Week 1 - Butler - 8/30/2025

[kochrab]

So excited to see some of the new upgrades on TV today! The pictures of the new seating and suites look incredible so far.

Additionally, a few things I'd love to hear about from those of you attending in person.

• Game day experience - any differences this year?
• Chemistry from the team/coaching staff on the sideline - lots of excitement shown on social media so far. Definitely looked like an unenthusiastic sideline for the most part last year. Would love to see that energy bounce back.
• Overall thoughts on the updated seating and remodel so far. As someone who doesn't live in Iowa anymore, I'm itching to be able to see some of the updates myself.

Above all, just really excited to see some Panther football again. GO PANTHERS!

[kochrab]

Butler took a play out of the Mark Farley playbook and does 2 runs up the middle lol

[kochrab]

UNI d creating turnovers is a good thing to see. Putting this in the endzone would put us ahead of where we were last season

[kochrab]

Pretty drive to open up the 2nd half. TD Panthers. 24-14 good guys.

[pantherclaw]

Trying to decide if we just made some great adjustments at half or they are gassed.

[kochrab]

Trying to decide if we just made some great adjustments at half or they are gassed.

Considering that we played tons of possessions on d, I would attribute a lot of it to adjustments made. Regardless, it was a dominant 2nd half. Loved to see that.

[UNI MadCat]

Holy cow, this is depressing coming here this morning. Barely a comment on the game.

[BCPanther]

Evening looked organized, coherent and like there was a consistent plan.

I'm encouraged. I still think this year is going to be a slog but you see what he wants to do and, honestly, it's been 4 years since we've been able to say that

[pnthr53]

My biggest concern is d line….gotta get to quarterback and 3rd downs were awful again. But for Uni….a win is a win no matter who it is right now. Won’t know much til after eastern washington

[kochrab]

My biggest concern is d line….gotta get to quarterback and 3rd downs were awful again. But for Uni….a win is a win no matter who it is right now. Won’t know much til after eastern washington

That was definitely true in the first half. 2nd half was much different imo. Now, I know we were facing Butler, but still. Improvement is improvement.

1st q

• Punt (3 plays, 6 yards)
• Fumble (5 plays, 18 yards)
• Touchdown (10 plays, 75 yards)

2nd q

• Touchdown (11 plays, 78 yards)
• Interception (12 plays, 50 yards)
• Missed FG (6 plays, 24 yards)

3rd q

• Interception (10 plays, 45 yards)

4th q

• Punt (3 plays, 1 yard)
• Downs (14 plays, 49 yards)

1st half - 251 yards
2nd half - 95 yards

But yes, letting them go 13-20 on 3rd downs is way too many still. Most of those still came in the 1st half.

[7YrsOfCollegeDownTheDrain]

I thought the game day operation was great. had a fun tailgate. student turnout was great on a holiday weekend. Dome looks awesome with the updates. Offense looked good...back end of the d looked good. getting off the field on 3rd down was an issue in the first half. no sacks and minimal TFL was an issue that jumped out at me too.

[vbfan19]

no sacks and minimal TFL was an issue that jumped out at me too.

they played a video on the board about a business that would be donating money for each sack that the Panther defense gets this year.
I have a feeling they won't be donating much.

[LoafInIowa]

I thought it was a good experience all the way around. But as I am a freshmen parent coming in, all I have to compare it to, is the visits we took last year. Tailgating with the other parents was enjoyable & the group that gets those tailgating things together, did a great job of communication. Had a great time there & then really enjoyed the Pather Walk at 10:30, where the players met the parents before they went into the dome to get ready for the game. Give the players a chance to see some support of family & friends before they switch gears & put on the pride of the Panthers uniform.

Inside of the dome, I really liked the upgraded colors & things they are doing to freshen up the dome. The new deep purple on the walls will really help bring out whatever they are decorating them up with. Some of the crowd was trying to make the first down calls a little more loud, but it seems like most of the crowd is just there to watch the game & not get into all of the calls, like they seem to do in Ames. Just need to have something that gets the crown into every little positive thing that happens with the football team, whether it being that the student crowd gets into those more, or we have some section people that know what's going on & get their section to enjoy those little celebrations more.

Loved the players energy in this first game & how Coach Stepsis would get into celebrating good plays also, just need the fellas on the benches, to be some cheer leaders also, to get the crowd getting worked up also. Also loved that they played Welcome to the Jungle as the song they ran out of the garage door to. That fits really well with Panther theme.

Overall, a darn good first experience for me & my family, and we will be at every home game this season, to cheer on the Panthers !!

[UNIAlum95]

I thought it was a good experience all the way around. But as I am a freshmen parent coming in, all I have to compare it to, is the visits we took last year. Tailgating with the other parents was enjoyable & the group that gets those tailgating things together, did a great job of communication. Had a great time there & then really enjoyed the Pather Walk at 10:30, where the players met the parents before they went into the dome to get ready for the game. Give the players a chance to see some support of family & friends before they switch gears & put on the pride of the Panthers uniform.

Inside of the dome, I really liked the upgraded colors & things they are doing to freshen up the dome. The new deep purple on the walls will really help bring out whatever they are decorating them up with. Some of the crowd was trying to make the first down calls a little more loud, but it seems like most of the crowd is just there to watch the game & not get into all of the calls, like they seem to do in Ames. Just need to have something that gets the crown into every little positive thing that happens with the football team, whether it being that the student crowd gets into those more, or we have some section people that know what's going on & get their section to enjoy those little celebrations more.

Loved the players energy in this first game & how Coach Stepsis would get into celebrating good plays also, just need the fellas on the benches, to be some cheer leaders also, to get the crowd getting worked up also. Also loved that they played Welcome to the Jungle as the song they ran out of the garage door to. That fits really well with Panther theme.

Overall, a darn good first experience for me & my family, and we will be at every home game this season, to cheer on the Panthers !!

Glad to see the Panther Walk mentioned. I hope that becomes a big draw for the tailgate lots. Was pretty cool to see. Somehow I missed that this was a new thing in the all the social media but I hope it catches on and if you didn't see it this weekend, I hope you check it out in a couple of weeks at the EWU game.