Panther Nation

O-Line StyleGo Behind the Lines with this inside look of the Panther Football Offensive Line

December 2014Football Special

A Season to Remember

We Will Take a Look at the

Highs and Lows of the 2014 Football Season.

Letter from the Editor

O-Line Style

A Season to Remember

13 Quick Facts about UNI Athletics

Table of Contents

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A Letter from the Editor

Hello Readers,

First of all I would like to thank you for purchasing this magazine. This is our first issue of Panther Nation and we are excited to bring a behind the scenes look at UNI sports to Panther fans. This first issue is dedicated to football be-cause of the monumental season the football team had.

In subsequent issues we will be showcasing student ath-letes from around Panther Nation. The goal of this magazine is to bring Panther fans closer to the action. Every month we will feature profiles on select student athletes from every sport. Panther Nation will have the inside scoop on every-thing Panther fans are talking about.

Ever wonder what it is like to be a collegiate athlete? Well, Panther Nation will be following around select student athletes to see what it is like. We will see all of the respon-sibilities collegiate athletes carry on their shoulders like, keeping grades up in school, spending hours at practice all week, missing classes and traveling hundreds of miles to go to games and doing it all over again.

Panther Nation will be giving readers a different more humanistic look at the student athletes Panther fans cheer are cheering on every game. We will also be taking a look at some of the coaches and how they got to the positions they are in now.

I feel that Panther Nation is a magazine you will want to share with your friends. It is also a great conversation starter with all of the fun facts you will learn about your favorite sports and athletes. I hope you enjoy reading Panther Nation and getting a different look at University of North-ern Iowa sports and student athletes that we all care for so much. Thank you!

Best Regards,Sarah Nerison.

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A Season to Remember...

This photo essay will take a look back at the highs and lows from the 2014 Panther football season. The photo below is David Johnson sliding through a hole made by the offensive line. He gets brought down moments later.The photo on the right is Xavier Williams getting a pep talk from Coach Mark Farley before the big in-state rivalry between UNI and Iowa on August 30th 2014.

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To the right defensive back Tate Omli brings down Matt Vande-Berg with force.

Emotions ran high during the UNI Iowa football game on August 30th 2014. Below Coach Bran-don Lynch and Makinton Dorleant celebrate after a play. To the left Coach Mark Farley smiles after things go the Panthers way. In the end the Panthers fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes 23-31.

The photo on the right shows the football team as they take the field after a mini vaca-tion on the island of Oahu. The team visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial earlier that week. Perhaps it was the lack of concentration that lead to the 24-27 Panther loss bringing the team to a sad 0-2 record to start the season. The middle photo on the right is a sea of purple that showed up for the UNI vs. Hawaii football game over 3,900 miles away.

Running back David Johnson leaves defenders on the ground after breaking tackles and tripping up to gain a few yards.

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Above Makinton Dorleant is held up by a Northern Colorado lineman in the Homecoming game on Sept. 20. The Panthers posted an impressive 46-7 win over the Bears.

To the Left Dorleant and Tate Omli celebrate a Panther turn-over in another great win. The Panthers topped the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 50-7

Below Tim Kilfoy holds on to an Indiana State Sycamore while the game slips away from the Panthers in this devastating 20-19 road loss.

To the right David Johnson leaps over the South Dakota Coyotes defense as the Panthers leap to 3-3 with the win in Vermillion, SD.

Below Panthers defen-sive back, Deiondre’ Hall and defensive lineman Karter Schult bring down the SDSU Jack-rabbit’s quarter-back. The Jackrabbits hold on to a 31-21 win making the Panther’s chances on making the postseason seem very slim.

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On Oct. 25 the Panthers traveled to Macomb, Illinois. To the right wide receiver Brett LeMaster runs the ball through the West-ern Illinois Fighting Leathernecks defense.

The Panthers held on to win against the Fighting Leathernecks bringing their record to 4-3. On the right the Panther football team signs the UNI Fight Song to the fans; saying thank you for your sup-port.

Below offensive lineman, Jack Rummells, leads the way by blocking defenders for David Johnson. The Panthers brought down the undefeated Illinois State Redbirds on Nov. 3 in the Dome. The Pan-thers won 42-28.

On the top left the Panther defense lines up against the North Dakota State Bison. The Bison went into the game with a 33 game win streak that dated back to 2012. The top right photo shows Defensive Line-men Issac Ales and Mac O’Brien congratulating each other after breaking that 33 game win streak 23-3. The Dome was electric and fans stormed the field after the win.

Next the Panthers had one last game to win before their playoff dreams could come to life. To the left quarterback Brion Carnes steps back and throws to his receivers. The Missouri State Bears came to the Dome for Senior Day. The Panthers won their last game 38-24.The next day UNI hosted a FCS selection show watch party to see where the Panthers would end up in the playoffs. The Panthers ended up with a home game against the Texas team Stephen F. Austin.

On the last road game of the regular season the Panthers headed to Carbondale, Ill to take on the Southern Illinois Salukis. The team knew it would be a tough game espe-cially in the cold. However they showed up to play and beat the Salukis 40-21. Above linebacker Max Busher and defensive back Tate Omli celebrate the win. To the right Jack Rummells, Ryan Bingaman, Alex Nank, Braden Leh-man, and Billy Williams look on while the defense takes the field knowing they did their job.

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13 Quick Facts about UNI Athletics

2. Athletic Director is Troy Dannen

4. All Sports participate in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) except Football and Wrestling.

5. The football team competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference

6. The Wrestling Team competes in the Western Wres-tling Conference.

1. 278 out of the 421 student athletes at UNI are from Iowa. That is over 66%

3. Compete in NCAA Division 1

13 Quick Facts about UNI Athletics

13. Groundbreaking for the UNI Dome was on July 26, 1974

10. University of Northern Iowa’s mas-cot is T.C. Short for The Cat.

9. 17 varsity sports are offered at UNI

12. The Football Field is named after the football coach and athletic director Stan Sheriff.

11. The UNI football team has competed in two College Division Bowl Games, one in 1960 and one in 1964.

7. The UNI mens bas-ketball team has made it to the NCAA Tournament 9 times. Their best perfor-mance was in 2010 when they made it to the Sweet Sixteen.

8. This picture made the front of Sports Illustrated.

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O-Line StyleWhen a student attends college it is possible

for them to make new friends every week. But do they keep those friends? In this story we meet a group of guys that have a strong lasting friendship that will stand the test of time. They are brought together by coaches and expected achieve greatness in the toughest of situations.

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W hen you attend a University of Northern Iowa football game you will often hear the

names David Johnson, Xavier Williams, Mac O’brien, Brion Carnes, and Michael Schmadeke. Those are the names being announced time and time again, the people everybody knows, but what about the other 10 players on the field. The big plays cannot be made without one key position. Those “famous” names would not have been announced if it wasn’t for the offensive line. During the 2014 season the offensive line was comprised of: Alex Nank, Jack Rummells, Robert Rathje, Trevor Hanson, Ryan Bingaman, and Jacob Rathmacher.

The offensive line is on the field for every offensive play. They are making contact with the opposing team every

single play. The o-line is comprised of five players, a center, a left and right guard, on either side of the center, and a left and right tackle on the outsides of the guards. The o-line gets the ball started; the center hikes the ball to the quarter-back to get the play started. As senior left guard, Alex Nank said, “It all starts with the cen-ter.” Along with hiking the ball the center also tells the rest of the o-line where he is going depending on the play and how the defense is lined up. Based on this information, the rest of the line knows what they have to do to produce a successful play. They need to be very good at playing telephone and sending messages to each other in loud and stressful situations. “It’s very loud

out there! We need to f***ing yell!” says Nank.

The o-line has a wide array of duties as the play continues. Some of their jobs include: block, move people, and make holes. They must block the defensive line and linebackers to protect the quarter-

back so he can make accurate passes to his receivers. The o-line must also make holes so running backs like Johnson can get through a mess of

defenders to gain yardage.

Sometimes the o-line might have to make a last second change to their play at the line based on a blitz one of the tackles will notice. That tackle will have to make sure that message gets passed all the way down the line to the other tackle. Playing on the offensive line gives these guys the skills they need to suc-ceed in other non-football related parts of their lives.

One of the biggest skills these young men learn is communication. Nank said “Nelson (Offensive line coach Rick Nel-son) says the key to a good relationship is communication.” When you play on the offensive line good communication skills are a must. When Nank was asked what else he has learned being a starting offensive lineman he said, with a chuckle “You learn not to be a b****!” He was ob-viously kidding around but these men do get hit every single play by the defense that may be running full speed towards the o-line.

“The key to a good relationship is communication”

Pictured above some of the offensive line sit and wait for their turn on the field. Left to right: Jacob Rathmacher, Alex Nank, Robert Rathje, and Ryan Bingaman. Below Coach Rick Nelson and o-linemen look on as their teammates warm up and prepare for a game.

They need to be tough, to be able to take the hits, and get back up and do all again a few seconds later. Nank also said some of the other skills that are learned when you are on the o-line are per-sistence, teamwork, and being punctual. Not just the offensive line but the whole team is working very hard to be the best they can be. They are attending meetings after being in school all day, lifting weights, and going to practice along with a lot of other things that really consume their lives for the few months they play each year. These men give it their all every single day, they are together every single day, and it’s no wonder why friendships are created on the offensive line that will never fade.

“You kind of instantly become friends” said Nank about the friend-ships made from playing with the offensive line. Nank also said, “You work

with each other every day. You see each other every day. You know how each of your teammates is going to play. Some-times I feel like I see my teammates more than I see my fiancé.” These are the kind of friends they are going to have for life. These guys spend so much time together,

they are sort of put into a situation where they will learn to be friends and get along otherwise it would be a miserable 4-5 years with the same people.

Even when they are not on the field they still want to spend time together. “We

“You kind of instantly become friends.”

Below the offensive linemen work on protecting their quarterback during a play in the Western Illinois game.

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celebrate together after wins, we go out to eat together every Thursday night after practice, and before home games we take turns roasting each other” these are some of the things Nank said they do together outside of games to build camaraderie.

After the season some guys will be moving on and trying to find jobs in their degree, while others will be perusing their football goals at a higher level. Either way these guys will not see each other every

day and that is a kind of loss that is differ-ent from any other.

A lot of the offensive linemen may be moving hours away but, it doesn’t matter

where they go. They will keep in touch and always find their ways back to the Universi-ty of Northern Iowa, where it all started.

All lot of people may not understand the brotherhood that is created from a football team, especially a position

as close as the offensive line. No mat-ter where these young men end up in their lives they can always meet up on Saturdays in the Fall to reconnect in a little place we like to call the Dome.

“...before home games we take turns roasting each other.”

To the left you can see the offen-sive line take their first steps of a play during the second round of the playoffs. To the right Alex Nank and Robert Rathje take on an Illinois State Redbird. This shows a great example of how much these guys work together and help each other out.

To the left the linemen take the field together. Pictured left to right: Jack Rummells, Alex Nank, Robert Rathje, Trevor Hanson, and Ryan Bingaman.

They do it O-Line Style!