CEDAR FALLS – UNI football opens the 2022 season loaded with preseason All-Americans Matthew Cook, Spencer Cuvelier and Benny Sapp III.
UNI faces Air Force in the teams’ first-ever meeting. The Panthers have the chance to be the first FCS team to knock off the Falcons, who are 25-0 against the division. Air Force is on a 15-season win streak in season openers.
Cook is in the top-10 list among all Panthers in multiple career stat categories, including No. 4 among all placekickers for field goal percentage with 80.3% with a career record of 53-66. He is fifth on the all-time list for number of field goals made.
Cuvelier is on the Buck Buchanan watch list that names the top defensive player of the year and is an Allstate AFCA Good Works Team nominee, which is the top national award for citizenship. Cuvelier opened last season with a national player of the week honor for forcing six turnovers, recovering two fumbles and notching 15 tackles. He reached double figures for the 10th time in his 19 career games. Despite an injury that interrupted his 2021 season, Cuvelier finished fifth in the Missouri Valley Football Conference for tackles per game.
In addition to preseason all-America honors, Sapp is the first Panther to hit the Reese’s Senior Bowl watch list. He was third in the league for interceptions. He ended with four on the season and notched two in a single game against St. Thomas.
The Panthers return a strong corps of 21 players who got a start in 2021 to complement the three preseason all-America picks, including returning all-MVFC player Deion McShane at wide receiver.
Head coach Mark Farley is entering his 22nd season with the most wins of any Panther coach (168-93). He also holds the most wins in the MVFC of any league coach. He has four wins against FBS opponents, including three victories against Iowa State (2007, 2013, 2016).
HONORARY CAPTAIN
UNI is proud to have honorary captain John Walker join the team on the field for his birthday during the pregame coin toss. Walker turns 58 years old on game day.
Walker attended UNI before enlisting in the Air Force in 1985. During his service time that spanned more than two decades, Master Sgt. Walker was named the Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year for the 182nd and also the Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year for the state of Illinois. He also received the National Defense Medal and the United State Air Force Achievement Medal with five oak leaf clusters.
Walker served as a middle school history teacher and an elementary school principal and was an inspiration to his four children. His daughter, Kaitlyn, followed in his footsteps as an educator, and his son, Nicholas, is a manager for the football team. Two of his children have already graduated from UNI and his fourth has intention to start in the fall of 2024.
FAN TAILGATE
The UNI Alumni Association will have a tailgate set up for Panther fans from 7 to 10 a.m. just outside the Falcon Stadium near lot No. 2. The event is free to all those supporting the Purple and Gold. Join UNI for games, food and a cash bar.
