2015 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

The 2015 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the University of Northern Iowa as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by 15th-year head coach Mark Farley, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 9–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for third in the MVFC. Northern Iowa received an at-large bid to NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where the Panthers defeated Eastern Illinois in the first round and Portland State in the second round before losing to the eventual national champion, North Dakota State, in the quarterfinals. The team played home games at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

2015 Northern Iowa Panthers football
FNCAA Division I Quarterfinal, L 13–23 at North Dakota State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 8
FCS Coaches	No. 6
Record	9–5 (5–3 MVFC)
Head coach	Mark Farley (15th season)
Offensive coordinator	Bill Salmon (15th season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Jeremiah Johnson (3rd season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	UNI-Dome
Seasons ← 2014 2016 →

2015 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State +^		7	–	1					13	–	2
No. 5 Illinois State +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 8 Northern Iowa ^		5	–	3					9	–	5
No. 15 South Dakota State ^		5	–	3					8	–	4
Western Illinois ^		5	–	3					7	–	6
Indiana State		3	–	5					5	–	6
Youngstown State		3	–	5					5	–	6
South Dakota		3	–	5					5	–	6
Southern Illinois		2	–	6					3	–	8
Missouri State		0	–	8					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	7:00 pm	at Iowa State*	No. 10	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA	Cyclones.tv	L 7–31	61,500	[1]
September 12	1:00 pm	No. 7 Eastern Washington*	No. 14	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3	W 38–35	12,292
September 19	9:30 pm	at No. 17 Cal Poly*	No. 9	Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA	ASN	W 34–20	11,075
October 3	12:00 pm	at No. 4 Illinois State	No. 7	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	MVC TV, ESPN3	L 13–21	13,391
October 10	1:00 pm	at No. 3 North Dakota State	No. 10	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN3	L 28–31	18,954
October 17	4:00 pm	Western Illinois	No. 12	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3	L 19–24	16,324
October 24	2:00 pm	at No. 6 South Dakota State	No. 22	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	W 10–7	16,042
October 31	1:00 pm	South Dakota	No. 18	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3	W 20–7	10,476
November 7	4:00 pm	No. 23 Indiana State	No. 17	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3	W 59–13	13,224
November 14	2:00 pm	at Missouri State	No. 17	Plaster Sports Complex Springfield, MO	ESPN3	W 41–0	5,223
November 21	4:00 pm	Southern Illinois	No. 15	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	MVC TV, ESPN3	W 49–28	9,915
November 28	5:00 pm	No. 24 Eastern Illinois*	No. 15	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 53–17	7,062
December 5	9:00 pm	at No. 5 Portland State*	No. 15	Providence Park Portland, OR (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	W 29–17	8,022
December 12	11:00 am	at No. 2 North Dakota State*	No. 15	Fargodome Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN	L 13–23	18,041
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[2][3]

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	10	14	9	7	7 (1)	10	12	22	18	17	17	15	15	8
Coaches	10	14	11	6	6	10	14	25	21	20	19	15	14	6