West Florida (2-1, 0-0) at #25 Valdosta State (1-1, 0-0)
Date | Time	Saturday, Sept. 24 | 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CT
Location	Valdosta, Ga. | Bazemore-Hyder Stadium (11,000)
Tickets	$18 Reserved | $10 GA Adult | $5 Senior & student
Live Video	Watch (Free)
Live Audio	WPNN 103.7 FM / 790 AM | Listen Online | Download Tune In app for mobile devices
Live Stats	Sidearm Stats
Game Notes	Game 4 - at Valdosta State (pdf)
Twitter	Twitter: @GoArgos | #GoArgos | IG: GoArgos | FB: GoArgos

* Records: UWF is 2-1 following last week's road loss at Chowan. Valdosta State is 1-1 following a GSC-opening road loss at North Alabama.

* Rankings: Valdosta State is ranked No. 25 in the D2Football,com poll.

* UWF Coach Pete Shinnick: Shinnick was hired as the first coach in program history on Feb. 6, 2014. He has a 105-47 career record in 14-plus years, which includes a 50-24 mark at UNC Pembroke from 2007-13 and 53-22 at Azusa Pacific from 1999-05.

* Valdosta State Coach Kerwin Bell: Bell is in his first season at VSU, following a 9-year run at Jacksonville (Fla.) University where he led the FCS non-scholarship Dolphins to a 66-35 record. Prior to his time on the St. John river, he went 45-15 as the head coach at Ocala HS from 2001-06.

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QUICK SLANTS
• In a year full of historic moments, the UWF football program will experience another on Saturday when it faces Valdosta State in the Argonauts' first-ever Gulf South Conference contest. UWF won't be easing into its league slate, facing VSU - the second-winningest program in Division II history - before returning home to face No. 19/24 Florida Tech next week on national television.

• Valdosta State was picked to finish fifth in the GSC; UWF was chosen eighth in the 9-team league by the head coaches.

• A number of UWF student-athletes will be playing close to home this week: Starting QB Kaleb Nobles played at Valdosta State before transferring to UWF in January; starting LT Tomarick Collier, starting TE Josh Lindsey and backup CB Jacari Footman are all from Tallahassee, Fla.

• UWF scored a school record 45 points in its first two games before finishing with 28 at Chowan last week.

• UWF will be wearing an all white uniform combination Saturday - white jersey, white pants. The Argonauts will also have blue helmets and blue shoes.

• UWF is ranked 20th in total offense with 481.0 yards per game. The Argonauts are fourth in passing offense at 384.7 ypg and 138th in rushing offense at 96.7 ypg.

• UWF's defense is 34th in the NCAA after yielding 316 ypg. It ranks fourth in rushing defense, allowing just 56.0 ypg.

• The place kicking unit has been perfect on 16 PATs and 2-of-4 field goal attempts this year. UWF ranks 20th in KO returns at 27.44 yards per return.

 

Offense As Good As Advertised

    When he was at UNC Pembroke, Pete Shinnick's offenses were always high-powered. That fast-paced, high-octane style has continued at West Florida, and in a big way thanks to veteran signal caller Kaleb Nobles.

    UWF scored 45 points in its opening two games before 28 last week at Chowan, and averaged 481 yards of total offense - a figure that ranks 20th in the NCAA and second in the GSC. Additionally, the 384 passing yards per game is fourth and the scoring offense is 33rd.

Quick Strike Offense Means UWF Never Truly Out of a Game

    UWF has scored on 18 offensive possessions this season, make two field goals and 16 touchdowns. Of the 16 TD scoring drives, nine have come in 5 players or less, including six of three or less and two on one play.

    On the flip side, the Argonauts have five scoring drives of 9 plays or more. The longest scoring drive in terms of plays was a pair of 11-play efforts at Ave Maria in the opener, with the longest in time of possession being a 3:43 drive for the first-ever TD score in program history at Ave Maria.

Defensive Speed Paying Off

    As good as the offense has been, the UWF defense has really been a difference maker through two games. The Argonauts are 41st in the country in scoring defense at 21.0 points per game allowed. That number is slightly off considering Missouri S&T scored on a punt return two weeks ago, meaning the defense has only allowed eight touchdowns in 12 quarters of play.

    UWF ranks No. 34 nationally, allowing 316.3 yards of total offense per game. The Argos lead the country in QB zacks with 5.67 per game. They had seven against Ave Maria, six against Missouri S&T and four at Chowan.

    The team's run defense has been particularly strong, holding Ave Maria to two net yards, Missouri S&T to 36 and Chowan to 130 - a season average of 56.0 ypg. That places UWF fourth in the country. UWF also ranks third in tackles for loss with 12 on the year.

Nobles Returns To Valdosta

    Graduate transfer QB Kaleb Nobles will have a lot of attention on him this week and not just for the way he has led the UWF offense this season. The Florida native who moved to Fitzgerald, Ga. in eighth grade will be making his first trip back to Valdosta State where he played under former coach David Dean before transferring to UWF last winter.

    At Valdosta, Nobles was 197-of-312 for 2,009 yards and 19 touchdowns. He made four starts as a sophomore in 2014 and two in 2013.

    He was named the starting quarterback by Pete Shinnick after the second week of training camp. In three games this season, he has thrown for 1,132 yards (376 per game) and 11 touchdowns - with all three of those figures ranking in the top 4 nationally.
 

From Croatian Refugee To GSC Offensive Player of the Week

    Senior WR Anas Hasic was named the GSC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after catching nine passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns in the road loss at Chowan. The three touchdowns are a school record and are tied for the second most in a Division II game this season. He also returned three kickoffs for 39 yards, giving him 229 all-purpose yards.

    Through three weeks of play, the 190 yards and three touchdowns are both the top single-game marks in the league. Overall, the Phoenix native is second in the conference in receiving yards per game, averaging 113.0 ypg. He also has 150.33 all-purpose ypg, ranking him second in the conference and 39th in the country.

    The native of Croatia has one of the more remarkable stories in college football. He and his mother fled Croatia during the civil war (officially the Croatian War of Independence) for Germany when he was five. Three years later they were forced to move again, landing in Phoenix when the U.S. granted them asylum. Hasic didn't know english and had to spend an hour after school, learning the language. He still speaks and texts his mother in Croatian.

UWF Sells Out Home Opener
    The Wednesday prior to kickoff, UWF officials announced that the Missouri S&T game was a sellout. The official capacity for UWF football games at Blue Wahoos Stadium is 6,288. Included in that figure are 1,000 student tickets.
    The 6,288 attendance is the only sellout in the GSC thus far and the third-highest at a GSC venue in the league.

Date    Teams                              Attendance
Sept. 1    Kentucky Wesleyan at Delta State    6,781
Sept. 9    Catawba at West Georgia    7,617
Sept. 10    Missouri S&T at UWF    6,288*
* Sellout

Pen Air Donates $1 Million to UWF
    The University of West Florida announced a $1 million gift from Pen Air Federal Credit Union to support UWF football. The gift will name the Pen Air Field, home of UWF football on the Pensacola Campus.
    This is the most recent development in a long-standing relationship between the University and Pen Air. Previously, Pen Air has shown its support by partnering with the alumni association, the College of Business and UWF Athletics. The credit union is currently the presenting sponsor of the annual Alumni Scholarship Classic golf tournament, and it provides the official UWF credit card for alumni and friends of the University. Each time the UWF card is swiped, the UWF alumni association receives a benefit that funds a grant program.
    Since Fall 2014, Pen Air has also hosted the Financial Literacy Boot Camp in partnership with the University. Held each fall and spring semester, the boot camp hosts financial professionals as guest lecturers who present topics such as personal financial planning, planning for retirement, the advantages of tax-deferred savings and 401(k) plans and more, to prepare students with the essential financial literacy they require prior to accepting their first professional position after graduation.
    While the $1 million gift will directly support UWF football, this isn't the first time Pen Air has helped UWF foster school spirit through athletics. The credit union also serves as the presenting sponsor of the annual Athletic Hall of Fame banquet as well as a title sponsor for the Argo Armada Student Rewards program, which rewards students for the number of sports events they attend.

UWF Picked 8th In GSC
The UWF football program was picked to finish eighth in the Gulf South Conference preseason coaches poll, as announced by the league.
In a vote of the league's nine head coaches, the first-year program – which has yet to play a game – earned three votes in sixth place, two in seventh and three in eighth place for a total of 16 points. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own school.
Defending co-champion West Georgia received seven of a possible eight first place votes and was selected first with 63 points. The Wolves have advanced to the NCAA semifinals each of the past two seasons and are a preseason top-5 team by a number of national outlets.
North Alabama was a near consensus pick for second place, picking up six votes for the runner-up spot and 53 points. The Lions have a league-record 12 football championships, including sharing each of the last three. Florida Tech came in at third place with 48 points after claiming the other two first place votes. The Panthers handed UWG its only regular-season loss a year ago and were a win away from making the NCAA playoff in their third year as a program.
Delta State was fourth with 46 points with Valdosta State in fifth at 40 points. West Alabama was slotted in sixth place with 26 points and Mississippi College was just ahead of the Argos in seventh place with 21 points. Shorter was last with 11 points.

2016 GSC FOOTBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Pl. School – Points
1. West Georgia – 63
2. North Alabama – 53
3. Florida Tech – 58
4. Delta State – 46
5. Valdosta State – 40
6. West Alabama – 26
7. Mississippi College – 21
8. WEST FLORIDA – 16
9. Shorter – 11

UWF On National TV
West Florida will have three games aired on national TV in its inaugural season, as a part of the 2016 NCAA Division II Football Showcase and the Florida's Space Coast GSC Football Game of the Week. The first national appearance for UWF will be during the program's first-ever GSC home game, against Florida Tech on October 1.
The game between the only Division II football-playing schools in the state of Florida will kickoff at 6:00 p.m. Central time at Blue Wahoos Stadium in Pensacola and carried by the American Sports Network.
"This is a great opportunity for our fans and alumni to be able to see us play on a national stage," UWF head coach Pete Shinnick said. "And to be able to showcase the city of Pensacola and Blue Wahoos Stadium is a huge positive."
And as part of the Gulf South Conference Football Game of the Week schedule, UWF will be featured in a national broadcast the following week at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss. on Oct. 8, along with the homecoming contest against Shorter on Oct. 22 at Blue Wahoos Stadium in Pensacola.
ESPN3 serves as the exclusive carrier of the league's package for the third consecutive season. This year's 10-game slate includes nine Saturday games and one Thursday night contest and kicks off on September 17 when Shorter University hosts Florida Tech in Rome, Ga.

UWF Signs Local TV Deal With BLAB TV
The University of West Florida athletics department and Blab TV have announced a broadcast partnership to broadcast three home football games during the inaugural 2016 UWF Football campaign.
The agreement is highlighted with the station's coverage of three home football games at Blue Wahoos Stadium, beginning with the inaugural home contest against Missouri S&T on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. Central time. They will also televise the games with West Alabama on October 29 and West Georgia on November 12. Both of those games are scheduled to start at Noon.
Blab will also work with UWF to produce a 30-minute coaches show/highlight program that touches on all 15 UWF sports.
Blab TV (WFDB) airs in over 500,000 homes reaching approximately one million people in Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties in Florida and Escambia, Mobile and Baldwin counties in Alabama.
BLAB TV is the only station in Pensacola that simulcasts their daily programming on the internet, giving the station both a national and worldwide audience.

WPNN To Serve As Radio Home in 2016
The University of West Florida athletics department has announced a broadcast agreement with WPNN 103.7 FM/790 AM in Pensacola, making it the official radio home of UWF football for the 2016 season.
The agreement began the first week of the season with the inaugural Coach Shinnick Show and September 3 game at Ave Maria. The deal was brokered by the Appleyard Agency on behalf of UWF.
WPNN is a 1,000-watt station with a broadcast signal heard locally from Baldwin County, Alabama in the west to Okaloosa County, Florida in the east. In addition to the over-the-air coverage on 103.7 FM and 790 AM, all UWF broadcasts will be streamed online via Talk103fm.com and on mobile devices via the Tune-In app.
UWF will join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the station's live game coverage roster. The schedule for a weekly coaches show will be determined at a later date.

Five Football Programs Debut in 2016
UWF is among a group of five colleges and universities that are starting their intercollegiate football programs this fall. The planning and preparation of five programs will come to fruition for: Cincinnati Christian University in Cincinnati, Ohio; Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Morthland College in West Frankfort, Ill.; the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas; and UWF.