2016 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

The 2016 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the University of Northern Iowa as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by 16th-year head coach Mark Farley, the Panthers compiled an overall record of 5–6 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for fourth place in the MVFC. The team played home games at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

2016 Northern Iowa Panthers football
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Record	5–6 (4–4 MVFC)
Head coach	Mark Farley (16th season)
Co-offensive coordinators	Bill Salmon (16th season) Ryan Mahaffey (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Jeremiah Johnson (4th season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	UNI-Dome
Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

2016 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 North Dakota State +^		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 6 South Dakota State +^		7	–	1					9	–	4
No. 2 Youngstown State ^		6	–	2					12	–	4
Illinois State ^		4	–	4					6	–	6
Northern Iowa		4	–	4					5	–	6
Western Illinois		3	–	5					6	–	5
South Dakota		3	–	5					4	–	7
Indiana State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Missouri State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Southern Illinois		2	–	6					4	–	7
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:00 pm	at Iowa State*	No. 5	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA	Cyclones.tv	W 25–20	60,629
September 10	4:00 pm	No. 14 Montana*	No. 3	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	PSN, ESPN3	L 14–20	12,346
September 17	6:00 pm	at No. 8 Eastern Washington*	No. 10	Roos Field Cheney, WA	SWX, CSNC+	L 30–34	9,111
October 1	4:00 pm	Southern Illinois	No. 12	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	PSN, ESPN3	W 42–21	13,710
October 8	2:00 pm	at South Dakota	No. 11	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3	L 25–28	10,221
October 15	6:00 pm	at No. 14 Youngstown State	No. 21	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN3	L 10–14	13,373
October 22	1:00 pm	Missouri State		UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	PSN, ESPN3	W 61–7	12,014
October 29	6:00 pm	No. 4 North Dakota State		UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	PSN, ESPN3	L 20–24	12,032
November 5	12:00 pm	at Indiana State		Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN3	W 39–6	3,409
November 12	1:00 pm	at No. 19 Western Illinois		Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3	W 30–23	3,412
November 19	4:00 pm	No. 8 South Dakota State		UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3	L 24–45	10,511
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

• PSN (CFU Ch. 15/HD415; KCRG-TV Ch. 9.2; WHO-DT Ch. 13.2; KGCW Ch. 26, Comcast SportsNet Chicago)

^[1][2]

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	5	3 (5)	10	14	12	11	21	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV
Coaches	5	3–T	11	14	12	11	21	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV

Game summaries

At Iowa State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Panthers	0	16	3	6	25
Cyclones	7	6	0	7	20

See also: 2016 Iowa State Cyclones football team

Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 Grizzlies	10	10	0	0	20
#3 Panthers	7	0	0	7	14

See also: 2016 Montana Grizzlies football team

At Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 Panthers	10	14	0	6	30
#8 Eagles	0	7	14	13	34

See also: 2016 Eastern Washington Eagles football team

Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Salukis	0	14	7	0	21
#12 Panthers	14	21	0	7	42

See also: 2016 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

At South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
#11 Panthers	14	3	0	8	25
Coyotes	14	7	7	0	28

See also: 2016 South Dakota Coyotes football team

At Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#21 Panthers	0	10	0	0	10
#14 Penguins	0	0	0	14	14

See also: 2016 Youngstown State Penguins football team

Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	7	0	0	7
Panthers	17	17	20	7	61

See also: 2016 Missouri State Bears football team

North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#4 Bison	7	7	7	3	24
Panthers	0	6	7	7	20

See also: 2016 North Dakota State Bison football team

At Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	13	14	6	6	39
Sycamores	0	3	3	0	6

See also: 2016 Indiana State Sycamores football team

At Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	6	7	10	30
#19 Leathernecks	0	3	6	14	23

See also: 2016 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Jackrabbits	14	7	7	17	45
Panthers	14	3	7	0	24

See also: 2016 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team