1988 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

1988 Northern Iowa Panthers football
Conference	Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference
Record	5–6 (3–3 GCAC)
Head coach	Earle Bruce (1st season)
Home stadium	UNI-Dome
Seasons ←  1987 1989  →

1988 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Western Illinois $^	6	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Southwest Missouri State	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Indiana State	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Northern Iowa	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Eastern Illinois	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Southern Illinois	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

The 1988 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the University of Northern Iowa as a member of the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference (GCAC) during the 1988 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by Earle Bruce in his first and only season as head coach, Panthers compiled an overall record of 5–6 with a mark of 3–3 in conference play, placing fourth in the GCAC. Northern Iowa played home games at UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	7:30 p.m.	at Pittsburgh *	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	L 10–59	35,755
September 17	7:00 p.m.	Morgan State *	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	W 59–14	9,607
September 24	7:00 p.m.	Southwest Missouri State	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	L 9–28	10,734	[1]
October 1	1:30 p.m.	No. 4 Western Illinois	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	L 27–28	12,321	[2]
October 8	1:00 p.m.	at Iowa State *	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA	L 17–20	46,219
October 15	1:30 p.m.	at Illinois State	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	W 34–7	7,709
October 22	2:00 p.m.	at Eastern Illinois	O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	W 17–15	9,677
October 29	7:00 p.m.	Indiana State	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	L 6–24	14,920
November 3	7:00 p.m.	at Northern Arizona *	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	L 12–25	11,545
November 12	7:00 p.m.	Wayne State *	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	W 77–0	9,808
November 19	1:30 p.m.	at Southern Illinois	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 24–21	2,500	[3]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^{[4] [5]}

Reference

1. "SW Missouri State tops Northern Iowa". Omaha World-Herald. September 25, 1988. Retrieved July 2, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
2. Denney, Bob (October 2, 1988). "Dropped 2-point conversion hangs loss on UNI". The Gazette . p. 5B. Retrieved November 11, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
3. McCool, Dan (November 20, 1988). "UNI rallies to victory at S. Illinois". Des Moines Register . p. 8D. Retrieved January 1, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
4. "1988 Football Schedule". University of Northern Iowa Athletics.
5. "1988 Northern Iowa Football" . Retrieved June 1, 2024.