University of West Florida Athletics

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Given an opportunity for a second historical debut, the UWF football team produced another stunning achievement.

The Argos, a 20-point underdog in their first Division I game Thursday night against Southern Illinois – ranked No. 16 in one FCS preseason poll – powered into an 18-point lead midway through the third quarter, then made dramatic game-sealing plays in the final minutes for a 34-31 victory, thrilling a record crowd of 6,124 at Pen Air Field.

The Argos have proven adept at creating attention across the college football world.

"It's always good to be on the right side of history," said redshirt senior defensive lineman Byron Puryear in a fitting assessment of what happened. "That's the moment right there, the right side of history. We played good. We did what we had to do."

Playing with a remade roster of 73 new players, the Argos were ready for the moment.

"I think a lot of people outside the team were counting us out," said UWF head coach Kaleb Nobles. "And I've got to tell you, our locker room does not think like that...Our job is to come in play good football and our guys did that. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. Am I stressed out, yes."

"(Thursday) is kind of what UWF football is about," said Nobles, who ushered the arrival of UWF football in 2016 when he was the starting quarterback for the Argos' inaugural season. "We had success on the Division II level. Now you make the jump to Division I. I know a lot of people outside were just wanting us to play our best and have fun… and that's not we're about .. We're here to win. We're here to compete every play. And that's what UWF football has been about for 10 years."

Puryear was part of a swarming, gang-tackling, well-focused UWF defense that often won the line-of-scrimmage battles and forced out Southern Illinois star quarterback DJ Williams in a second-quarter injury. Williams, a senior and FCS All-American, spent the second half watching in shorts from the sideline.

His backup, Jake Curry, tossed a pair of interceptions, one of which A'khoury Lyde returned 44 yards for a second-quarter touchdown that gave UWF a 20-6 lead at halftime.

"We prepared a lot for DJ Williams," Nobles said. "I talked more about him than I talked about our kids. He's a great player and I hope he is not hurt too bad. Anytime you get a back-up quarterback, you put another good plan together and we knew they would. I'm not sure that guy is as athletic as DJ but he's a good passer, but our guys did what they had to do to hold him back and get the win."

The Argos further gained control on Markel Townsend's nine yard TD run with 7:27 left in the third quarter, which built a 27-9 lead.

But Curry rallied the Salukis. Taking advantage of two UWF fumbles, Curry ran for a score, then threw a touchdown pass with 7:39 left and suddenly UWF's lead was 27-24.

The Argos defense, however, changed the momentum by recovering a fumble at the Salukis' 42, after UWF's ensuing possession went nowhere.

With 6:22 left, UWF's new starting quarterback Ty'ray Davis, a sophomore from Orlando, led a defining drive.

After losing yardage on a first down play from the Southern Illinois 18, the Argos called a wide receiver screen to Luc Carroll, a freshman from Miami's Gulliver Prep High, who turned the play into a 22-yard touchdown with 2:37 left.

"It was big time play call by coach (offensive coordinator) Donny Baker," Nobles said. "It is something we have repped from day one. Just a normal tunnel screen that we blocked up well and we had two freshman receivers out there....That was Luc's first college pass… and to win the game. A great time to call it. I think (Salukis) were blitzing into it and worked out perfect."

Southern Illinois, however, was not done. Curry completed a nine-play, 73-yard drive with 9-yard touchdown pass with 1:10 left.

The Salukis had all three timeouts remaining. The ensuing onside kick was smothered by UWF's Kenyan Hunter at the Southern Illinois 46. UWF forced the Salukis to use all three time outs, then punted to the 20 yard-line.

With 18-seconds left at his own 36, Curry threw another interception, this one snagged by David Law-Mortinez to end the game and began the Argos celebration.

UWF amassed 335 offensive yards in the game. An important element was UWF committed just five penalties for 48 yards.

Davis rushed for 88 yards and passed for 109 yards and two scores.

The Argos defense was led by sophomore linebacker Cameron Anderson of Jacksonville, who had 11 solo tackles and sophomore Carson Ratliff from Mobile's Faith Academy who had nine stops.
Ratliff was a pallbearer in former UWF teammate Ben Conken's funeral on Aug. 22. Conken died after a battle with cancer.

A moment of silence was held for Conken and UWF top donor Darrell Gooden, who died in July.

"Carson was a pallbearer for his best friend's funeral and then he comes out (Thursday) and plays his tail off," said Nobles, his voice cracking with emotion. That is not easy for a 19-20 year-old kid to do."

UWF has now won their season opening game for six straight seasons. The first FCS win will be a memory for many for years to come. 
 
WHAT'S NEXT? – The Argos travel to Conway, Arkansas to face Central Arkansas on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. This will be the Argos first conference game in the United Athletic Conference. The Central Arkansas Bears were formally members the Southland Conference from 2007 until joining what is now the UAC.

Central Arkansas competed in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference, an NAIA level conference until 1993, then became members of the Gulf South Conference – the Argos former home – as NCAA Division II members until 2007 when joining the FCS Southland Conference.