The Jackrabbits hit the road again to take on the Panthers of UNI. The UNI Dome is a tough place to play and UNI is undefeated at home this season with wins over top-5 (at the time) Illinois State and UND. This game is no joke! Usually I provide you with a breakdown of just the general stats without a home and away split but this week demands a breakdown between home and away because there is such a discrepancy. The Jackrabbits have to show up for this one. No excuse to come out flat.
Offense
The Panthers are scoring 38.25 in their four home games and just 15.75 on the road. They are rushing for 186 yards per game at home and just 71 on the road. One that is flipped, they are passing for 236.75 yards per game through the air on the road and 184.5 at home. The Panthers are okay on 3rd down, converting on 39% of their opportunities and 56% on 4th down. They’ve lost 2 fumbles, tossed 5 interceptions, and have surrendered 22 sacks.
UNI is led by #15 Jaxon Dailey (6-3, 230) who took over as the starting QB towards the end of last season. This season he is completing 61% of his passes for 1,674 yards and 12 TDs to go with 5 INTs. He is also able to make some plays with his legs with 202 net yards rushing with another 4 TDs. Dailey has a good arm and has done a really nice job of distributing the ball to a variety of wide receivers.
The Panther rushing attack has come alive the past few weeks now that #5 Xavier Terrell (5-8, 180) has become the starter. The Florida Atlantic transfer has back to back 100 yard games and 332 yards on the season (5.5 ypc) along with 3 TDs. He also has 9 receptions for 29 yards. #22 Christian Collins (5-10, 210) is having a nice start to his career with 277 rushing yards (4.7 ypc) and 3 TDs. He has also added 6 receptions for 45 yards through the air. #14 Ben Gordon (6-1, 200) is listed as a wide receiver but has been a bit of a Swiss-Army knife. He has 147 yards rushing and 1 TD on just 22 carries (6.7 ypc). He has also caught 11 passes for 84 yards. However, it doesn’t appear he played against Indiana State last weekend.
Receiving wise, the Panthers are led by Drake transfer #25 Taj Hughes (5-9, 185). He has caught a team leading 28 passes for 284 yards and 1 TD. He also has 9 carries for 49 yards. Last year while at Drake, he caught 4 passes for 33 yards against the Jacks. #6 Jaiden Ellis Lahey (6-3, 210) has 18 receptions for 226 yards. #4 Tay Norman is the other starting wide receiver had he has 9 receptions for 91 yards. Iowa Western transfer #16 Cyrus Courtney (6-2, 195) has 10 receptions for 119 yards and 2 scores as the top backup.
The UNI passing attack is bolstered by two really talented tight ends. #18 Brady McCullough (6-4, 240) has the top PFN rating in all of the FCS. He’s caught 17 passes for 306 yards and 5 TDs. He moves really well for a man of his size. #17 Kai Black (6-3, 245) transferred in from Iowa State and has 9 receptions for 189 yards and 2 TDs. These two are a handful so the Jackrabbit linebackers and safeties must be ready.
Upfront, UNI is a veteran. Two 5th years, two seniors, and a junior. They have seemed some things but most of them don’t have a ton of actual game experience before this season.. However, they have allowed 22 sacks this season. From left to right they go:
LT: #76 Ben Kuehnast (6-7, 320)- 1st year starter.
LG: #62 Jack Hearne (6-2, 305)- 2nd year starting, 4th Team Phil Steele in 2025.
C: #69 Parker Thomas (6-4, 310)- First year starting. Was originally a defensive tackle for UNI.
RG: #61 Andrew Monsivais (6-1, 305)- First year starting.
RT: #77 Kyle Kelly (6-5, 305)- Only 1 start prior to this year.
Defense
The UNI defense has also been a bit Jekyll and Hyde between home and away. On the road, UNI is allowing teams to score 36 points per game but just 18.75 at home. Opponents are rushing for 233 yards per game when they host UNI but in the UNI Dome, that number drops to 122. The one outlier is again the passing defense. On the road, UNI allows just 207 ypg through the air but that number just to 255 ypg at home. It continues… UNI has recorded 5 sacks and 1 INT on the road but at home they have secured 10 sacks and 6 INTs. Just wild variance! Opponents are converting 45% of their 3rd down opportunities and only 41% of their 4th down tries. In the redzone, UNI is good with opponents scoring just 25 of 35 chances with 21 being touchdowns. UNI has forced 14 fumbles and recovered 8. Ball security will be required in this one!
Up front, UNI has some really nice size with #40 Frank Reisz (6-5, 255) leading the way. He has 22 total tackles, 4 sacks, 1 PBU, 3 QBHs and a forced fumble along with a blocked kick. Opposite him is #5 Jaylen Pettus (6-3, 260) who has just 9 tackles and a sack on the season along with a blocked kick. Pettus had good production last year as a rotational player and his stats from Iowa Western are really strong. #41 CJ Wade (6-3, 242) is a top backup and he has 10 tackles, 2 sacks, and 4 QBHs this season. #98 Kolby Gibbons (6-5, 235) has 6 tackles, 3 TFL, and 1 sack from his reserve role as well. #44 Axel Ramazani has 9 stops and a TFL.
On the interior the Panthers have some beef this season. #56 Aidan Salow (6-3, 280) has 14 tackles, and 1.5 TFL. Next to him is Drake transfer #9 Gene Blalock (6-3, 305) has 7 tackles and 2 PBUs. #92 Jackson Stortz (6-4, 295) started last season and has 10 tackles and a sack so far in 2026. When watching the UNI games, a player that pops is #50 Hyson Bey-Buie (6-4, 275). His brother was a physical running back for UNI and Hyson plays with a high motor. He has 7 stops and 3 QBHs this season as a reserve.
The UNI linebackers are always good. This group maybe doesn’t have the usual experience but they appear to be pretty talented as well. Middle linebacker #33 John Powers (6-2, 233) leads the team with 60 total tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 PBU, and 1 forced fumble. He is flanked by #10 Kolben Miller (6-2, 220), and #36 Braden McShane (6-3, 230). Miller has 50 total tackles, 5.5 TFL, 2 sacks, 1 INT, 2 PBU, 2 QBHs. McShane has 48 tackles, 5 TFL, 3 sacks, 1 INT, and 4 PBUs. One of their top backups is former Jackrabbit #6 Andrew Price (6-1, 210). He has 16 total tackles and 2 TFL on the season. #37 Tyson Cooreman (6-4, 230) and #57 Aidean Duchame (6-0, 220) are the other reserves and they have 23 combined tackles.
For years it felt like UNI lived and died by the transfer portal when building it’s secondary. From what I can tell, this years group is almost entirely home grown. These are guys who have just grown up in the program and waited their turn to play. The secondary for UNI is led by it’s safeties. #21 Calvin Jaworski (6-2, 205) is second on the team with 58 total tackles. He has also added 2 INT and a PBU. Next to him is #1 Jordan McClom (6-2, 203) who has 39 total tackles, 1 TFL, 2 PBU, and a forced fumble. #12 Tate Sander (6-0, 210) is a player that has been at UNI for a long time it seems. He has only appeared in 2 games this season as it appears he played against Eastern Washington in the opener and returned last week against Indiana State. #35 Anthony Isley has 27 tackles and 2 PBUs as a key reserve.
The cornerback room features a trio of lanky, physical corners. #8 Isaiah Pinks (6-2, 200) has 43 tackles, 1 TFL, 4 PBU, and a forced fumble. Opposite him is #3 Mekhi Toms (6-3, 190) and he has 40 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 PBU, and a forced fumble as well. #4 Josiah Young (6-2, 190) may sound like a familiar name and it should. He was part of the Jacks 2025 recruiting class. The Jacks flipped him late from UNI and he came to summer workouts in Brookings, but never enrolled at SDSU. He ended up actually playing for UNI last fall in 3 games. This year he has 10 tackles, 1 INT, and 7 PBUs for UNI. These three are the only corners that see the field for the Panthers.
Special Teams
The UNI special teams have struggled in 2026. In the kick return game, #14 Ben Gordon has a 20 yard return average on 9 attempts and #80 Sutton has 4 punt returns for a total of 20 yards (long of 11). Last week #2 Ayden Price filled in for Gordon and he had 1 kick return for 18 yards.
In the kicking game, #38 Blake Pankratz handles the kickoffs. He has a 61 yard average on 24 attempts with 9 touchbacks. He has booted 2 out of bounds. Opponents do have a 24 yard return average and 1 TD on the season. The punts are handled by #2 Logan Gregory and he has 29 kicks for 43 yards with a long of 71 yards. He’s forced 10 to be fair caught, landed 7 inside the 20, booted 6- 50+ yards, and only has 4 touchbacks. UNI has done a good job of covering punts with just a 6 yard return average on 12 attempts with a long of 12.
Field goals have been a bit of an adventure. #0 Max Bartacheck and Pankratz have begun splitting the job. Bartacheck has made just 3 of 9 kicks but one of those was a 45 yarder. Pankratz is 2 of 2 in recent weeks with a long of 32.
Predictions
The Panthers have been so good at home this season. It’s a weird place to play and it can get pretty loud when the crowd is in to it. Iowa State is on the road at Baylor and Iowa doesn’t play until 6:30 that night so it should be a pretty good crowd for the game too. I think SDSU will be able to move the ball on offense both on the ground and through the air but it will require great ball security and no turnovers to give the Panthers momentum. I think the Jacks do it and I think they prove that the 4th quarter against USD was a fluke. Bury these guys.
Jackrabbits 31 Panthers 10
Go Jacks!
Matt
