UNI football: Penning, Brinkman, Cook named to Stats Perform AA teams
Football
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CEDAR FALLS, Iowa
– Three Panthers earned all-American spots on the Stats Perform FCS Team.
Trevor Penning, Jared Brinkman and Matthew Cook are among 21 student-athletes selected from the Missouri Valley Football Conference, an FCS conference high.
This is Penning’s fourth all-American team. Penning has been named to HERO Sports’ FCS All-American First Team Offense, the 2021 Associated Press All-America Football Team, the FCS ADA Announces 2021 All-America Team and most recently, the Stats Perform FCS All-America Team. Penning was the only offensive lineman to be named as a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, which is presented to the national offensive player of the year in college football’s Division I subdivision. He was the first player to be invited to the Reese’s Senior Bowl. He was part of an offensive line that allowed 36 sacks and a loss of 231 yards on the season and went 25-for-30 on red zone attempts-scores. He helped the team gain 1,686 rushing yards and 2,679 passing yards. Penning is from Clear Lake, Iowa, and majored in movement and exercise science. He is the son of Jeff and Teresa Penning. His brother, Jared, also plays on the UNI football team.
Brinkman is a two-time MVFC Defensive Player of the Year, having received his second consecutive honor this year. He was also named to the 2021 Associated Press All-America Team and the first team list for HERO Sports’ FCS All-American Team. Brinkman notched 22 solo sacks and assisted on 51 this season. He has 15 tackles for a loss of 50 yards. He had 14 against South Dakota on Oct. 16. Brinkman forced a fumble and recovered a fumble. Brinkman is a senior majoring in physical education. He is a graduate of Regina High School in Iowa City, Iowa. He is the son of Mike and Carla Brinkman.
Cook is a placekicker out of Cedar Falls, Iowa. He also was named to the second team HERO Sports’ FCS All-American Team. He was the only FCS player to notch two field goals beyond 50 yards in a single game the week he earned MVFC honors. He ranked first in MVFC and fourth in nation for field goal percentage with 90.5{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf}. He was second in the MFVC and fourth in nation for field goals per game with 1.73. He was perfect on PATS on the season, going 22-22 and averages 58.3 yards on kickoff. Cook is the son of James and Cindy Cook. He is majoring in movement and exercise science.
MVFC – STATS PERFORM FCS ALL-AMERICA TEAM
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
- RB – Pierre Strong Jr., senior, 5-11, 205, South Dakota State
- FB/H-Back – Hunter Luepke, junior, 6-1, 236, North Dakota State
- TE – Tucker Kraft, sophomore, 6-5, 255, South Dakota State
- OL – Trevor Penning, redshirt junior, 6-7, 321, Northern Iowa
- OL – Cordell Volson, senior, 6-7, 313, North Dakota State
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
- DL – Jared Brinkman, redshirt senior, 6-2, 290, Northern Iowa
- DB – Darius Joiner, senior, 6-2, 200, Western Illinois
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
- OL – Matt Waletzko, senior, 6-7, 305, North Dakota
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
- LB – Adam Bock, sophomore, 6-1, 215, South Dakota State
- LB – Jack Cochrane, senior, 6-3, 230, South Dakota
- DB – Montrae Braswell, sophomore, 6-0, 190, Missouri State
- DB – Qua Brown, senior, 5-11, 206, Southern Illinois
SECOND TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
- PK – Matthew Cook, sophomore, 5-11, 180, Northern Iowa
- AP – Christian Watson, senior, 6-5, 208, North Dakota State
THIRD TEAM OFFENSE
- WR – Dennis Houston, senior, 6-2, 205, Western Illinois
- OL – ZeVeyon Furcron, redshirt senior, 6-2, 327, Southern Illinois
THIRD TEAM DEFENSE
- DL – Brayden Thomas, senior, 6-3, 260, North Dakota State
- DB – Michael Tutsie, senior, 5-11, 192, North Dakota State
THIRD TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
- P – Grant Burkett, redshirt freshman, 6-1, 180, Missouri State
- PR – Jayden Price, junior, 6-0, 186, North Dakota State
- AP – Jaleel McLaughlin, senior, 5-9, 175, Youngstown State
