ABILENE, Texas – This became the game UWF's football team experienced the formidable challenges of its climb into Division I FCS competition.
Abilene Christian, the two-time United Athletic Conference champion, belied its 1-4 season start by opening a four-touchdown, halftime lead and moving past the No. 17-ranked Argos 35-7 at Wildcat Stadium.
It was the Wildcats (2-4) ninth consecutive, home conference win, across three seasons. It was also their eighth win against a ranked FCS opponent in the same span.
"I hope we can learn some stuff from this," said UWF coach
Kaleb Nobles, during a post-game interview with SportsRadio Pensacola. "I'm frustrated myself. I take this on me. We just didn't show up and play well and I take personal responsibility for that."
The game was won in the first half. UWF (3-2) couldn't sustain offensive drives and the Argos defense gave up long gains – something that had been contained in the first four games.
"We've got to figure a way to stop the run," said Nobles during the halftime interview with SportsRadio Pensacola. "We're getting run through like a hot knife through butter right now. There's a lot of things we need to say at halftime to clean this up."
Abilene Christian, which began the season with three straight losses, all against ranked teams, produced touchdowns on four consecutive possessions, including 21 points in the second quarter to produce an early knockout. Wildcats quarterback, sophomore Tucker Parks, was the big factor.
Parks made plays throwing, scrambling and direct run plays. He completed 16 of his 17 pass attempts for 155 yards and three touchdowns. He also finished the game as the Wildcats' leading rusher with 97 yards on 15 carries.
"Bad start, didn't stop the run well and just didn't do some good stuff on offense that put us behind the 8-ball, and gave up some big plays (on defense) that shouldn't happen," Nobles said. "And that's on me. We've got to figure something out, change some things and get ready to bounce back from this."
The Wildcats stayed conservative in the second half with a big lead, before getting their final touchdown with 1:33, after a defensive stop in Argos' territory.
"When you come out for the second half and you're down by 28, we get the ball hoping to get some momentum and we show up and get a 3-(plays)-and out to start the second half," Nobles said. "So not the start we needed. But we kept fighting, our guys kept fighting, they got resilient. I have to get things changed and coach it up a little bit better."
UWF quarterback Ty'Ray Davis returned as the starter, after playing just one fourth-quarter snap in the Argos' road win Sept. 26 at Southeast Missouri State. But it was a tough night for him, especially in the first half and early in the third quarter.
Davis finished 16-of-31 passing for 208 yards and rushed for 33 yards on 19 carries. One of his best throws was a laser to
Jakari Mozelle for the Argos only points with 5:17 left in the game. It was set by his 58-yard completion to
Tyshon Mansell from the UWF 20, which led to a 2-play, 80-yard touchdown drive.
Earlier in the game, however, Davis was thwarted three times on designed quarterback runs to convert fourth down and short yardage situations. The Argos finished 1-for-5 on fourth down, but most importantly converted only three of 14 third down situations.
With
TJ Lane out with an injury for the second game, junior
Markel Townsend was UWF's featured back again and he finished with 98 yards on 12 carries.
Mansell led the receiving corps with 67 yards on two catches.
Penalties hurt the Argos throughout the game. They were flagged a season-high 10 times for 91 yards.
One of the biggest occurred when UWF produced its only turnover.
David Awuah recovered a fumbled punt at the Abilene Christian 9 with 1:13 left in the third quarter. But after the recovery, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on UWF moved the ball back to the Wildcats.
On the next play, the center snap sailed over Davis' head forcing him to recover the ball at the 40. It became a failed opportunity.
The Argos first possession of the game became an omen for the night. They got their biggest offensive play of the game, a 51-yard run by
Markel Townsend to the Wildcats 30. But two illegal procedure penalties followed on the next four snaps.
The Argos then had a 4
th-and-2 from the 23 when Davis tried to plow his way for the first down to no avail. The Argos later tried to convert three more 4
th-and-short situations with Davis and could not do it.
UWF was the fourth ranked opponent Abilene Christian faced in its first six games. One of those was a loss to Texas Tech, the No. 12 ranked team in the FBS Top 20 and College Football Playoff team last season.
The Wildcats endured their worst start since 2020, after playing the fifth toughest opening schedule in FCS according to the Massey Ratings.
The Argos, meanwhile, will seek to get back on track by playing two NCAA Division II opponents in back to back home games.
"We've got to make some adjustments and go fix some things to play better at home," Nobles said.
WHAT'S NEXT – UWF returns home for the first time since Sept. 19 at Pen Air Field to face the Northeastern (Okla.) State Riverhawks (3-3) an NCAA Division II Independent team, located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Kickoff is at 4 p.m.
The Argos beat Northeastern State 31-24 in Oklahoma last season. This game is the return part of that contract. It will be part of back-to-back home games against D-2 opponents. UWF hosts West Alabama, on Oct. 17 for UWF's homecoming game.
