AP FILE PHOTO - Northern Iowa linebackers coach Jeremiah Johnson, left, fist-bumps tight end Briley Moore before the Panthers’ football game against Iowa State on Aug. 31, 2019, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.

Tight end Briley Moore ran a route that Northern Iowa wasn’t expecting.

The 6-foot-4, 249-pound redshirt senior announced on his Twitter account Wednesday night that he was entering the transfer portal.

Moore, a native of Blue Springs, Missouri, thanked “Panther Nation” and head coach Mark Farley in his social media post, one that most definitely shocked the fans clad in purple and gold.

Moore was a preseason Football Championship Subdivision first-team All-American entering the 2019 season before suffering an injury in the Panthers’ season-opening, triple-overtime loss at Iowa State. Moore’s four receptions and 26 yards would be all he had to show for his third season of eligibility, and he was granted a medical redshirt after breaking the coracoid process and scapula in his shoulder.

Moore was Northern Iowa’s leading receiver in 2018, when he earned first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference honors after collecting 39 receptions for 536 yards and four touchdowns.

The breakout season expected for his senior season was cut short, and now it will have to happen somewhere other than Cedar Falls.

“I am so grateful for the relationships I’ve built over the past four years,” Moore said in his Twitter post. “UNI has given me the opportunity to succeed not only on the field but also allowed me to graduate with my bachelors degree, meet my fiancé, become a father and grow as a follower of Christ. For this, UNI will forever hold a special place in my heart.

“With that being said, I will be entering the transfer portal as a graduate transfer. I feel it is the best decision for me, my family and the opportunity to pursue the dreams that I set for myself when I was a little kid.

“Panther nation, thank you for all the memories that I will cherish forever.”

In his first three seasons, Moore accumulated 81 receptions for 1,090 yards and five touchdowns, punctuated by his breakout sophomore campaign that saw him compile 38 catches for 494 yards and earn all-MVC honorable mention.