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PENSACOLA, Fla. - After splitting back-to-back home games, the 10th-ranked UWF football team will travel to the Peach State the next two weeks to take on West Georgia and Shorter. The journey begins this Saturday at University Stadium with kickoff at 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET.

FOUR DOWNS WITH UWF

1) UWF has one of the top offenses in the country, averaging 44.2 points per game (4th) on 491.5 yards of total offense (3rd) with 251.2 rushing ypg (9th) and 240.2 passing ypg (41st). The offensive line has allowed just one sack in 247 plays, with that 6-yard loss coming last week against North Greenville.

2) UWF has had at least one passing TD in 49-consecutive games & 64 out of 67 all-time games. The Argos have had at least two passing scores in their last 18 games.

3) UWF is 3-0 all-time at University Stadium and 6-2 in games played in the state of Georgia.

4) UWF has won 11-consecutive road games, which ranks second in Division 2 (Ferris State, 23), and 4-straight GSC road contests. The Argos are 28-9 (.757) all-time on the road and 26-5 (.839) since 2017.

HERE ARE SOME MORE QUICK HITTERS ON THE ARGOS

• UWF leads the country with 7.9 yards per play.

• UWF has forced 14 turnovers in six meetings with UWG, the most of any Argo opponent. 10 of those 14 have been in Carrollton.

• Junior QB Peewee Jarrett is seventh in the country in passing efficiency (162.9), 12th in passing touchdowns (12), sixth in passing yards per completion (16.4) and 12th in points responsible for per game (18.0).

• Shomari Mason and Ra'veion Hargrove lead the UWF rushing attack, which is ranked ninth in the country and second in the GSC with 251.2 ypg. The Argos are first in D2 with 7.5 yards per rush. Mason is ninth nationally with 128.8 ypg and third with 8.6 yards per rush. Hargrove averages 9.0 yards per rush with 252 yards on 28 carries.

• UWF averaged 45.7 points per game and 485.3 yards of total offense in 2021. The squad churned-out 170.0 rushing yards per game while passing for 315.3 ypg - all school records.

• The Argonauts were the Gulf South Conference Co-Champions and qualified for the NCAA Playoffs for the third time in the last four championship seasons.

• UWF was picked to finish second in the GSC Preseason Coaches Poll and received two of eight possible first-place votes.

SHINNICK REACHES 150 CAREER VICTORIES

• Pete Shinnick was hired as the first head coach in program history on Feb. 2, 2014 and has done a marvelous job since day one building the program from the ground up.

• 2022 has the potential to be a very memorable one for UWF head coach Pete Shinnick. He is in his sixth season at UWF (eighth year overall) and 20th as a college head coach, and enters the West Georgia game at 150-66 (.694) overall and 47-20 (.701) at UWF. He currently ranks eighth among active D2 head coaches in career victories.

• 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 13-9 all-time in the postseason - 9-4 in the Division II Playoffs and 4-5 in the NAIA Playoffs while at Azusa Pacific from 1999-2005.

SHINNICK TEAMS CONTINUE STRONG PLAY FOLLOWING A LOSS

• Pete Shinnick has lost 64 games in his career, with 51 of those coming before the end of a season. As a result, he is 37-14 (.720) after a loss during his 20-year head coaching career. He is 11-5 at UWF and 9-2 in the last 11 following a loss

ABOUT WEST GEORGIA

• West Georgia is 3-1 and coming off a 39-38 Homecoming loss to Mississippi College. The Wolves led 21-7 before halftime and ended up losing when the Choctaws converted a 2-point conversion with 4 seconds remaining the game.

• UWG is led on offense by QB Harrison Frost with 230 passing ypg. The RB tandem of Zion Custis and Jaxton Carson each average just over 68 rushing ypg. Carson has six rushing TD.

• The Wolves are the only team in the country who have not given up a QB sack. UWF allowed its first one last week against NGU.

• On defense, UWG has allowed 13.3 ppg on 249.8 ypg. The Wolves are second in the country in passing yards allowed (94.5 ypg), and those numbers may be skewed slightly as Carson-Newman and Mississippi College average less than 19 attempts per game.
 

SERIES HISTORY

• UWF and West Georgia are meeting for the seventh time and the fourth time in Carrollton. The series is tied 3-3 with the road team having won all six games.

• In 2016, the Wolves won 69-0 in the final game of UWF's inaugural season.

• The teams met twice in 2017 in Carrollton, once in the regular-season finale and again two weeks later in the NCAA Playoffs Second Round. UWF won both games. In the first meeting, UWG got out to a 16-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes. The Argonauts scored 24 unanswered to take a 24-16 lead before holding on for a 34-29 win that helped vault them into the postseason for the first time in program history.

• The teams met again two weeks later and UWF came away with a 17-14 victory. The Argos scored with 13 seconds left in the first half for the only score of the first 30 minutes. UWG scored twice in the third to take a 14-7 lead. The Argos tied it early in the fourth before Austin Williams kicked a 41-yard field goal with 4:50 remaining to provide the difference.

• In 2018, both teams came in ranked in the top-10 nationally and saw UWG emerge with a 27-7 win in front of a Blue Wahoos Stadium record crowd of 6,838. The Wolves' Devontae Jackson rushed for 224 yards and two second-half touchdowns.

• The 2019 game was played in a steady downpour and 50 degree temps from Tropical Storm Nestor. UWF forced a school-record six turnovers and held the Wolves to 147 yards of total offense in a 30-2 victory. All four UWF touchdowns came off UWG turnovers.

• The 2021 contest saw No. 12 UWG race out to a 17-0 lead before No. 1 UWF came back to take the lead with 23-unanswered. The teams traded scores until the Wolves took a 30-26 lead with 10:41 to play on a Harrison Frost TD pass to Terrill Cole. UWF drove into the red zone but turned the ball over on downs at the 7-yard line. Austin Reed threw for 410 yards and 3 TD, while Harrison Frost totaled 248 and 2 TD. UWF turned the ball over on downs at the UWG 1 and 7, while also allowing a 34-yard fumble recovery.

ROAD WIN STREAK AT 11, 2ND LONGEST IN D2

• UWF dominated Southwest Baptist earlier this season in its only road game thus far to extend its road win streak to 11 games. That ranks second in Division 2 behind Ferris State's 23.

• The Argos have won their last four on the road by an average of 39 points.

• UWF is 28-9 (.757) all-time on the road and 26-5 (.839) since 2017.

• 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, 6-0 and 1-0.

2022 TEAM IS UWF'S MOST BALANCED TEAM EVER

• Pete Shinnick's teams have usually been a pass-first look, with the run game serving as a complimentary component. Things have shifted this season with the steady emergence of the Argo rushing attack.

• UWF is averaging 7.5 yards per rush and  251.3 yards per game - both of which are school records.

• Here is a look at the yearly breakdown of UWF's offensive production:

    Rushing    Passing    Rush/Pass

Year    YPG    YPG    Pct. Ratio

2016    99.2    308.4    24 / 76

2017    115.9    228.1    34 / 66

2018    132.3    228.8    36 / 64

2019    131.1    281.2    32 / 68

2021    162.4    313.3    34 / 66

2022    251.3    240.3    51 / 49

MASON CLOSING IN ON UWF RUSHING RECORDS

• Junior RB Shomari Mason busted out for a career-high 214 yards on 29 carries against DSU two weeks ago, establishing UWF single-game records for both categories (tied Chris Schwarz's 29 carries at IUP in 2017). Last week he was equally impressive, powering through NGU for 153 yards on 11 carries for 13.9 yards per rush.

• As a result, it pushed Mason's 3-year career totals to 1,946 yards on 234 rushes.

• He enters the West Georgia game with a school-record 3-consecutive 100-yard rushing games.

UWF CAREER RUSHING LEADERS

RUSHING YARDS

1. Chris Schwarz (2016-18)    1,992

2. Shomari Mason (2019, 21-pr.)    1,946

3. Anthony Johnson, Jr. (2017-19, 21)    1,668

YARDS PER CARRY

1. Shomari Mason (2019, 21-pr.)    8.3

2. Chris Schwarz (2016-18)    4.8

3. Anthony Johnson, Jr. (2017-19, 21)    4.5

RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS

1. Anthony Johnson, Jr. (2017-19, 21)    20

2. Shomari Mason (2019, 21-pr.)    19

3. Chris Schwarz (2016-18)    11

TOUCHDOWNS SCORED

Listed as Rushing-Receiving-Total

1. Shomari Mason (2019, 21-pr.)     19-2-21

2. Anthony Johnson, Jr. (2017-19, 21)    20-0-20

3. Quentin Randolph (2016-19)    0-16-16

4. David Durden (2021-pr.)    1-13-14

IS SHOMARI MASON THE MOST EFFICIENT RUNNER IN THE NCAA? WE THINK SO

• A year ago, Shomari Mason led D2 with 8.5 yards per rush, finishing with 1,015 yards on 120 carries. This year has seen him continue to bulldoze his way into opposing secondaries, totalling 515 yards on 60 carries for 8.6 yards per rush (third nationally).

• Those numbers, along with his 416 yards on 54 rushes (7.7 ypr) in 2019 have placed his career yards per rush at 8.32, a figure that is first among all active rushers in all NCAA Divisions.

NCAA ACTIVE CAREER 

RUSHING LEADERS (All Divisions)

YARDS PER CARRY

1. Shomari Mason, UWF    8.3

2. Ivory Durham, Valdosta State    8.1

3. Jamar Thompkins, Valdosta State    8.0

4. Toriano Clinton, UIndy    7.8

5. Ethan Greenfield, North Central    7.3

6. Dewayne McBride, UAB    7.2

DURDEN TIES UWF RECORD WITH FIFTH 100-YARD RECEIVING GAME

• Senior WR David Durden caught five passes for 106 yards two weeks ago against Delta State. A big chunk came on a 75-yard TD play that saw him catch an 8-yard ball and then outrun a number of Statesmen 67 yards to the house. He added two more catches for 14 yards to finish with 106 yards on five receptions. It was his UWF record-tying fifth 100-yard game in two seasons.

• He joins Ishmel Morrow (2016-17), Antoine Griffin (2016-17), Tate Lehtio (2016-19) and Quentin Randolph (2016-19) who all had five 100-yard receiving games in their careers.

• In 2021, he set the UWF record for consecutive games with a TD reception, crossing the goal line in the first five games of the season, passing Randolph, Hasic and Morrow - who each had a catch in three straight at one time in their careers.

DURDEN HAS WHEELS

• Senior WR David Durden is one of the fastest players on the team... and probably in the GSC. He sat out the opener against Warner and still leads the team with 248 receiving yards on 12 catches for 20.67 per catch. Further exploration shows he has 138 yards after the catch, for an average of 9.2 YAC. 

ARGO DEFENSE HAS FORCED A TURNOVER IN 59 OF 67 GAMES

• The UWF defense has always been a ball-hawking, aggressive unit that has forced at least one turnover in 59 of their 67 all-time games. UWF is 43-16 (.729) when getting a turnover and 4-4 (.500) when unable to force a sudden change.

• The Argos have forced 135 turnovers  in 67 games for an average of 2.01 per game.

• The UWF defense forced a school-record six turnovers twice in 2019 - at West Georgia and at Ferris State. Those big plays were part of the UWF record 15-consecutive games with a turnover.

• 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 3-inch 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.

UWF, STEVE DAWSON AMONG PUNTING ELITE

• UWF leads the country in net punting, putting up 42.30 yards per punt. The Argos are allowing 7.33 yards per return.

• A large part of that goes to punter Steve Dawson, who averages 44.5 yards per punt on 10 kicks this season. That would rank third in the country and first in the GSC, except he doesn't have enough attempts to meet the NCAA minimum of 3.6 punts per team game to qualify for the rankings (he needs to be at 14.4 attempts currently and 18 after the UWG contest). He has three of his six punts of at least 40 yards, including two last week. Additionally, six of his 10 have been inside the 20 and three have been fair caught.

SPECIAL TEAMS WERE QUITE SPECIAL LAST WEEK

• In last week's win over North Greenville, the UWF special teams played a big role throughout the game.

• The punting unit and punter Steve Dawson allowed the Crusaders to just one return on four kicks. Dawson posted a 49.0 yard average with a school-record-tying 62-yarder into the wind. His average on those four boots ranks second all-time at UWF behind Dawson Hamlin's 51.7 avg. at Florida Tech in 2019.

• True freshman Caden Williams saw his first action as an Argonaut, as he handled kickoff duties and boomed 5 of 6 into the endzone for touchbacks, with the one return going for just 15 yards.

• And not to be outdone, but PK Griffin Cerra was perfect on six kicks, making all four PATs, a 26-yard FG with 10 second to play in the first half and a 36-yard, walk-off winner to give UWF the 34-31 victory. It was the second walk-off FG in school history after Austin Williams' kicked a 44-yarder at Florida Tech in 2017.

HARRIS PROVIDING BOOST TO THE RETURN GAME

• Redshirt senior Isaiah Harris is 24th in the country with 27.7 yards per kickoff return. As a team, the Argos are ninth nationally with 27.5 yards per return

45 FIRST HALF POINTS A SCHOOL RECORD

• In the opener versus Warner, UWF scored on all seven of its first-half possessions, using six touchdowns and a field goal to rack up a school-record 45 points in the first half.

PLAYING ON GRASS

• Legendary West Georgia play-by-play announcer Mitch Gray famously said, "If a horse doesn't eat it, we don't want to play on it." Well, until this season, UWF and West Georgia were the only GSC schools to play their home games on natural grass.

• UWF has since moved home games to Pen Air Field on campus - an artificial surface - but that doesn't mean the Argonauts haven't fared well on grass. Since starting the program in 2016, UWF has gone 21-11 (.656) on grass, which includes a 3-0 mark at Ra-Lin Field at University Stadium.

ARGOS LOVING THAT PUMPKIN SPICE FOOTBALL

• UWF is 15-7 (.682) all-time in the month of October. The Argos have gone 9-1 in their last 10 during the Pumpkin month.