• UWF returns home to play host to Shorter in the Gulf South Conference opener for both squads on Saturday.

• The home game is the only one in a stretch of five weeks as UWF will travel to Mississippi College, Delta State and North Alabama the next three weeks, following last week's road game at Midwestern State.

TOP STORYLINES
• The Argos are opening Gulf South Conference play and bring an 0-2 record in league lidlifters into the contest. They have opened will losses to Valdosta State  - 2016 on the road and 2017 at home - each of the first two seasons.
• UWF is 8-8 all-time in GSC regular-season games, with a 4-4 record at home and 4-4 on the road.
• UWF is ranked No. 13 in the AFCA poll (11 by the media of D2Football.com), putting the Argos into the rankings for the fourth-consecutive ranking period after ending the 2017 season ranked No. 2.
• Prior to tonight's game, UWF has 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.

THE COACHES
• UWF coach Pete Shinnick was hired as the first coach in program history on Feb. 6, 2014. He has a 120-57 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.
• Shorter coach Zach Morrison is in his first season as the Hawks' head coach. He was a standout all-conference offensive lineman on the school's inaugural team in 2005 and graduated in 2008. He arrived at Shorter from Kennesaw Mountain HS where he was an assistant football coach and head wrestling coach since June 2016. He was the first football player inducted into the Shorter Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.

ABOUT UWF
    UWF returns home for its GSC opener with a 1-1 record and a No. 13 ranking by the American Football Coaches Association. The Argonauts fell to 10th-ranked Midwestern State, 38-17, on the road last week after defeating then-22nd-ranked Carson-Newman during the opening week of play.
    The Argonauts are averaging 232 passing yards and 126 rushing yards on the season.
    Graduate QB Sam Vaughn has completed 53 percent of his attempts for 450 yards and three touchdowns. In his first career start last week, he was 19-of-38 for 242 yards with two touchdowns, while rushing for 22 yards.
    The running back trio of Chris Schwarz, Quaide Weimerskirch and Anthony Johnson, Jr. have combined for 228 yards on 61 carries.
    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 SHORTER
    Shorter comes into tonight's contest with an 0-2 record following losses at Samford and at home to Tusculum. The Hawks have been outscored by an average of 63.5-11.5. Shorter has lost its last 30 games.
    In two games, the Hawks have averaged 250 yards per game while allowing 533. Shorter ranks 167th out of 167 Division II teams in scoring defense, allowing an average of 63.5 points per game.
    Quarterback Tyler Pullam has completed 59 percent of his passes and has posted 164 yards per game through the air with three touchdowns.

SERIES HISTORY
    UWF leads the all-time series 2-0. The Argonauts earned a 36-0 Homecoming victory at Blue Wahoos Stadium in 2016 when they held the Hawks to 98 yards of total offense and just six live ball first downs (4 also came by penalty).
    Last season in Rome, Ga., UWF secured a 42-29 win at Barron Stadium for its third road win of the year (they would end with five more to lead Division 2). Quarterback Mike Beaudry had a combined 374 yards of total offense and completed passes to 11 different receivers. Beaudry completed a career-high 25 passes on 33 attempts for a school-record 75.8 completion percentage with four touchdowns. He was also the team's top rusher, finishing with 52 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown.

DID YOU KNOW?
• UWF and Shorter are the only two teams in the Gulf South Conference who have not recorded an interception on defense this season.
• Prior to tonight's game, UWF has 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.
• Shorter has lost 30-consecutive games ... UWF has only played 28 in its history.

VAUGHN COMING OFF FIRST CAREER START
    Graduate QB Sam Vaughn made his first career start last week 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.
    A week earlier in relief of Beaudry, Vaughn was 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 last Thursday, the last time he played in a live game was as a senior at Fort Pierce (Fla.) Central HS.

    Below are the debut performances of the players who have started at QB for UWF:

Name    Game
Kaleb Nobles    at Ave Maria, 9/3/16   20-for-28, 229 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
Mike Beaudry    at Missouri S&T, 9/2/17   20-for-31, 192 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
Grey Jackson    Miss. College, 10/6/17   10-for-21, 101 yards, 2 rush for 5 yards
Sam Vaughn    at MSU Texas, 9/8/18   19-for-37, 251 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 4 rush for 22 yards

DEFENSE DOMINANT IN OPENER VS CARSON-NEWMAN
    The UWF defense hit its stride around week seven last year and was a major force during the postseason run to the national championship game. Last week, defensive coordinator Darian Dulin's unit picked up where they left off  and held Carson-Newman to just nine points - their lowest in any game in five years and their fewest in a season opener since 1967.
    The second-half effort was the perfect storm as the Eagles were held scoreless and managed just 67 yards of total offense in the final 30 minutes. Additionally, C-N totaled just eight yards on 10 plays in the fourth quarter and were held to one or fewer yards on seven of them.

DEFENSE HAS FORCED TURNOVERS IN 25 OF 28 GAMES
    The UWF defense forced and recovered two fumbles in each of its first two games, extending it's streak of games with at least one turnover to four games.
    While that doesn't seem like a great streak, further inspection shows the Argonauts have gotten at least one turnover in 25 of their 28 games all-time UWF is 16-9 when getting a turnover and 1-2 when unable to force a sudden change.

WILLIAMS NAILS 4 FIELD GOALS FOR FOURTH TIME
    Junior PK Austin Williams made four field goals against Carson-Newman to tie his own school record, which he previously set against Valdosta State (9/23/17), Delta State (10/14/17) and at West Alabama (10/28/17).
    The Phelan, Calif. native earned his fourth Gulf South Conference Special Teams Player of the Week award after adding an extra point and putting four of his six kickoffs into the end zone for a touchback.
    In 2017, he garnered Honorable Mention All-America honors after he finished with a UWF record 126 points on 27 field goals and 45 extra points. He shattered the GSC single-season record for field goals in a season with 27 – the previous mark was 23.

GSC SINGLE-SEASON FG MADE
27    Austin WIlliams, UWF    2017
23    Anthony Pistelli, Valdosta St.    2014
22    Will Rhody, Valdosta State    2004
20    Jason Williams, Southern Ark.    1998

UWF  AGAINST RANKED FOES
    Last week's 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 are the only schools in Division 2 to play two ranked teams 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