CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa will open its 2026 football season more than 1,500 miles from home Saturday as the Panthers head to Cheney, Washington, looking to accomplish something the program has never done — win a game in the state of Washington.
UNI will face Eastern Washington at 6 p.m. Central time September 5 at Roos Field. The game will be available on ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network.
The Panthers are 0-2 all-time in Washington, with both losses coming at Eastern Washington.
UNI’s most recent trip to Cheney came in the first round of the 2021 FCS playoffs, when the Eagles defeated the Panthers 19-9. That also remains Northern Iowa’s most recent playoff appearance.
Saturday’s matchup comes one year after UNI escaped with a dramatic 17-14 victory over Eastern Washington inside the UNI-Dome.
NorthIowaToday.com covered that thriller last September, when Eastern Washington scored 14 unanswered points after falling behind 17-0 but missed a potential game-tying 42-yard field goal in the final seconds.
Ayden Price was one of UNI’s offensive standouts in that meeting, catching six passes for 135 yards and a touchdown. His performance earned him Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week honors.
Price returns as one of the Panthers’ top receiving threats in 2026 after finishing last season with 365 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 20 catches.
UNI will have Jaxon Dailey under center to begin the new season.
Dailey took over the starting quarterback job late last year following UNI’s game at Southern Illinois. The graduate quarterback completed 66 passes for 823 yards and seven touchdowns on 110 attempts while appearing in 10 games.
He accounted for 37 percent of UNI’s passing yards and 44 percent of the Panthers’ passing touchdowns last season despite not beginning the year as the starter.
Dailey also enters 2026 as UNI’s leading returning rushing producer, highlighting one of the larger questions surrounding the Panther offense.
All of UNI’s rushing touchdowns from last season were scored by players who are no longer with the program.
Christian Collins is the most productive returning running back after rushing for 70 yards in four games last season.
UNI added Florida Atlantic transfer Xavier Terrell to strengthen the backfield. Terrell rushed 54 times for 161 yards and a touchdown last year while also catching 13 passes for 89 yards and another score.
The Panthers have considerably more experience returning at wide receiver.
JC Roque Jr. returns after leading UNI last season with 595 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 56 receptions.
Price returns alongside Jaiden Ellis-Lahey and Tay Norman, two players hoping for healthy seasons after injuries derailed their 2025 campaigns.
Ellis-Lahey missed all of last season, while Norman suffered an injury in UNI’s opening game and missed nearly the entire year.
UNI also added Cyrus Courtney from Iowa Western Community College and Taj Hughes from Drake.
Courtney caught 22 passes for 308 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games for Iowa Western’s 2025 national championship team.
Hughes arrives after four seasons at Drake, where he was twice named honorable mention All-Pioneer Football League. He caught 46 passes for 510 yards and two touchdowns last season while adding 139 rushing yards.
The additions were part of a substantial offseason roster makeover for Northern Iowa. UNI completed a 34-player recruiting class during the 2026 signing period as head coach Todd Stepsis continued reshaping the roster.
Eastern Washington already has one game under its belt.
The Eagles opened their season against nationally ranked Northern Arizona during Week 0 and led by seven points at halftime after building a 21-point advantage late in the second quarter.
Northern Arizona responded with 17 unanswered points stretching from late in the first half into the fourth quarter.
Eastern Washington tied the game with just over 10 minutes remaining, but Northern Arizona scored the decisive touchdown late to hand the Eagles a season-opening loss.
Playing at Roos Field has historically been difficult for visiting teams.
Eastern Washington is 34-14 at home under head coach Aaron Best since he took over in 2017. The Eagles went a perfect 16-0 at home across the 2018 through 2020 seasons.
Eastern Washington has not lost a home opener since Best’s first season in 2017, when North Dakota State rolled to a 40-13 victory.
Best is also 1-0 at home against UNI after the 2021 playoff victory.
Northern Iowa does have some success traveling west.
The Panthers are 6-6 all-time in games played in the Pacific Time Zone.
Their most recent trip west before Saturday came during the 2021 season, when UNI defeated Sacramento State 34-16 in California before later losing at Eastern Washington in the playoffs.
UNI owns a 3-1 road record at Cal Poly, 1-0 marks at both Portland State and Sacramento State, a 1-2 record at Idaho, an 0-1 record at UC Davis and the 0-2 mark at Eastern Washington.
The 2026 Panther roster remains heavily rooted in the Midwest.
Seventy of UNI’s 113 players are from Iowa, including 13 incoming freshmen.
Cedar Falls, Urbandale and West Des Moines Valley high schools each have five former players on the Panther roster, while Ankeny has four.
Overall, 96 of UNI’s 113 players come from Iowa or one of the state’s six neighboring states.
Several former Panthers are also continuing their careers professionally.
UNI currently has alumni Khristian Boyd with the New Orleans Saints, Spencer Brown with the Buffalo Bills, Elijah Campbell with the New York Giants and Trevor Penning with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Former Panther Jared Brinkman plays for the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League.
Before looking ahead to the rest of the schedule, however, UNI has a piece of program history directly in front of it Saturday night.
A victory in Cheney would give the Panthers their first win of 2026 — and their first football victory ever in the state of Washington.