• The third-ranked UWF football team plays host to second-ranked and undefeated Valdosta State on Saturday evening. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. CST at Blue Wahoos Stadium in Pensacola. It is UWF's annual Salute to Service game and will feature personnel from military and local public service agencies.
FOUR DOWNS WITH UWF
• UWF's offense ranks in the top 25 nationally in scoring offense (5th, 44.2), passing offense (5th, 333.4), total offense (7th, 479.6), first downs per game (17th, 25.2), third-down conversion (25th, 45.9%), tackles for loss allowed (1st, 1.1) and sacks allowed (5th, 0.6 per game).
• On defense, UWF ranks among the top 50 in rushing defense (32nd, 108.0) and sacks (16th, 3.3).
• UWF is playing its fourth ranked opponent of the season on Saturday. The Argos are 2-1 this year and 14-9 all-time against ranked teams.
• UWF is 43-18 all-time for a .705 winning pct. That would rank third among active Division 2 programs but UWF does not have the minimum 20 seasons of competition for inclusion - check back with us in 2037.
HERE ARE SOME MORE QUICK HITTERS ON THE ARGOS
• The Argos average 25.2 first downs per game which is second in the GSC.
• UWF has had at least one passing TD in 43-consecutive games & 58 out of 61 all-time games.
• UWF won a school-record 11-consecutive games prior to the loss to then-No. 12 West Georgia last month. The 30-26 loss also ended UWF's home winning streak at a school-record six.
• UWF is 14-9 all-time against ranked teams and is just 2-4 at home. The Argonauts have lost their last three home games against ranked opponents. Valdosta State has been ranked the last three times the teams have played.
ABOUT UWF
• UWF enters week 10 of the 2021 season at 8-1 and ranked No. 3/4 in the country and No. 4 in the NCAA Super Region 2 rankings.
• The Argos average 44.2 points per game (5th nationally) on 479.6 yards of total offense, led by 333.4 yards through the air. Dating back to the national championship game in 2019, UWF has scored at least 35 points in nine of its last 10 games, including a school-record six-consecutive prior to the UWG game.
ABOUT VALDOSTA STATE
• VSU enters the game at 9-0 on the season and 6-0 in GSC play. The Blazers are one of just two unbeaten teams in Division 2 with Ferris State and are 37-2 in their last 39 games (33-1 in the last 3 seasons).
• The Blazers rank first in the country with the fewest turnovers lost at 7 and sacks allowed at 1. VSU's defense has scored four touchdowns.
• VSU has a 14-game road winning streak, which ranks second among active teams in D2 behind Ferris State at 21.
SERIES HISTORY
• VSU leads the series 4-1 and has won both games played at Blue Wahoos Stadium (2017 & 2018).
• The teams played two exciting games in Valdosta in 2019, with each team winning once. VSU clinched the GSC regular-season title with a 26-21 win on Nov. 9 and UWF claimed a 38-35 decision in the NCAA Second Round on Nov. 30.
GSC TITLE ON THE LINE
• Not only does today's game have NCAA Playoff implications, there's also the matter of the GSC Championship to be decided.
• Valdosta State has clinched a share of its third-consecutive league title and can win it outright with a win. The Argos can tie for first with a win over the Blazers. The GSC does not break regular-season ties, so both teams would be declared co-champions.
RUNNING BACKS ON DISPLAY
• Fans of running the football are in for a treat tonight as both teams feature really exciting running backs.
• For UWF, Shomari Mason leads the country with 9.3 yards per carry and has 771 yards and nine touchdowns. Teammate Anthony Johnson, Jr. is the Argos' all-time leading rusher with 1,565 yards and 18 touchdowns.
• Valdosta State is led by Seth McGill and Jamar Thompkins. McGill leads the GSC with 90.2 ypg and 11 TD, while Thompkins is second in the league with 7.4 ypc and has seven TD. QB Ivory Durham is also a force on the ground, rushing for 67.0 yards per game and 8 rushing scores.
UWF #4 IN REGION RANKING
• The NCAA Division 2 Football Committee announced the third edition of the regional rankings this week & the Argonauts came in at No. 4 in Super Region 2.
SUPER REGION 2
In-Region D2
Rk. Team Record Record
1. Valdosta St. 9-0 9-0
2. Bowie St. 7-0 9-0
3. Albany St. (GA) 9-1 9-1
4. West Florida 5-1 7-1
5. West Ga. 7-2 7-2
6. Mars Hill 7-2 7-2
7. Newberry 8-2 8-2
8. Savannah St. 8-2 8-2
9. Lenoir-Rhyne 7-2 7-2
10. Fayetteville St. 8-1 8-1
• UWF was No. 5 the first week & in the first poll in 2019.
• The poll is the final weekly regional rankings released by the football committee, which are used to determine the 28-team bracket for the NCAA Division II Football Playoffs. The top seven teams from each of the four regions in the final rankings on Sunday, Nov. 14 will advance to the Division II Playoffs, with the top seed receiving a first round bye.
SHINNICK BITES
• Pete Shinnick was hired as the first head coach in program history on Feb. 2, 2014. The 1988 Colorado graduate is 43-18 in four seasons at UWF.
• He is 145-64 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 204-78
2. Tom Sawyer, Winona State 194-90
3. Keith Otterbein, Hillsdale 177-133-3
4. Lee Owens, Ashland 164-120
5. Bill Maskill, MSU Texas 161-66
6. Todd Knight, Ouachita Baptist 158-130-2
7. Todd Hoffner, Minnesota State 154-53
8. Tim Clifton, Mars Hill 149-143
9. Pete Shinnick, UWF 145-64
10. Garin Higgins, Emporia State 138-81
* 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 21 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 6-0 33-5
UWA 6-2 7-1 5-3 3-5 4-3 25-14
UWG 4-4 5-3 7-1 4-4 5-2 25-14
UWF 3-5 5-3 4-4 7-1 5-1 24-14
FIT* 5-2 3-5 5-3 3-5 --- 16-15
DSU 3-5 5-3 2-6 5-3 3-4 18-21
NGU --- --- 3-4 2-6 1-5 6-15
MC 1-7 1-7 1-6 4-4 2-5 9-29
Shorter 0-8 0-8 0-8 0-8 0-6 0-38
* Fla. Tech dropped football in Spring 2020.
BIG PLAY OFFENSE
• UWF has had 65 plays of 20 yards or more, including season-highs of 13 at Delta State, 11 against Shorter and 9 last week at West Alabama. A total of 42 have been through the air, nine on the ground, eight kick returns, three punt returns and three interceptions.
• David Durden leads the team with 11 big plays. Rodney Coates has 10 and Ka'Ron Ashley has nine.
• The Argos average 25.5 first downs per game, with a season-high 30 against SW Baptist, one shy of tying the school record.
ARGOS #2 NATIONALLY IN YARDS PER PLAY
• UWF's offense has always leaned towards the big play and 2021 is no exception. The Argonauts average 8.04 yds per play, which ranks second in the country and is on pace to set a new school record.
• Three times this season, UWF has set the single-game record for yards per play, putting up 8.3 at McNeese before 9.3 against Shorter and a monster number of 10.9 at MC.
YARDS PER PLAY NATIONAL LEADERS
Team Yds/Play
1. Shepherd 8.06
2. West Florida 8.04
3. Valdosta State 7.55
4. Nebraska Kearney 7.10
Ferris State 7.10
QUICK STRIKE OFFENSE
• Along the lines of the previous note, when you average 8.04 yards per play, you are going to move the ball towards the end zone in a short amount of time. Two weeks ago, UWF's nine scoring drives averaged a season-best 1:53 per possession.
Scoring Avg Time per
Game Drives Scoring Drive
McNeese 6 2:30
Southwest Baptist 9 2:55
A&M Commerce 5 3:06
Delta State 6 2:08
North Greenville 7 3:07
West Georgia 4 2:26
Shorter 7 2:22
Mississippi College 9 1:53
West Alabama 7 2:53
Season Totals 60 2:35
• UWF has averaged 2:23 on its 53 offensive scoring drives this season. The Argos have scored in under 2:00 27 times - or half of their offensive scores, with nine of those in less than a minute.
UWF BACKFIELD: NO VISITORS ALLOWED
• This season UWF has allowed just five QB sacks for 41 total yards, But further inspection shows the starters have allowed just two QB sacks. The other three sacks have come with backups and on backup QB Wyatt Eget.
• Additionally, UWF has only allowed 10 other tackles for loss for a combined 35 yards. The 1.11 TFL allowed leads the country. Emporia State and Shepherd are tied for second at 2.7.
REED-ICULOUS SEASON FOR AUSTIN
• 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 nine games in 2021, he ranks 3rd nationally with 325.6 passing yards per game and 3rd with 16.4 yards per completion. His 33 passing TDs rank 4th.
• 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. Two weeks ago at Mississippi College, he broke that single-game passer rating mark with a 210.79.
• He has thrown for over 300 yards five times in 2021, including the last four.
• 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.
MASON A TOUGH LOAD TO BRING DOWN
• Sophomore RB Shomari Mason leads the UWF rushing attack, entering the VSU game with 771 yards on 86 carries. That breaks down to 9.0 yards per carry, which leads the country.
• The North Fort Myers, Fla., native is ranked 28th nationally with 9 rushing TD, 74th with 6.7 points per game and 41st with 84.7 yards per game. He is second in the GSC with 103.4 all-purpose ypg.
JOHNSON SETS TD MARK
• Senior RB Anthony Johnson, Jr. had three rushing touchdowns on five carries 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 347 carries and 1,470 yards. Chris Schwarz compiled 413 rushes for 1,992 yards from 2016-18.
ARGOS RECEIVING CORPS AMONG THE BEST IN THE COUNTRY AGAIN
• UWF has had one of the top receiving groups in the country the past two seasons. This year the Argonaut wide receivers have averaged 21.1 receptions per game and 322.7 yards per game.
• Senior Rodney Coates leads the team with 37 catches and 651 yards, to go along with six TD and 72.3 yards per game. He had a career day against Southwest Baptist, hauling in 126 yards on nine catches with two touchdowns, which earned him GSC Co-Player of the Week honors.
• Junior David Durden has been a force since transferring from Mercer two years ago. He had a dynamite debut against McNeese this year, catching six passes for 172 yards and one TD, while running once for a 6-yard TD. He leads the team with nine TD receptions and also has 27 receptions for 595 yards and 22.0 yards per catch over seven games. After missing two games with an injury, he played at UWA last week and made five receptions for 105 yards and two TD.
• Durden had at least one TD catch in the first five games, moving 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.
• 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.
• Grad student Ka'Ron Ashley had a career game against No. 12 West Georgia, hauling in 12 catches for 169 yards and three touchdowns. All three stats were the most by a receiver in the GSC this season and among the top 5 in UWF history.
• Ashley joined former Argo standouts Quentin Randolph and Anas Hasic as the only players to catch three TD passes in a single game.
• Freshman Jared Smith made his first career start two weeks ago week against Shorter, producing in a big way with four receptions, 116 yards and two TD - all career-highs. The Enterprise, Ala. native has 11 receptions for 229 yards and three scores this year. His 20.8 yards per catch are second on the team.
• Junior Larry Rembert has quietly worked his way into the top targets, coming into the UWA game with 321 yards on 17 receptions and four TD. Last week at MC, he was the latest Argo to put on a show, finishing with 184 yards on six receptions with three TD.
• Sophomore RB Shomari Mason has also gotten into the fold with the receivers, catching 17 passes for 169 yards (9.9 avg.) out of the backfield. Against West Georgia, he had a school-record six receptions by a RB.
RECEPTIONS BY A RUNNING BACK
UWF SINGLE-GAME
NO. PLAYER GAME
6 Shomari Mason West Ga., 2021
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
17 Shomari Mason 2021
11 Anthony Johnson, Jr. 2019
11 Tim Bellinger 2016
10 Chris Schwarz 2017
8 Daviante Sayles 2016
ARGOS HAVE FORCED TURNOVERS IN 54 OF 61 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. A new streak started with a special teams turnover against SW Baptist and continued for three weeks until the UWG & Shorter games when the Argos failed to get a turnover. The team responded with two forced fumbles and recoveries at MC, and two more turnovers gained at West Alabama last week.
• Further inspection shows the Argonauts have gotten at least one turnover in 54 of their 61 all-time games. UWF is 40-12 when getting a turnover and 3-6 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 104 turnovers gained in 47 contests, averaging 2.2 per game.
TURNOVERS GAINED SINCE 2017
4-YR
School '21 '19 '18 '17 TOTAL
CSU Pueblo 19 39 45 30 133
Bowie St. 25 35 23 28 111
Winona St. 12 29 28 37 106
UWF 12 37 25 30 104
Len.-Rhyne 18 31 38 16 103
Edinboro 10 22 31 30 93
CERRA STILL PERFECT
• Redshirt sophomore PK Griffin Cerra (pronounced 'Sara') had a nice debut for the Argos at Delta State, making five PAT & a 26-yard FG. He has since run his season totals to 34-for-35 PAT & a 6-for-6 on 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 Mississippi College win last week, the Argonauts are now 26-9 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 5-0.
UWF STRONG AT HOME... ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT
• UWF has enjoyed a winning record in three of its four seasons, amassing a 13-8 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 on Sept. 11, UWF had won a school-record 6-straight at home.
UWF VS. RANKED TEAMS
• Including this week's game against Valdosta State, UWF has played 24 of 62 games against ranked foes - that's 38.7 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.
• UWF saw it's record 6-game winning streak against ranked opponents come to an end in a 30-26 loss to #12/15 West Georgia. UWF is now 14-9 all-time against ranked teams.
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
12/15 West Georgia L, 26-30
23/21 at West Alabama W, 47-7
2/2 Valdosta State
* Rankings are AFCA/D2FB
Overall: 14-9 Postseason: 9-1
Home: 2-4 Road: 11-4 Neutral: 1-1
UWF VS. UNDEFEATED TEAMS
• This week's game against unbeaten Valdosta State marks the 19th UWF opponent to enter the game without a loss at the time of the meeting. The Argonauts are 13-5 in those contests and 5-0 against teams that entered 9-0 or better.
RECORD AGAINST UNBEATEN TEAMS
Record entering
Year Opponent the game Result
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. 3/1 Indiana (Pa.) 13-0 W, 27-17
2018 No. 22 Carson-Newman 0-0 W, 19-9
2018 at No. 10 Midwestern State 1-0 L, 17-38
2018 Mississippi College 3-0 W, 34-21
2018 No. 4/4 West Georgia 6-0 L, 7-27
2018 No. 7/7 Valdosta State 8-0 L, 21-48
2019 at Carson-Newman 0-0 L, 13-20
2019 at No. 1/1 Valdosta State 8-0 L, 21-26
2019 at No. 1/1 Valdosta State 10-0 W, 38-35
2019 at No. 6/6 Lenoir-Rhyne 13-0 W, 43-38
2019 at No. 2/2 Ferris State 13-0 W, 28-14
2019 vs. No. 4/3 Minnesota State 14-0 W, 48-40
2021 at McNeese State 0-0 W, 42-36
2021 No. 2/2 Valdosta State 9-0 ?
ARGOS USING THE COMEBACK SPEECH
• UWF erased a 20-point halftime deficit at Delta State, outscoring the Statesmen 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*
UWG, '21 0-17 2nd 5:25 26-30^
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 held leads of 23-17 in the 3rd qtr and 26-24 in the 4th qtr. before losing 30-26.
• UWF is 29-3 all-time when leading at the half, 10-15 when trailing and 4-0 when tied.
• The Argos have won their last 15 when leading at the break. They have won four of their last six when trailing heading into the locker room.
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 Argonaut 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 bottom 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
* First place votes in parenthesis
