• UWF will hit the road for the fourth time in five games this season, travelling to Tigerville, S.C. for a night game against North Greenville. Kickoff at Younts Stadium is at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT.
FOUR DOWNS WITH UWF
• UWF's offense ranks in the top 20 nationally in scoring offense (4th, 44.8), passing offense (13th, 315.0), total offense (19th, 461.5), first downs per game (11th, 26.0), third-down conversion (2nd, 56.8%) and sacks allowed (5th, 0.5 per game).
• UWF is looking for the first 5-0 start in program history. The Argonauts' 3-0 start this year surpassed the previous best start of 2-0 in 2016 and 2017.
• UWF is 24-9 (.727) all-time on the road, 16-9 (.640) in regular-season road games, and 14-5 (.737) in their last 19. The Argos are also 11-6 (.647) in GSC road games.
• UWF has had at least one passing TD in 38-consecutive games & 53 out of 56 games.
HERE ARE SOME MORE QUICK HITTERS ON THE ARGOS
• UWF has won a school-record 10-consecutive games dating back to the 2019 season. That is tied for the longest active streak in D2, tying Bentley who won it's last five in 2019 and all five this season.
• UWF has won its last seven road games, surpassing the previous school record of five set in 2017.
• Looking ahead to next week's game against 16th-ranked West Georgia (who may still be ranked), the Argos are 13-8 all-time against ranked teams and have won their last six, breaking the school record set in 2017.
ABOUT UWF
• UWF enters week six of the 2021 season at 4-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country. The Argonauts received all 30 first place votes in the last three American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll.
• The Argos average 44.8 points per game on 461.5 yards of total offense, led by 315 yards through the air. Dating back to the national championship game in 2019, UWF has scored at least 35 points in its last five games, establishing a new school record. The streak of 10-consecutive games with at least 28 points is also an active record, breaking the mark set in the program's first eight games all-time.
ABOUT NORTH GREENVILLE
• North Greenville comes into the contest at 3-2 overall and 0-1 in GSC play. The Crusaders 1-1 at home with a win over Limestone and aloss to Mississippi College last week.
• They are led by all-purpose back Dre' Williams and his 153 yards per game, which leads the GSC and is 13th nationally. He has seven TDs (4 rushing/3 receiving) and 106.8 rushing ypg. The Crusaders have run 328 plays and he has touched ball on 98 of those - 29.9 pct.
• The NGU defense allows 24.8 points per game and nearly 400 yards of total offense at 397.4.
SERIES HISTORY
• UWF has won both previous meetings - 26-10 in Tigerville in 2018 and 17-14 in Pensacola in 2019.
• In 2019, the Crusaders grabbed a quick 7-0 lead on a deflected interception return for a TD before scoring a late TD 2:12 left to get within a score. NGU recovered an on-side kick but turned it over on downs six plays later. Austin Reed threw for 254 yards on 21-of-32 with a 38-yard TD pass to Ka'Ron Ashley early in the fourth quarter. Jervon Newton led the rushing attack with 75 yards on 15 carries and a 1-yard run in the third.
• In 2018, the Argos snapped a 2-game losing skid and held the Crusaders to 257 yards of total offense (& just 35 rushing). Sam Vaughn was 19-for-32 for 230 yards with two TD and two interceptions but was 8-of-10 in the third quarter alone, where UWF outscored NGU 13-0.
SHINNICK BITES
• Pete Shinnick was hired as the first head coach in program history on Feb. 2, 2014. The 1988 Colorado graduate is 39-17 in four seasons at UWF.
• He is 141-63 in his 19th season as a head coach, with previous stops at UNC Pembroke (50-24 from 2007-13) and Azusa Pacific (53-22 from 1999-2005).
• Shinnick was named the 2019 D2Football.com Division 2 National Coach of the Year and the 2017 AFCA & D2Football.com D2 National Coach of the Year. He was also the AFCA Region 2 Coach of the Year in 2017.
• He is 13-8 all-time in the postseason - 9-3 in the Division II Playoffs and 4-5 in the NAIA Playoffs while at Azusa Pacific from 1999-2005.
D2 WINNINGEST ACTIVE COACHES
COACH RECORD
1. Bill Zwaan, West Chester 202-76
2. Tom Sawyer, Winona State 192-88
3. Keith Otterbein, Hillsdale 175-131-3
4. Lee Owens, Ashland 163-117
5. Bill Maskill, MSU Texas 159-64
6. Todd Knight, Ouachita Baptist 155-129-2
7. Todd Hoffner, Minnesota State 152-51
8. Tim Clifton, Mars Hill 145-143
9. Pete Shinnick, UWF 141-63
10. Garin Higgins, Emporia State 136-79
* Minimum 5 years as a D2 head coach; record at 4-year schools only.
GSC READY SINCE DAY ONE
• Even before they played a game in 2016, coaches, administrators and fans across the Gulf South Conference footprint had a feeling UWF could be a major player in the league and region really quick. In their four-plus seasons of football, the Argonauts have won 20 GSC contests, ranking them fourth in the league.
UWF'S PRESEASON COACHES POLL VS. ACTUAL FINISH
YEAR PREDICTION ACTUAL
2016 8TH T-6TH
2017 7TH T-2ND
2018 2ND 5TH
2019 4TH 2ND
RECORD IN GSC REGULAR-SEASON
TEAM '16 '17 '18 '19 '21 TOTAL
VSU 6-2 5-3 8-0 8-0 1-0 28-5
UWA 6-2 7-1 5-3 3-5 2-0 23-11
UWG 4-4 5-3 7-1 4-4 2-1 22-13
UWF 3-5 5-3 4-4 7-1 1-0 20-13
FIT* 5-2 3-5 5-3 3-5 --- 16-15
DSU 3-5 5-3 2-6 5-3 0-2 15-19
NGU --- --- 3-4 2-6 0-1 5-11
MC 1-7 1-7 1-6 4-4 1-1 8-25
Shorter 0-8 0-8 0-8 0-8 0-2 0-34
* Fla. Tech dropped football in Spring 2020.
ABOUT THE DELTA STATE COMEBACK
• UWF erased a 20-point halftime deficit last week, outscoring Delta State 29-3 in the final 30 minutes. That 20-point hole established a new school-record for the biggest comeback in a victory.
LARGEST DEFICITS OVERCOME
FINAL
OPP., YR. DEFICIT QTR TIME SCORE
at Delta, '21 10-30 3rd 15:00 39-33
at VSU, '16 0-20 1st 2:30 28-40*
at UWG, '17 0-16 2nd 15:00 34-29
at Delta, '18 6-21 3rd 12:00 30-21
MC, '19 0-14 2nd 11:32 27-21 OT
* UWF took a 28-27 lead with 4:12 left in the 3rd qtr before losing 40-28.
• UWF is 26-3 all-time when leading at the half, 10-14 when trailing and 3-0 when tied.
• The Argos have won their last 12 when leading at the break. They have won four of their last five when trailing heading into the locker room.
BIG PLAY OFFENSE
• UWF has had 31 plays of 20 yards or more, including a season-high 13 last week at Delta State. A total of 22 have been through the air, two on the ground, five kick returns, one punt return and one interception. Six of them have gone for a TD, with all of those on passes.
• David Durden leads the team with nine big plays. Ra'veion Hargrove has six and Rodney Coates has five.
UWF #2 NATIONALLY IN 3RD DOWN PERCENTAGE
• One of the many recipes for success is UWF's efficiency on 3rd down, where the Argos lead the country with a 57 pct. conversion rate.
• The Argos are 21-for-37 on the season, making 6-of-10 at McNeese, 8-of-10 against SW Baptist, 6-of-9 at Texas A&M Commerce and just 1-of-8 at Delta State.
• UWF has been especially stout in the first quarter, making 5-of-7 attempts.
UWF BACKFIELD: NO VISITORS ALLOWED
• Through four games, UWF's starters have allowed just one QB sack, with that coming for seven yards at Delta State last week.
• Additionally, UWF has only allowed four tackles for loss for a combined 10 yards.
• Delta State entered last week's game with a GSC-leading 13 sacks and 10.8 tackles for loss per game (2nd nationally) but noly had one sack and one TFL.
REED-ICULOUS START
• Sophomore Austin Reed took over as the starting quarterback in the second game of 2019 and led UWF to it's first national title, throwing for 4,000 yards and 40 TDs while amassing a 13-1 record as a starter. Those numbers earned the St. Augustine, Florida native National and GSC Freshman of the Year.
• But the awards only tell part of the story. To say he got better as the season went along would be a huge understatement. In UWF's first nine games, he threw for 2,001 yards and 19 TD, before exploding for identical numbers of 2,088 yards and 21 TD in the final six games.
• In the national championship, he shattered both the UWF and NCAA Championship single-game records with 523 passing yards and tied both organization marks with six passing TD. He was 33-of-54 on the day with his completions tying the finals mark and his attempts setting a new top effort. He had 399 yards by halftime to break the previous yardage mark of 361 which had stood since 2002.
• Through four games in 2021, he ranks 14th nationally with 299.0 passing yards per game and fourth with 17.9 yards per completion. His 14 passing TDs rank 11th.
• Reed and Shepherd's Tyson Bagnet are the only two players nationally to rank in the top 15 in passing yards per game, passing efficiency and points responsible per game.
• In the week two win over SW Baptist, he set a UWF record with a 210.72 passer rating, completing 20-of-26 passes for 257 yards while playing into the first drive of the third quarter.
• As a senior at St. Augustine HS in 2017, Reed was the Florida Class 6A Player of the Year after throwing for 2,925 yards and 34 TD.
REED'S LAST 10 GAMES
OPPONENT YARDS TD QBR
West Alabama 443 5 209.52
at Wingate 165 3 122.15
at Valdosta State 298 1 138.74
at Lenoir-Rhyne 360 3 164.28
at Ferris State 299 3 115.95
vs. Minn. State 523 6 175.95
at McNeese State 380 4 172.56
SW Baptist 257 4 210.72
at A&M Commerce 274 2 148.8
at Delta State 285 4 148.8
9-Game Totals/Avg. 3,284 35 ---
328.4 3.5
JOHNSON SETS TD MARK
• Senior RB Anthony Johnson, Jr. had three rushing touchdowns on five carries (8 yards) against SW Baptist in week two, tying his own single-game record set at Valdosta State in the 2019 NCAA Playoffs. The final score against the Bearcats pushed his career TD number to 16, moving him past Quentin Randolph (2016-19) into first place all-time at UWF.
• He ranks second in UWF rushing history with 333 carries and 1,405 yards. Chris Schwarz compiled 413 rushes for 1,992 yards from 2016-18.
DURDEN SETS CONSECUTIVE TD IN A GAME MARK
• Junior WR David Durden had one of the most impressive debut performances in UWF history in the opener at McNeese, catching six passes for 172 yards and one TD, while running once for a 6-yard TD. He returned two kicks for 14 yards apiece. He has since raised his season totals to 16 receptions for 408 yards and 25.5 yards per catch.
• Last week at Delta State, Durden opened the game with a 90-yard TD reception, giving him a TD catch in all four games thus far. That moved him into first place for consecutive games with a TD, passing three great Argo receivers - Quentin Randolph, Anas Hasic and Ishmel Morrow - who each had a catch in three-straight at one time in their careers.
DURDEN IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
CATEGORY RK. STAT
All Purpose Yards/Gm 45 125.3
Receiving Yards 44 408
Rec. Yards/Gm 20 102.0
Total TD 16 7
Receiving TD 12 6
Points Scored 22 42
Scoring/Gm 12 10.5
• The Midville, Ga. native transferred to UWF prior to the 2020 academic year from Mercer, where he had 1,054 receiving yards and 971 return yards on 37 returns (26.2 ypr) in two seasons. He earned FCS Freshman All-America honors in 2018.
• Durden was a 20th Round draft pick by the Red Sox in the 2017 MLB Draft and played in 30 games for the GCL Red Sox.
COATES' CAREER DAY LEADS TO GSC POW
• Senior WR Rodney Coates had a career day against Southwest Baptist, totaling 126 yards on nine catches with two touchdowns. His scoring catches went for seven and six yards, and he averaged 14.0 yards per catch as he was named the GSC Offensive Co-Player of the Week.
• The senior from Grove Hill, Alabama enters this week with season totals of 259 yards on 16 receptions and three touchdowns.
MASON CLIMBING RB RECEPTIONS CHART
• Sophomore RB Shomari Mason had a career-high three receptions at Delta State last week, matriculating 54 yards with a 9-yard scoring catch. That is among the most catches by a running back in a single-game in program history.
RECEPTIONS BY A RUNNING BACK
UWF SINGLE-GAME
NO. PLAYER GAME
4 Tim Bellinger at Chowan, 2016
3 Shomari Mason at Delta St., 2021
3 Anthony Johnson, Jr. MC, 2019
3 Daviante Sayles at UWA, 2016
3 Tim Bellinger FIT, 2016
RECEPTIONS BY A RUNNING BACK
UWF SINGLE-SEASON
NO. PLAYER YEAR
11 Anthony Johnson, Jr. 2019
11 Tim Bellinger 2016
10 Chris Schwarz 2017
8 Shomari Mason 2021
8 Daviante Sayles 2016
7 Jemari Ford 2016
CAMPBELL, SMITH NAMED GSC DEFENSIVE & FRESHMAN POW
• UWF had two more GSC Players of the Week as Shea Campbell and Jared Smith were named the Defensive and Freshman Players of the Week, respectively, on Monday.
• Campbell was all over the field in Saturday's 39-33 victory at Delta State, finishing with 11 tackles and two sacks. The graduate transfer from Morgantown, West Virginia had four stops in the second half, including on the Statesmen's final two offensive plays of the game with an open-field tackle and a sack of Patrick Shegog to turn the ball over on downs. He is third on the team with 27 tackles.
• Smith had his best game as an Argonaut as well, catching three passes for 29 yards and his first career touchdown. The 17-yard score came on UWF's opening drive of the second half as they outscored DSU, 29-3, after halftime. He also had a pair of 6-yard receptions. The first-year player from Enterprise, Alabama is fourth on the team with six receptions and 103 yards. His 17.2 yards per catch ranks second.
ARGOS HAVE FORCED TURNOVERS IN 51 OF 56 GAMES
• The UWF defense forced a school-record six turnovers twice last season at West Georgia and at Ferris State. Those big plays were part of the 15-consecutive games with a turnover. Sadly, the streak ended in week one when they failed to get a turnover at McNeese State... But never fear because a new streak started with a special teams turnover against SW Baptist and then a fumble and interception at Texas A&M-Commerce. UWF added four more turnovers at Delta State last week, with an INT and two fumble recoveries.
• Further inspection shows the Argonauts have gotten at least one turnover in 51 of their 56 all-time games. UWF is 37-12 when getting a turnover and 2-5 when unable to force a sudden change.
• The turnover prize for UWF is a navy blue Turnover Shield and was created by Defensive Coordinator Darian Dulin prior to the 2018 campaign. The round wooden disk has a large UWF logo on a navy blue background. The shield, which is a replica of what Jason and the Argonauts may have used in mythological times, is then signed in silver marker by the player(s) who had a hand in creating the turnover. New for 2021 is a metal trash can that is struck with a wooden sword in celebration.
UWF AMONG THE BEST AT FORCING TURNOVERS
• UWF is one of the best teams in the country at forcing turnovers. In fact, the Argonauts are one of just three teams nationally to rank in the top 20 each of the last three seasons in turnovers gained, joining CSU Pueblo and Winona State.
• Since 2017, UWF has 99 turnovers gained in 45 contests, averaging 2.2 per game.
TURNOVERS GAINED SINCE 2017
4-YR
School '21 '19 '18 '17 TOTAL
CSU Pueblo 7 39 45 30 121
Winona St. 3 29 28 37 97
UWF 7 37 25 30 99
Bowie St. 12 35 23 28 98
Len.-Rhyne 8 31 38 16 93
Edinboro 5 22 31 30 88
CERRA WITH STRONG DEBUT
• Redshirt sophomore PK Griffin Cerra (pronounced 'Sara') had a nice debut for the Argos last week at Delta State, making five PAT & a 26-yard FG.
• Cerra transferred to UWF this season after three years at Southern Illinois. He was 47-of-48 on PATs and 5-for-6 on FGs with a long of 50 yards in 2018-19. He did not play in 2020.
ARGOS' ROAD SUCCESS CONTINUES YEAR AFTER YEAR
• UWF went 7-2 on the road in 2019. The seven wins tied for the highest total in Division 2 with Minnesota State's 7-0 mark.
• Following the Delta State win, the Argonauts are now 24-9 all-time on the road in their fifth season of play, including an 8-1 mark in 2017 when they tied Harding for the most road victories in the country.
• After a 2-4 road mark in the 2016 inaugural season, UWF has had a winning record away from home each year - 8-1, 4-2, 7-2 and 3-0.
UWF STRONG AT HOME... ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT
• UWF has enjoyed a winning record in three of its four seasons, amassing a 12-7 home mark overall. The Argonauts have been especially successful in night games (5 pm kickoff or later), going 10-2.
• After the 5-0 home record in 2019 and the 63-14 win over Southwest Baptist at Pen Air Field two weeks ago, UWF has the eighth-longest active streak in Division 2.
UWF VS. RANKED TEAMS
• Including the game against Texas A&M Commerce, UWF has played 21 of 56 games against ranked foes - that's 38.2 percent of its history.
• By week 2 of their third season (2018), #10 Midwestern State was the eighth-consecutive contest against a ranked opponent for UWF. It was also the tenth in a stretch of 12 games for the Argonauts.
• Additionally, UWF had played 12 games (out of 28 up to that point) against teams ranked in the top 25 - meaning that 43 percent of the program's games in its history had been against ranked opponents.
• After the win over No. 21/13 Texas A&M Commerce, the Argonauts improved to 13-8 all-time against ranked teams and have a record 6-game winning streak.
UWF ALL-TIME 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 Ala. (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
4/4 West Georgia L, 7-27
7/7 Valdosta State L, 21-48
2019
1/1 at Valdosta State L, 21-26
16/17 at WIngate (NCAA) W, 38-17
1/1 at Valdosta State (NCAA) W, 38-35
6/6 at Lenoir-Rhyne (NCAA) W, 43-38
2/2 at Ferris State (NCAA) W, 28-14
4/3 vs. Minn. State (NCAA) W, 48-40
2021
21/13 at Texas A&M Commerce W, 35-17
* Rankings are AFCA/D2FB
Overall: 13-8 Postseason: 9-1
Home: 2-3 Road: 10-4 Neutral: 1-1
115 PLAYERS IN CAMP, 11 W/ BACHELOR'S DEGREE
• UWF currently has 115 student-athletes on its roster entering the opening week of play. Since the program started filling out the roster in the Spring of 2015, the maturation levels have continued to rise throughout the program.
SENIORS/
GRADUATES JUNIORS
2016 5 14
2017 16 15
2018 27 40
2019 30 30
2021 26 24
• UWF has 11 football student-athletes who have received their bachelor's degree, making them one of 15 D2 programs with double-digit graduates. That continues a trend for the Argo- naut program, as they have averaged just over 10 graduates on the fall roster in their 5-year history. They led D2 with 11 playing graduates in 2018.
FRESH FACES WITH COLLEGE EXPERIENCE
• Since the end of the 2019 national championship season, UWF added 34 transfers – 14 from FBS schools, 9 from FCS level, 3 from other Division 2 programs & 8 from junior colleges. 18 of those are among the 2-deep this week with seven each on offense and defense, and four among the specialists.
THE ORIGINAL ARGOS
• Due to a variety of factors, UWF has two student-athletes that have been with the program since the practice season of 2015 - Trent Archie and Rodney Coates.
• Two additional Argos have been around since the inaugural season of 2016 - Ka'Ron Ashley and Marcus Clayton.
UWF PICKED FIRST IN GSC PRESEASON POLL, RECORD 10 ARGOS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-CONF.
• UWF was picked first in a vote of Gulf South Conference coaches in the 2021 GSC Preseason Football Poll that was announced in August.
• UWF earned five of the seven possible first place votes and totaled 47 polling points. Valdosta State had the remaining
three first place votes and was picked second with 45 points. Delta State, West Alabama, West Georgia and Mississippi College were bunched together in third through sixth, respectively. North Greenville and Shorter were at the bot- tom of the poll.
• UWF had a league-high nine student-athletes selected to 10 positions on the preseason all-conference team.
• On offense, five Argonauts were chosen, led by quarterback Austin Reed, wide receiver Rodney Coates, tight end Jacure' Jackson, and offensive linemen Jacob Bruce and Mike Dilla. The defensive representatives are Matthew Gotel on the line, Trent Archie at nickel back, and defensive backs D'Anthony Bell and Marcus Clayton. Jackson was also voted on special teams to the blocking team position.
2021 GSC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Pl. School – Points
1. WEST FLORIDA (5) 47
2. Valdosta State (3) 45
3. Delta State 33
4. West Alabama 30
5. West Georgia 26
6. Mississippi College 22
7. North Greenville 14
8. Shorter 7
