* Records: UWF is 4-1 following last week's thrilling, 28-14, win over Mississippi College. Delta is 5-1 after a 29-26 home loss to West Alabama.

* Rankings: Delta State is ranked 20th in the D2Football.com media poll and 21st in the AFCA coaches poll. UWF is not ranked.

THE COACHES
* UWF coach Pete Shinnick was hired as the first coach in program history on Feb. 6, 2014. He has a 112-53 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. He is 0-1 all-time against Delta State.
* Delta State Coach Todd Cooley is in his fifth season with the Statesmen and is 31-16 overall. He was the offensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach at Northwestern State, Central Arkansas and Arkansas Tech from 2001-12. He played two years at Arkansas Tech from 1986-87, setting 13 school records. In 1997, he was an Academic All-GSC choice & a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy.

ABOUT UWF
    UWF improved to 4-1 on the season with a 28-14 win over Mississippi College last Friday. The Argonauts got their second-consecutive Gulf South Conference victory and are currently tied for third at 2-1.
    Sophomore running back Chris Schwarz continues to improve, rushing for a career-high for the second-straight week. After a 75-yard performance at Florida Tech, he carried the ball 15 times for 83 yards - a 5.5 yards per carry average - and a touchdown against the Choctaws. Freshman Anthony Johnson, Jr. ran for 36 yards and scored his first collegiate touchdown as well. As a team, the Argos totaled 138 yards on the ground to bring their season average to 102.4 per game.
    UWF is averaging 198 yards per game passing with seven touchdowns. Sophomores Mike Beaudry and Grey Jackson have gotten the bulk of the snaps, with each completing 51 percent of their pass attempts. Jackson made his first career start last Friday, throwing for 101 yards on 10-of-21 passing.
    Senior linebacker Reggie Barnes tied his career-high with 12 stops against the Choctaws and now leads the team with 39 total tackles. Graduate student Josh Marshall has 37 tackles and a pair of interceptions, while sophomore Josh Smiley has 35 stops. Sophomore Andre Duncombe picked up his second interception in as many weeks versus Mississippi College and is tied with Barnes with two sacks.

ABOUT DELTA STATE
    Delta State comes into tonight's contest with a 5-1 record after last week's 29-26 home loss to West Alabama. The setback dropped the Statesmen from No. 8 in the country to No. 23.
    The Statesmen rank third in the GSC in total offense with 426.8 yards per game and third in total defense, yielding 310.0 yards per game. They have the top rushing offense (233.2 ypg) and defense (72.3 ypg) in the league as well.
    Chris Robinson has rushed for more than 100 yards four time this season and is coming off a First Team All-GSC year in 2016 where he rushed for 976 yards and set the league record for touchdowns with 24.
    Junior Breck Ruddick transferred from Missouri State and has led the offense with 912 passing yards on a 60 percent completion rate with 369 yards on the ground (2nd on the team). Collin Willis got his most playing time of the season on Saturday against West Alabama, passing for 230 yards on 20-of-37 with a touchdown.
    Senior defensive back Johnquavious McBride has had at least nine tackles in five games this season to lead the DSU defense with 54 stops. Junior linebacker Ovenson Cledanord has been a force in the offensive backfield, picking up five sacks and a five additional tackles for loss

UWF-DELTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
    Delta State leads the series 1-0, following last year's 55-51 Statesmen win in Cleveland, Miss. UWF compiled a school-record 557 yards of total offense and was in position to ice the game with a 2-point lead late, but a miscommunication on offense resulted in a turnover that DSU turned into the game-winning score.
    UWF showed its offensive muscle early by scoring a touchdown on each of its first four drives. In just 4:01 of possession, Kaleb Nobles rattled off four touchdown passes and led the Argonauts to 267 yards of offense. The Argos led 27-14 at the end of the first quarter before allowing the home team to score on three-consecutive possessions. Delta State held a 35-34 advantage heading into the locker room after a first half that featured a combined 753 yards of total offense.
    The Argos turned the ball over three times in the game, with the most costly one on a Nobles' fumble with 2:50 remaining allowing DSU to start the eventual game-winning drive at the UWF 17-yard-line. 
    Chris Schwarz led the ground game for UWF, averaging 5.1 yards per carry after a 12-attempt, 61-yard effort. Hasic had a game-high 155 yards receiving on eight catches, while Morrow posted his fifth 100-yard performance in the last six games with 132 yards on five receptions. Nobles totaled 452 yards through the air with five touchdowns after going 24-for-42 passing.
    West Florida was hindered by 13 penalties accumulating 119 total yards in addition to Delta State's 20 points scored off turnovers. Chris Robinson paced the Statesmen offense with six touchdowns and 298 total yards divided between 100 receiving yards and 198 yards on the ground.

UWF 5-3 ALL-TIME IN BLUE WAHOOS STADIUM
    UWF has played well at home in eight games since starting the program last season, going 5-3 entering tonight's contest. The squad has averaged 30.4 points per game when 'balling by the bay.'
    The program won its first three games in the stadium in 2016 and is now 2-0 in home openers. The Argos also improved to 4-1 in night games at BWS after last week's win over Mississippi College.

CONLEY NAMED GSC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
    UWF junior Marvin Conley was named the GSC Defensive Player of the Week after a standout performance that included a game-clinching interception last week against Mississippi College.
    Conley finished with eight tackles, a fumble recovery and a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown. The 'pick-6' came with the Choctaws driving inside the 5-yard line and trailing 21-14 with 2:38 to play. The Tampa, Florida native picked off Ty Jobe's pass and ran untouched 98 yards for the clincher. It was the longest play in UWF history and the second-longest interception return in Division 2 this season.
    Conley ranks fifth on the team with 31 tackles, while producing two pass break-ups and a forced fumble in addition to his interception and fumble recovery from Friday. Conley, who transferred to UWF from Valley City State in 2015, has five interceptions in 16 games for the Argonauts.
     This is the second time in his career he has earned the weekly award from the GSC. Last season he picked up the honor after grabbing two interceptions in the upset win over Florida Tech. This marks the fifth time in 2017 an Argo has been selected for a weekly plaudit.

STATESMEN MARK SECOND RANKED TEAM TO VISIT BWS
    Saturday's game with 21st-ranked Delta State is the second time in program history that a ranked team will visit UWF at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Last season, UWF defeated 16th-ranked Florida Tech, 42-39.

BARNES, DUNCOMBE & GRIFFIN NAMED TO GSC PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
    A year after winning five games and finishing in sixth place in the Gulf South Conference in its first-ever season, the UWF football team was picked seventh in the 2017 Preseason Coaches Poll as announced by the league office in July.
    Additionally, senior Reggie Barnes, sophomore Andre Duncombe and junior Antoine Griffin were selected to the preseason all-GSC team by the league's nine head coaches. Barnes and Duncombe were among the four linebackers on the team, while Griffin was one of two return specialists chosen.
    Barnes ranked third on the team with 67 tackles and added six tackles for loss, six QB hurries and a pass break-up. Duncombe making 51 tackles and was second on the team with 12.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks a year ago. Griffin was a standout receiver for the Argos, finishing with 560 yards on 43 receptions and seven touchdowns. He also returned 18 punts for a 13.33 yard average and eight kickoffs for a 20.5 yard average.

NORTHWEST FLORIDA PLAYERS MAKE UP NEARLY 25 PERCENT OF THE 2017 ROSTER
    The influx of local talent has been more evident this season, with 23 players out of Northwest Florida's six county region from Escambia to Washington and Bay. An additional six student-athletes are within a 2-hour drive of Pensacola.

POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE
    UWF has three members of its team who earned their bachelor's degrees in 2017. K Luke Jackson graduated from Missouri with a degree in sports administration; DB Josh Marshall graduated from Troy with a criminal justice degree; and DB Jalen Spencer graduated from South Florida.