• No. 11/8 UWF steps out of conference play with a road game at North Alabama Saturday evening. The game marks the first-ever Division I opponent for the Argonauts.
• Saturday's game marks the third-consecutive road game for the Argonauts and is part of a stretch of four games away from Pensacola in five weeks. UWF is 2-1 on the road this season.

TOP STORYLINES
• UWF is playing its first-ever Division I opponent. GSC teams are 0-1 in 2018 against D1 teams and 1-7 in the last three years, with the lone win coming from Florida Tech at Presbyterian, 28-7, on 9/24/16.
• UWF is 5-2 all-time in regular-season non-conference games and 9-3 in all non-conference contests, with a 4-1 mark in the  postseason.
• UWF is 3-0 in Gulf South Conference play for the first time in program history.
• UWF is 11-8 all-time in GSC regular-season games, with a 5-4 record at home and 6-4 on the road.
• UWF is ranked No. 11 in the AFCA poll (8 by the media of D2Football.com), putting the Argos into the rankings for the seventh-consecutive ranking period after ending the 2017 season ranked No. 2.

THE COACHES
• UWF coach Pete Shinnick was hired as the first coach in program history on Feb. 6, 2014. He has a 123-57 career record in his 16th season as a head coach, which includes a 50-24 mark at UNC Pembroke from 2007-13 and 53-22 at Azusa Pacific from 1999-05. He was named the AFCA and D2Football.com National Coach of the Year last season.
• North Alabama coach Chris Willis is in his 17th season with the Lions and his second as the head coach. He took over for the legendary Bobby Wallace following the 2016 campaign. He has been part of 13 NCAA Division II playoff teams and eight GSC titles as a coach. He spent three seasons at Delta State (1999-2001) after graduating from DSU in 1998.

ABOUT UWF
    UWF is 4-1 on the season and ranked No. 11 by the American Football Coaches Association (No. 8 in the D2Football.com media poll). The Argonauts have won three-consecutive games following last week's 30-21 come-from-behind road victory at Delta State - the program's first-ever win over the Statesmen in three games.
    The Argonauts are averaging 286.6 passing yards (25th in NCAA; 1st in GSC) and 158.8 rushing yards on the season. Their 444.8 yards per game third in the GSC and 34th nationally.
    Graduate QB Sam Vaughn has completed 59 percent of his attempts for 1,407 yards (281.3 ypg) and 12 TD.
    The running back group of Chris Schwarz, Anthony Johnson, Jr., Jervon Newton and Quaide Weimerskirch have combined for 735 yards (147 ypg) on 141 carries.
    Junior Tate Lehtio leads the GSC with 27 receptions for 386 yards and a touchdown. Senior Ishmel Morrow has 23 receptions for 296 yards and a touchdown. Ezra Saffold leads the team and is tied for third in the GSC with three TDs.
    The defense ranks 73rd nationally, allowing 356 yards per game and forcing 15 total turnovers in five games. UWF is second nationally in fumbles recovered with nine.
    Graduate transfer Gavin Burford has 41 tackles to rank third in the GSC and fifth with 8.2 tackles per game.
    UWF returns nine starters on offense and eight on defense to begin the year. In terms of statistical production, those players have accounted for 60 percent of last year's offense and 72 percent of the defensive tackles.

ABOUT NORTH ALABAMA
    North Alabama is 3-2 and in its first season as a Division I FCS program. UNA is an independent before fully joining the Big South Conference in 2019.
    The Lions have played four of their first five games on the road, collecting wins over Southern Utah, Alabama A&M and at home against D2 school Azusa Pacific. They are being outscored by an average of 30-22 and outgained 418-359.
    QB Christian Lopez is in his first season at UNA after a strong sophomore year at Mesa (Ariz.) CC. He has completed 76-of-146 passes (52 pct.) for 946 yards and six TD while rushing for 86 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He has been sacked 12 times.
    Damon Cox has carried the ball 68 times for 392 yards - 78.4 yards per game.

SERIES HISTORY
    UWF and UNA are tied 1-1 in the all-time series. Each team has held serve at home in the last two seasons.
    In 2016, the third-ranked Lioins scored on the game-second play and led 34-3 after one quarter of play en route to a 51-3 win. UNA outgained UWF 528-172.
    Last season in Pensacola, the Argos UWF piled up 355 yards of total offense while holding UNA to a season-low 129 in a 30-7 Senior Day victory The win secured a winning season for the second-year program. The UWF rushing game  finished with 161 yards. Anthony Johnson had a career night with 88 yards on 11 rushes. Mike Beaudry was 18-of-30 for 194 yards with three touchdowns as he connected with 10 different targets. The defense held UNA to a season-low 129 yards of total offense and zero offensive scores. UWF had a school-record tying seven sacks, to go along with nine tackles for loss.

UWF ON THE ROAD
    UWF made its magical run through the postseason with some of the best road play in the country. The Argonauts went 8-1 last year with five-consecutive victories heading into the neutral-site National Championship Game.
    The Argonauts are now 11-6 all-time away from Pensacola, 3-2 in regular-season non-conference road games and 2-1 in road openers.

DIVISION II ROAD VICTORIES IN 2017
8    WEST FLORIDA, Harding
7    Texas A&M-Commerce
6    Central Wash., Findlay, Minn.-Duluth, Minnesota State, Virginia State
5    Ashland, Assumption, Bowie State, Delta State, Fort Hays, Indiana (Pa.), Shepherd, Shippensburg, Tuskegee, West Chester, Winona State.

ARGOS OVERCOME 15-POINT DEFICIT AT DELTA STATE
    Last week, UWF found itself trailing Delta State 21-6 at halftime before scoring 24 unanswered for a 30-21 victory. That 15-point deficit proved to be the second-largest overcome for a victory in UWF's brief 3-year history. In last year's regular-season finale at West Georgia, the Argos trailed 16-0 after the first quarter before claiming a 34-29 win that vaulted the Blue & Green into the NCAA Playoffs.
    The largest deficit overcome by a UWF team was at Valdosta State in the fourth game in program history when the Argos spotted the Blazers a 20-0 lead 8:46 into the game. UWF took a 28-27 lead late in the third quarter before falling 40-28.

VAUGHN AMONG TOP 20 DIVISION 2 QUARTERBACKS
    Graduate QB Sam Vaughn made his first career start at Midwestern State in week two in place of week-one starter Mike Beaudry, who suffered an injury against Carson-Newman. 
    Vaughn had a solid game, throwing for 251 yards on 19-of-37 passing with two touchdowns and  two interceptions.
    The Fort Pierce, Fla. native has continued to improve each week since. Against Shorter in weeks three he threw for a career-high 369 yards on 25-of-34 passing with three touchdowns. His 72.5 percent completion rate was the second-highest in program history, while his 193.8 passing efficiency is third in 31 all-time games.
    He currently ranks among the NCAA leaders in the following categories:

Category    NCAA Rk.    Stat
Passing TDs    14    12
Completions/game     17    21.4
Passing Yards    17    1,398
Passing Yards/game    19    279.6
Total Offense/game    28    289.4
Pass. Yds/Completion    61    13.1

    In week one, he came on in relief of Beaudry, completing 17-for-29 for 218 yards with a TD and an interception. It was the first time in program history that the Argos had to make an in-game switch at quarterback due to injury.
    Vaughn spent the past four years as a walk-on at Georgia and did not appear in a game. Prior to the opener, the last time he played in a live game was as a senior at Fort Pierce (Fla.) Central HS in the fall of 2013.
RUSHING ATTACK CONTINUES TO MAKE PROGRESS
    Dating back to the 2015 season when UWF fielded a team of redshirts with five intrasquad scrimmages, head coach Pete Shinnick has continued to praise the improvement of the offensive line.
    That improvement was again on display in week three against Shorter with 195 yards rushing on 41 attempts and again with last week's school-record 268 rushing yards on 36 touches at Delta State.
    Junior RB Chris Schwarz has posted a pair of 100-yard games against the Hawks and Statesmen, further emphasising his role as the top running back in program annals.

INDIV. SINGLE-GAME RUSHING YARDS
175    Chris Schwarz    at IUP, 12/9/17
171    Chris Schwarz    at Delta St., 9/29/18
101    Chris Schwarz    Shorter, 9/15/18
101    Tim Bellinger    at Ave Maria, 9/3/16
94    Chris Schwarz    at UWG, 11/11/17

TEAM SINGLE-GAME RUSHING YARDS
268    at Delta State, 9/29/18
264    at Ave Maria, 9/3/16
222    at Indiana (Pa.), 12/9/17
195    Shorter, 9/15/18
170    at Mississippi College, 10/8/16

TEAM RUSHING YARDS PER GAME
Year    Net Rush Yards    Yards Per Game
2016    1091    99.2
2017    1734    115.6
2018    791    158.2

DEFENSE HAS FORCED TURNOVERS IN 28 OF 31 GAMES
    The UWF defense forced a school-record five turnovers two weeks ago at Mississippi College and four more last week at Delta State.
    Defensive coordinate Darian Dulin's side of the ball has forced nine fumbles with nine recoveries in its first five games, extending it's streak of games with at least one turnover to seven games.
    While that doesn't seem like a great streak, further inspection shows the Argonauts have gotten at least one turnover in 28 of their 31 games all-time UWF is 19-9 when getting a turnover and 1-2 when unable to force a sudden change.

AUSTIN WILLIAMS BREAKS INTO GSC ALL-TIME FG TOP 10
    UWF PK Austin Williams made three field goals last week against Delta State and was named the Gulf South Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for the third time in 2018 and sixth time in his two years in Pensacola.
    He made all three point-after attempts and went 3-for-3 on field goals, extending his streak of consecutive makes to seven.
    His 2.2 FG per game rank second nationally. He is 15th in total points scored (49) and 18th in points per game (9.8).
    The junior from Phelan, Calif. made a GSC-record 27 field goals in 2017 and now has 38 career field goals, moving into ninth place on the Gulf South Conference career list.

GSC CAREER FIELD GOALS MADE
51    Will Rhody, Valdosta St.    2002-04
51    James Knowles, UNA    1982-85
48    Ted Clem, Troy State    1984-87
46    Coy Nance, Harding    2000-03
43    Ki Tok Chu, UT-Martin    1986-89
40    Jason Williams, Southern Ark.    1997-00
40    Nelson McMurrain, UNA    1978-82
39    Zach Wright, OBU     2005-08
38    Austin Williams, UWF    2017-PR
37    Daniel Andersen, Valdosta St.    2009-12

    He has also kicked off 33 times this year with 18 touchbacks.

PUNT UNIT PROVING TO BE VERY STINGY
    UWF freshman punter Dawson Hamlin enters the UNA game with a 37.2 yards per punt average over 20 kicks.
    Further examination shows a dramatic increase over the last 17 attempts, which have resulted in a 41.8 avg with 10 inside the 20-yard line and seven return yards.

UWF AGAINST RANKED FOES
    The week 2 game against #10 Midwestern State was the eighth-consecutive contest against a ranked opponent for UWF. It was also the 10th in the last 12 games.
    UWF and Ashland were the only schools in Division 2 to play two ranked teams in the first two weeks to start the 2018 season.
    The Argonauts are now 7-5 all-time against ranked teams.
    UWF went 5-3 against ranked teams in 2017, with all five wins coming on the road in consecutive weeks, including four during the NCAA postseason run.

UWF vs. NATIONALLY RANKED PROGRAMS
2016    
16    Florida Tech    W, 42-39
3    at North Alabama    L, 3-51
2017
21/20    Delta State    L, 25-28
25/23    at West Alabama    L, 18-35
24/18    at West Georgia    W, 34-29
16/18    at Wingate (NCAA)    W, 31-0
24/25    at West Georgia (NCAA)    W, 17-14
17/17    at West Alabama (NCAA)    W, 28-21
3/1    at Indiana (Pa.) (NCAA)    W, 27-17
8/8    vs. A&M-Commerce (NCAA)    L, 27-37
2018    
22/rv    Carson-Newman    W, 19-9
10/7    at Midwestern State    L, 17-38
* Rankings are AFCA/D2FB

• Prior to the Shorter game, UWF had played 12 games (out of 28) against teams ranked in the top 25 - meaning that 43 percent of the program's games in its history have been against ranked opponents.

UWF WITH SUCCESS AGAINST UNDEFEATED TEAMS
    UWF's game two weeks ago at unbeaten Mississippi College marked the ninth UWF opponent to enter the game without a loss on the season. The Argonauts improved to 8-1 in those contests following the 34-21 win over the Choctaws. UWF's lone loss came in a 38-17 setback at No. 10 Midwestern State in week two of this season.
    UWF could still face two unbeaten teams in the 2018 regular season - West Georgia next Saturday in Pensacola and Valdosta State on Nov. 3 in Pensacola.

UWF RANKED SECOND IN AFCA PRESEASON TOP 25
    The UWF football team opened the 2018 season as the No. 2 ranked team in the country according to the preseason top 25 poll that was announced by the American Football Coaches Association.
    The Argonauts received 14 first place votes and a total of 721 poll points. Texas A&M-Commerce was chosen No. 1 with 748 points and 13 first place votes. Minnesota State, Indiana (Pa.), Fort Hays State and Northwest Missouri State rounded out the top six, with MSU, IUP and Northwest receiving two first place votes each.
     UWF was also ranked No. 2 in the final 2017 ranking after finishing with an 11-4 record and as the national finalist in its second year of competition. That was the only other time the program has been ranked in it's brief history.
    The Argonauts were picked high in a number of national polls throughout the summer as well:
LINDY'S    1
STREET & SMITH'S    1
COLLEGE FB AMERICA YEARBOOK    1
D2FOOTBALL.COM    3

    UWF received one vote in the AFCA Division 2 Top-25 poll following the home win over North Alabama last season, marking the first-ever vote for the program. The Argonauts would have been tied for 35th if the numbered listing continued past 25.
    After the West Georgia win in the regular-season finale and subsequent NCAA Playoff selection, UWF was the beneficiary of four votes, effectively putting the team at 35th entering the playoffs.

UWF PICKED 2ND IN GSC PRESEASON POLL
    A year after winning five league games and finishing in second place in the Gulf South Conference en route to a memorable run to the NCAA national championship game, the UWF football team was picked second in the 2018 GSC Preseason Coaches Poll as announced by the league office last week.
     Defending champion West Alabama earned six first place votes and was picked first with 62 total points, narrowly ahead of the Argonauts with 59 points. UWF garnered three first place votes, marking the first time in program history that has occurred.
    West Georgia and Delta State – the other two teams from the GSC to advance in the NCAA playoff – came in third and fourth, followed by Valdosta State and Florida Tech, respectively. League newcomer North Greenville was chosen in seventh with Mississippi College and Shorter in the final two spots.

2018 GSC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Pl. School – Points (First Place Votes)
1. West Alabama – 62 (6)
2. West Florida – 59 (3)
3. West Georgia – 44
4. Delta State – 41
5. Valdosta State – 38
6. Florida Tech – 32
7. North Greenville – 24
8. Mississippi College – 16
9. Shorter – 8

    In 2016, UWF was picked eighth in the 9-team league and finished tied for sixth at 3-5. Last season, the Argos were voted seventh and used a 5-3 record to end in a 5-way tie for second.

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