• Coming off a hard-fought 34-21 win at Mississippi College last week, UWF returns to the Magnolia State for the second-consecutive week to face Delta State.
• This week's contest marks the second-straight road game for the Argonauts and is part of a stretch of four games away from Pensacola in five weeks. Next week they will be at North Alabama to close out the road swing.
TOP STORYLINES
• UWF is 2-0 in Gulf South Conference play for the first time in program history.
• UWF is 10-8 all-time in GSC regular-season games, with a 5-4 record at home and 5-4 on the road.
• Delta State is one of two GSC teams that UWF has not defeated in its two-plus seasons of football. The Argos are 0-2 against DSU and Valdosta State.
• UWF is ranked No. 11 in the AFCA poll (10 by the media of D2Football.com), putting the Argos into the rankings for the sixth-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 122-57 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.
• Delta State coach Todd Cooley is in his sixth season with the Statesmen and is 35-24 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 is 3-1 on the season and ranked No. 11 by the American Football Coaches Association. The Argonauts defeated Mississippi College, 34-21, handing the Choctaws their first loss on the season.
The Argonauts are averaging 308.8 passing yards (11th in NCAA; 1st in GSC) and 130.8 rushing yards on the season. Their 439.5 yards per game second in the GSC and 35th nationally.
Graduate QB Sam Vaughn has completed 60 percent of his attempts for 1,209 yards (302.3 ypg) and nine TD.
The running back trio of Chris Schwarz, Quaide Weimerskirch and Anthony Johnson, Jr. have combined for 400 yards on 98 carries.
Junior Tate Lehtio leads the GSC with 23 receptions for 328 yards and a touchdown. Senior Ishmel Morrow has 19 receptions for 267 yards and a touchdown.
The defense ranks 64th nationally, allowing 349 yards per game and forcing 11 total turnovers in four games. UWF is second nationally in fumbles recovered with eight.
Graduate transfer Gavin Burford has 31 tackles and is tied for third in the GSC at 7.8 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 DELTA STATE
Delta State is 0-4 on the season, marking its worst start since 2002. The Statesmen have played a very tough schedule as the four teams are a combined 12-2, with Tarleton State (3-0) and Grand Valley (4-0) in the top 25, and Florida Tech (3-1) receiving votes.
QB Patrick Shegog has completed 57-of-116 passes for 568 yards and a touchdown while being thrust into a starting role following an injury to Brett Ruddick. He has also rushed 62 times for 170 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Ovenson Cledanord ranks in the top three in GSC in tackles (40), sacks (2.5) and tackles per game (10.0).
SERIES HISTORY
UWF trails the all-time series 2-0. Delta State has earned a pair of close victories each of the last two season by a combined seven points.
In 2016, UWF compiled a school-record 557 yards of total offense in a 55-51 road loss. The Argos were leading by 2 late in the game before the Statesmen capitalized on an offensive line miscommunication to force a fumble and that led to the game-winning score with 1:30 to play. DSU led 35-34 at halftime.
Last season in Pensacola, the Argos led 25-14 after three quarters before the Statesmen scored to open the fourth and then blocked a UWF field goal and returned it for a touchdown to come away with the win. UWF had a season-high 443 yards of total offense and Austin Williams tied his own school record with four field goals. Mike Beaudry threw for 354 yards on 22-of-47 with a touchdown.
UWF WITH SUCCESS AGAINST UNDEFEATED TEAMS
Last Saturday's game 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.
RECORD AGAINST UNBEATEN TEAMS
Record entering
Year Opponent the game
2016 at Ave Maria 0-0 W, 45-0
2016 Missouri S&T 1-0 W, 45-28
2016 No. 16 Florida Tech 4-0 W, 42-39
2017 at Missouri S&T 0-0 W, 20-16
2017 at Florida Tech 3-0 W, 23-21
2017 at No. 1 Indiana (Pa.) 13-0 W, 27-17
2018 No. 22 Carson-Newman 0-0 W, 19-9
2018 at No. 10 Midwestern St. 1-0 L, 17-38
2018 Mississippi College 3-0 W, 34-21
VAUGHN COMING OFF CAREER HIGH GAME
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 two weeks ago 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 was third in 29 all-time games.
He currently ranks among the NCAA leaders in the following categories:
Category NCAA Rk. Stat
Passing Yards 8 1,209
Passing Yards/game 8 302.3
Completions/game 15 22.3
Total Offense/game 16 306.5
Passing TDs 19 9
Pass. Yds/Completion 45 13.6
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 scrimmages, head coach Pete Shinnick has continued to praise the improvement of the offensive line.
That improvement was again on display two weeks ago against Shorter with 195 yards rushing on 41 attempts - both ranking third all-time in UWF history. The four rushing TDs tied the school record set at Ave Maria in the inaugural game on Sept. 3, 2016.
Junior RB Chris Schwarz went for 101 yards on 13 carries for the second-highest single-game performance in school history.
RUSHING YARDS PER GAME
Net Rushing Yards
Year Yards Per Game
2016 1091 99.2
2017 1734 115.6
2018 563 130.8
DEFENSE HAS FORCED TURNOVERS IN 27 OF 30 GAMES
The UWF defense forced a school-record five turnovers last week at Mississippi College. Defensive coordinate Darian Dulin's side of the ball has forced nine fumbles with eight recoveries in its first four games, extending it's streak of games with at least one turnover to six games.
While that doesn't seem like a great streak, further inspection shows the Argonauts have gotten at least one turnover in 27 of their 30 games all-time UWF is 18-9 when getting a turnover and 1-2 when unable to force a sudden change.
PUNT UNIT PROVING TO BE VERY STINGY
UWF freshman punter Dawson Hamlin enters the game with a 38.2 yards per punt average over 10 kicks.
Further examination shows a dramatic increase over the last 12 attempts, which have resulted in a 43.1 avg with eight 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 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.
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