* Records: UWF is 10-3 after upending West Alabama, 28-21, on the road for the Super Regional 2 title. Indiana (Pa.) moved to 13-0 with a 27-22 come-from-behind victory over Assumption in its NCAA Super Regional 1 title contest.

* Rankings: IUP is #3 in the AFCA ranking & #1 in the D2Football.com poll. UWF is receiving votes (4) in the AFCA listing.

THE COACHES
* UWF coach Pete Shinnick was hired as the first coach in program history on Feb. 6, 2014. He is 15-9 in 2 seasons at UWF and has a 118-55 career record in 15 years, which includes a 50-24 mark at UNC Pembroke (07-13) & 53-22 at Azusa Pacific (99-05).
* IUP Coach Paul Tortorella is 13-0 in his first season as a head coach. He spent the past 20 seasons as the defensive coordinator at IUP. He had 15 defensive players earn All-America honors during his time as an assistant. He arrived in Indiana following three years at Akron (1992-94) & six years at Maryland (1986-91).    

     Four weeks after making history as the fastest start-up program to qualify for the NCAA Division 2 Playoffs, the #4 seed (#6 in Super Regional 2) UWF football team will make its longest trip in program history to face top-ranked Indiana University of Pa. in the biggest game in its brief 25-game history - The NCAA National Semifinal.
     The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the national championship next Saturday, Dec. 16 against the winner of the Harding at Texas A&M-Commerce game.

ABOUT UWF
    UWF is 10-3 overall having secured a winning season in its second year of competition after its 30-7 win over North Alabama five weeks ago. Since then, the Argonauts have claimed road wins at #18 West Georgia, #16 Wingate, at #24 West Georgia (again) and last week at #17 West Alabama for the Super Regional 2 championship. UWF finished in a 5-way tie for second in the Gulf South Conference with a 5-3 record.
    The Argonauts are fifth in the GSC in scoring offense (28.2) and third in scoring defense (20.5). UWF ranks sixth in total offense with 346.8 yards per game and fourth in total defense, allowing an average of 330.1 per contest. UWF's passing attack is third in the league at 232.8 yards per game, just behind West Georgia at 235.4 and West Alabama at 281.8.
    Redshirt freshman Mike Beaudry has thrown for 2,811 yards and 26 touchdowns while completing 56 percent of his passes. The Canadian-born signal caller from Oviedo, Fla. was named the GSC Offensive Freshman of the Year. He has also rushed for 90 yards and two scores.
    Sophomore Chris Schwarz, senior Leroy Wilson and freshman Anthony Johnson, Jr. have led the Argos ground game, which has averaged 114.6 yards per game and collected 12 touchdowns. Schwarz has five scores and 638 yards on 170 carries for 49.1 per game. Wilson has 330 yards on the season with 270 coming in the last seven contests before suffering a broken hand two weeks ago at West Georgia. His 5.1 yards per rush lead the team and rank tenth in the GSC. Johnson has 370 yards on 83 carries, including the two longest runs of the year - a 39-yarder vs. UNA and a 40-yarder at UWA last week.
    Reggie Barnes, Marvin Conley and Trent Archie all have at least 80 tackles and rank in the top 15 in the GSC. Barnes' and Conley's 7.7 stops per game rank sixth in the league. First Team All-GSC pick John Williamson leads the conference with 12.0 sacks and is second with 14.0 tackles for loss.

ABOUT INDIANA (PA.)
    #3/1 Indiana is the top-ranked team in the country and the lone undefeated team at 13-0 after last week's 27-22 win over Assumption in the Super Regional 1 title game.
    The Crimson Hawks have won 18-consecutive home games. They are also 11-2 in playoff games at George P. Miller Stadium.
    IUP averages 471 yards of total offense per game, a figure that ranks 12th in the country.
    Much like the Argonauts, the Crimson Hawks have a very strong defense, ranking 12th in total defense, allowing just 280.7 yards per game. They rank fifth in rushing defense, giving up just 79.6 ypg.
    A stable of running backs and a mobile quarterback have combined for 263 rushing yards per game. That ranks sixth in the NCAA. Five different players have at least one 100-yard game, with Samir Bullock at 1,144 yards and Justice Evans at 969 yards.
    Lenny Williams has thrown for 2,703 yards with a 66.2 completion percentage and 30 TD. He averages 207.9 yards per game through the air.

PETE SHINNICK IN THE POSTSEASON
    With last week's NCAA Super Region 2 title game victory, Pete Shinnick improved to 3-2 as a head coach in the Division II Championships with both losses coming while he was at UNC Pembroke in 2009 and 2013.
    The 2009 team was ranked 13th before losing to Arkansas Tech, 41-13 on the road in Russellville, Ark. In 2013, the 8th-ranked and 2nd-seeded Braves had a first-round bye but fell to 16th-ranked and 3rd-seeded North Alabama, 37-13, in Pemboke, N.C.
    He also went 2-5 in the NAIA Playoffs while at Azuza Pacific from 1999-2005. The Cougars reached the national semifinals in 1999 & 2004.

GSC IN THE POSTSEASON
    Four GSC teams qualified for the NCAA Division II Championship, including the GSC Champions from West Alabama, who earned the top seed. Delta State was the fifth seed, making the field for the first time since 2014. West Florida is the sixth seed, earning the spot in just its second year of existence. After one year away, West Georgia got back in the playoffs for the third time in four years, earning the seventh seed.
    It is the fourth straight year that the league has had at least three teams make the NCAA Playoffs, and the second time in four years that four teams have qualified.
    The last two seasons, seven different GSC teams have made the NCAA Championship.
    A GSC school has won the NCAA Division II Super Region 2, formerly the Southeast Region, crown 13 times in the last 15 seasons. With all four regional semifinal teams from the GSC, that number increased to 15 in 17 seasons in 2017.
    Since Division II went to regionalization in 1990, a GSC school has now advanced to the national semifinals 20 times in 27 seasons.

ARGOS ADDING TO 2016 WIN TOTAL
    Last season, UWF had five victories with three games remaining and struggled in its final games  - all losses to UWA, North Alabama and West Georgia and was unable to finish with a winning record. 
    The 2016 team appeared to hit a wall at that point last season and that need for improvement physically and mentally was a point of emphasis for the coaching staff and strength & conditioning staff coming into the 2017 campaign.
    Six weeks ago, UWF entered the same final 3-game stretch with the same win total.  The 2017 edition played well at West Alabama and,  despite losing 35-18, trailed just 14-12 entering the fourth quarter. UWF got over the 5-win hump with a 30-7 victory over North Alabama. And the 34-29 come-from-behind win at #24/18 West Georgia in the regular-season finale propelled the squad into the playoffs for the first time ever.

UWF WITH ANOTHER SHOT AT A RANKED OPPONENT
    This week's game against #3/1 Indiana (Pa.) marks the seventh ranked opponent for UWF in the last nine weeks.
    The Argonauts are 3-2 against ranked teams in 2017, winning all three postseason contests against top-25 programs. 
    UWF collected its second, third, fourth and fifth-ever wins over a ranked opponent in the last four weeks, with a road win over #24/18 West Georgia, 34-29, to snap the Wolves' 6-game home winning streak, a 31-0 shutout win at #16/18 Wingate in the NCAA First Round to end the Bulldogs' season at 9-2, a 17-14 win at #24 West Georgia in the regional semifinals and last week's 28-21 win over #17 West Alabama in the regional championship.
    In their inaugural 2016 campaign, UWF upset #16 Florida Tech, 42-39 at home, before falling to #3 North Alabama, 51-3 in Florence.
    Earlier this season, UWF was scheduled to host then-#16 Midwestern State but the game was canceled due to the threat of Hurricane Irma.

RECAPPING THE SUPER REGIONAL 2 WIN AT WEST ALABAMA
    The Argonauts erased a 7-point deficit with a dominating 25-minute stretch of play on both sides of the ball before stopping a late push by the 17th-ranked and top-seeded West Alabama for a 28-21 win in the NCAA Division II Super Regional Two Championship.
    UWF won its fifth-consecutive game in just its 24th all-time game.
    Freshman QB Mike Beaudry threw for 247 yards on 18-of-29 passing with two touchdowns. He was particularly effective in the second half, totaling 134 yards on 9-of-12 with both scoring strikes. 
    As it has done during the entire postseason, the UWF defense turned up the intensity when it mattered most, holding UWA to 20 yards in the third quarter and a combined three 3-and-outs and a 4-and-out while building the 14-point lead.
    The Argos held the Tigers to a season-low scoring total, well below their average of 38.3 points per game. Johnathan Coleman led the defense with a career-high 16 tackles. He has 50 stops with six sacks in the last five games.
    Freshman Ka'Ron Ashley had a career-high game, finishing with six receptions for 138 yards and a touchdown. His two biggest plays came on the fourth quarter drive that put UWF ahead 28-14. He out-jumped his man on a 26-yard third-and-11 play to keep the drive alive before grabbing a 43-yarder a play later that put the ball at the two. Chris Schwarz scored a play later to give the Argonauts a cushion with 6:27 to play.
    For his part, Schwarz ran down hill for much of the second half, picking up 53 yards on 14 carries after the intermission. He ended the game with 68 yards on 20 rushes. UWF had 133 yards on the ground and a 3.8 yards per rush.
    Freshman RB Anthony Johnson had 59 yards on eight carries. He sparked the comeback with a 40-yard touchdown run on UWF's first offensive play of the second half. Earlier in the game, his 2-yard run in the first quarter tied it at 7-7.

SHINNICK NAMED AFCA REGION 2 COACH OF THE YEAR
    UWF head coach Pete Shinnick was named the Region 2 Coach of the Year as announced by the American Football Coaches Association on Tuesday.
    Shinnick has led UWF to a 10-3 record and a berth in the NCAA Division II Semifinals in just the second year of the program's history. The Argonauts have gone 6-1 away from Pensacola this season, marking the second-most road wins in the country.
    Shinnick was hired at UWF on February 6, 2014. After 18 months of building the program from scratch, UWF opened play in 2016 and went 5-6, marking the most wins by a first-year Division II program in a decade. The Argonauts also collected the school's first win over a ranked opponent, defeating No. 16 Florida Tech at home before a sellout crowd on national television. UWF played before capacity crowds at Blue Wahoos Stadium three times and ranked 18th in the NCAA with a 6,328 average.
    2017 has been even more impressive. UWF went 7-3 in the regular season and tied for second in the Gulf South Conference at 5-3. The team earned votes in the top 25 on two occasions for the first time ever and became the fastest Division II start-up program to qualify for the postseason when the Argonauts grabbed the No. 6 seed in the Super Regional 2 bracket. Since that announcement, UWF has won three-consecutive road games over ranked opponents to win the Super Regional 2 Championship.
    This marks the first time he has won the award. Shinnick has a career record of 118-55 and is 15-9 at UWF. He spent eight years - seven playing seasons - starting the program at UNC Pembroke prior to arriving in Pensacola and seven years as the head coach at Azusa Pacific.
    The AFCA will announce the 2017 National Coaches of the Year winners in FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA at the American Football Coaches Awards, presented by Amway, broadcast live on the USA TODAY Sports Facebook page on Tuesday, January 9, at 8 p.m. EST. The Regional winners in each division are finalists for the National Coach of the Year.