The first eight seasons in UWF's football history have featured an incredible array of historic moments and national achievements.

Two missing elements? Going unbeaten in the regular season and winning an outright Gulf South Conference title.

The opportunity to complete a special checklist awaits Saturday at 2 p.m. when the No. 3 ranked Argos (9-0) face nearest rival Valdosta State (5-4) in a defining, showdown game at UWF's PenAir Field to end the 2025 schedule.

A win assures UWF of being a No. 1 region seed in the NCAA Division II playoffs, which begin Nov. 22, along with home-field advantage guaranteed in at least the first three rounds. The winner Saturday is the GSC champion and with that comes an automatic playoff berth.

But all of this becomes more pronounced when remembering a decade ago, the Argos launched football on a well-worn set of intramural fields, about 100 yards or so from their current venue.

"It's pretty surreal to be a part of, to be honest," said UWF head coach Kaleb Nobles, who was the starting quarterback of UWF's inaugural 2016 season, then held an assisting coaching role in the Argos' national title 2019 season. "I have such a unique experience to be able to sit back and look at everything.

"Basically, I've been around for almost every part of the (UWF) program. It is kinda cool to sit back and think, man, we have never entered the last game of a season with a chance to do this (finish unbeaten in the regular-season schedule).

"There have been a lot of firsts in this program, because it's been such a fresh football program. But we never had a chance to to win a conference championship outright and we've never been able to go undefeated."

Saturday's game also brings an emotional attachment. Nobles grew up in Fitzgerald, Georgia, located about 80 miles from Valdosta State. After attending games there as a kid with his father, who was a renowned high school coach, Nobles then played his first four seasons at Valdosta State.

He has a friendship with Blazers head coach Graham Craig. The two were quarterback teammates in 2012 at VSU.

"It is pretty cool to be part of a game like this one versus them (Blazers) and there's obviously a lot riding on the line," said Nobles, who played against his former team in 2016 when UWF traveled that season to Valdosta State.

"But really, the last time I was part of that program was December 2015, so it has literally almost been 10 years now," Nobles said. "A lot has changed.

"I've had the opportunity to be part of a lot of good teams here at UWF as an assistant coach and now as a head coach. So, it's almost like that part of me has been separated so far between then and now that it really doesn't register for me as much.

"Graham Craig is a very good coach, a great motivator and really good friend of mine, so from that aspect it is very cool and maybe a little more emotional for this game. But as far as me having been there as a player, it's not as emotional."

The stage for Saturday's matchup was heightened Nov. 8 when Valdosta State scored a game-winning touchdown pass with nine seconds remaining to knock off Delta State 27-23, creating the scenario for a GSC outright title game at PenAir Field.

The Blazers have won 11 GSC crowns, the most of any team in league history. They boast 28 seniors, many of whom helped the team reach the NCAA Division II national title game in 2021 and 2024.
"Like I have told our guys, we haven't come this far, just to be undefeated at this point," Nobles said.

Led by quarterback Marcus Stokes,  who's recently been recognized as a candidate for the Harlon Hill Trophy as the nation's best Division II player, the Argos offense has been especially prolific the past two games, producing 106 points. The Argos needed the offense in high gear to win a 51-38 shootout in their last game Nov. 1 at Delta State.

But they've also won games that were decided by one possession in the fourth quarter.

"We have played games in six different states," Nobles said. "We have faced adversity on the road and our sideline has never wavered. I've never had a point all season when I was worried or concerned.

"People keeping coming at us and we keep standing. The guys on the sideline have been very positive and we have been resilient. We still have a lot of young guys on offense. We took our lumps last year and finished 7-3 (missing the postseason) and I told those guys, hey what you are going through right now will make you better for the long run and I feel our adversity has made us better."