• The fourth-ranked UWF football team travels to 21st-ranked West Alabama this week as it faces a tough 2-game stretch to end the regular season. Kickoff at Tiger Stadium in Livingston, Ala. is at 1 p.m. CT.
FOUR DOWNS WITH UWF
• UWF's offense ranks in the top 25 nationally in scoring offense (4th, 43.9), passing offense (8th, 324.8), total offense (9th, 469.2), first downs per game (24th, 24.8), third-down conversion (15th, 49.2%), tackles for loss allowed (1st, 1.1) and sacks allowed (6th, 0.5 per game).
• On defense, UWF ranks among the top 50 in rushing defense (46th, 117.1) and sacks (21st, 3.1).
• UWF is 42-18 all-time for a .695 winning pct. That would rank third among active Division 2 programs but UWF does not have the minimum 20 seasons of competition for inclusion.
• UWF is looking for its tenth-consecutive road victory. The Argonauts are 26-9 (.743) all-time on the road. UWF & UWA are part of just five teams at 5-0 on the road in 2021, with only Shepherd at 6-0 ahead of them.
HERE ARE SOME MORE QUICK HITTERS ON THE ARGOS
• The Argos average 25.1 first downs per game which is second in the GSC.
• UWF has had at least one passing TD in 42-consecutive games & 57 out of 60 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.
ABOUT UWF
• UWF enters week nine of the 2021 season at 7-1 and ranked No. 4 in the country.
• The Argos average 43.9 points per game (4th nationally) on 469.2 yards of total offense, led by 324.8 yards through the air. Dating back to the national championship game in 2019, UWF has scored at least 35 points in eight of its last nine games, including a school-record six-consecutive prior to the UWG game.
ABOUT WEST ALABAMA
• West Alabama is 7-2 overall and 4-2 in GSC play. The Tigers are 2-2 at home this season, having dropped their last two against Valdosta State and Delta State.
• The Tigers are ranked in the top 25 nationally in both total offense (15th, 453.1) and total defense (25th, 292.0). Their rushing defense is 26th in the country, allowing just 99.1 ypg behind one of the best defensive lines in the country.
SERIES HISTORY
• UWA leads the series, 3-2, having gone 2-1 in Livingston and 1-1 in Pensacola.
• UWF's victories came in 2017 in the NCAA Super Region 2 title game in Livingston and in the 2019 regular-season finale in Pensacola.
• Anthony Johnson, Jr. has two of the longest runs from scrimmage in school history - both at UWA - breaking off a 41-yarder iin 2018 and a 40-yarder a year earlier in the playoff victory.
UWF #4 IN SECOND REGIONAL RANKING
• The NCAA Division 2 Football Committee announced the second edition of the regional rankings this week and the Argonauts came in at No. 4 in Super Region 2.
SUPER REGION 2
In-Region D2
Rk. Team Record Record
1 Valdosta State 8-0 8-0
2 Bowie State 6-0 8-0
3 Albany State 8-1 8-1
4 West Florida 4-1 6-1
5 West Georgia 7-2 7-2
6 Mars Hill 6-2 6-2
7 Newberry 7-2 7-2
8 West Alabama 6-2 6-2
9 Savannah State 7-2 7-2
10 Lenoir-Rhyne 6-2 6-2
• UWF was No. 5 last week and in the first poll in 2019.
• The poll is the second of four 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 42-18 in four seasons at UWF.
• He is 144-64 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 203-77
2. Tom Sawyer, Winona State 193-89
3. Keith Otterbein, Hillsdale 176-132-3
4. Lee Owens, Ashland 163-119
5. Bill Maskill, MSU Texas 160-65
6. Todd Knight, Ouachita Baptist 157-129-2
7. Todd Hoffner, Minnesota State 153-52
8. Tim Clifton, Mars Hill 147-143
9. Pete Shinnick, UWF 144-64
10. Garin Higgins, Emporia State 136-81
* Minimum 5 years as a D2 head coach; record at 4-year schools only.
BIG PLAY OFFENSE
• UWF has had 56 plays of 20 yards or more, including season-highs of 13 at Delta State and 11 last week against Shorter. A total of 34 have been through the air, eight on the ground, eight kick returns, three punt returns and three interceptions.
• David Durden leads the team with 10 big plays. Rodney Coates has nine and Ka'Ron Ashley has eight.
• 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 7.97 yds per play, which ranks second in the country and is on pace to set a new school record.
• Three times this season - including the last two games, UWF has set the single-game record for yards per play, putting up 8.3 at McNeese, 9.3 against Shorter and a whopping 10.9 last week at Mississippi College.
UWF #15 NATIONALLY IN 3RD DOWN PERCENTAGE
• One of the many recipes for success is UWF's efficiency on 3rd down, where the Argos rank 15th nationally and third in the GSC with a 49.2 pct. conversion rate.
• The Argos are 29-for-57 on the season, converting a season-best 8-of-10 against SW Baptist and then 7-of-12 three weeks ago at NGU.
• UWF has been especially stout in the first and third quarters, making 7-of-11 (63.6%) and 9-of-14 (64.3%), respectively.
UWF BACKFIELD: NO VISITORS ALLOWED
• Through seven games, UWF has allowed just four QB sacks for 35 total yards, But further inspection shows the starters have allowed just two QB sacks. The other two sacks have come with backups and on backup QB Wyatt Eget.
• Additionally, UWF has only allowed nine other tackles for loss for a combined 35 yards.
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 seven games in 2021, he ranks 10th nationally with 315.6 passing yards per game and 6th with 15.8 yards per completion. His 25 passing TDs rank 7th.
• 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.
MASON A TOUGH LOAD TO BRING DOWN
• Sophomore RB Shomari Mason leads the UWF rushing attack, entering the UWA game with 696 yards on 81 carries. That breaks down to 8.59 yards per carry, which leads the country.
