Bradrick Shaw was able to convert a small four-yard rush into the endzone, giving the team their third player to score off a rush. Day and wide receiver Isaiah Weston was able to connect on a 60-yard pass, and defensive lineman Sean Wendel picked up a bungled snap and scored the final touchdown with only a minute left in the game. 

Farely had praise for the Panthers’ opponents and gave them credit for making such a large competitive leap.

“St. Thomas is a good football team, and they’re a confident football team,” said Farely in the post-game press conference. “They had the pride and the confidence in the football team to make the jump, and I give them a lot of credit. This is a tough place to play and this is a tough team to play. I credit their coach for scheduling such a difficult game like this,” Farely said.

Six different Panthers found a way to score, as the team has outscored their opponents 74-10 in the past six quarters. The staunch defense has been one of the main contributors to that success, causing eight turnovers over the first three games of the season. 

This weekend’s game also honored the 2021 inductees to the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame. William Franklin Hamilton, Seth Tuttle, Mary McCuskey, Alexandra Acker (Johnson), Bill Glassmaker, Anne Woodrick, and Karter Schult were the athletes honored in this year’s class. Also inducted was the 2005 football team, which advanced further than any team in school history as they reached the FCS national championship, losing to Appalachian State. 

UNI will try to keep their winning streak alive next week as they stay in Cedar Falls to host Youngstown State. The Panthers won the most recent matchup between the two teams during the spring season by a score of 21-0. The game will mark homecoming weekend, with fans encouraged to wear purple. 

Farely had praise for the Panthers’ opponents and gave them credit for making such a large competitive leap. 

“St. Thomas is a good football team, and they’re a confident football team,” said Farely in the post-game press conference. “They had the pride and the confidence in the football team to make the jump, and I give them a lot of credit. This is a tough place to play and this is a tough team to play. I credit their coach for scheduling such a difficult game like this,” Farely said. 

Six different Panthers found a way to score, as the team has outscored their opponents 74-10 in the past six quarters. The staunch defense has been one of the main contributors to that success, causing eight turnovers over the first three games of the season. 

This weekend’s game also honored the 2021 inductees to the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame. William Franklin Hamilton, Seth Tuttle, Mary McCuskey, Alexandra Acker (Johnson), Bill Glassmaker, Anne Woodrick and Karter Schult were the athletes honored in this year’s class. Also inducted was the 2005 football team, which advanced further than any team in school history as they reached the FCS national championship, losing to Appalachian State. 

UNI will try to keep their winning streak alive next week as they stay in Cedar Falls to host Youngstown State. The Panthers won the most recent matchup between the two teams during the spring season by a score of 21-0. The game will mark homecoming weekend, with fans encouraged to wear purple.