PENSACOLA, Fla. – The first two games in this ambitious level-up leap for UWF's football team provided upset wins and future awareness.
So did the Argos first loss as a Division I FCS member.
After twice trailing by three touchdowns, the No. 17 ranked Argos battled back to create some second-half intrigue, before No. 14 ranked Austin Peay (3-1) pulled away with a 38-16 victory before a crowd of 5,712 at UWF's Pen Air Field.
"For the future, I learned we won't quit," said UWF coach
Kaleb Nobles, whose team trimmed a big deficit to 28-16 with a chance for more early in the fourth quarter. "They kept playing. They did not stop fighting. And I know they have fight in them. I have seen them do it for a couple months now. That's what we've got to have. They have a really good team over there. They are a playoff contending team like they were last year. So we have to be ready. We have to start hotter, If we had started hotter we wouldn't have been down three scores and been in that situation."
Austin Peay won the 2023 United Athletic Conference that UWF just joined in April. The Govs, who rose from NAIA membership to NCAA Division II (1973-1977) have won three conference titles since becoming an FCS member in 1978 and reached the quarterfinals in the 2019 playoffs.
The fact UWF – a 10-year-old football program -- had immediately climbed into the Top 25 of both FCS polls was a significant narrative of this game. The Argos put themselves on a Top-20 matchup stage Saturday against an established Division I program.
It is something Nobles hopes becomes standard.
"In my opinion that's what the expectations should be," Nobles said. "We should be in these kind of games. We should be highly ranked. We have a really good history of football from the start and I know we have changed divisions in a short track, but it doesn't mean anything. We've got to go to work, we got to get better, we've got to improve and our guys know that. Nobody feels sorry for us because we transitioned late (April 2026). We have a job to do. We have a history of winning here at UWF in every sport and that doesn't change."
The game began with both teams' defenses forcing quick possession changes.
But then Austin Peay's explosive plays became the difference. The Govs first three touchdowns were on drives of five plays or less, all made possible by the gifted skills of their junior quarterback Chris Parson, a preseason FCS All-American.
On a 3
rd-and-10 play, he avoided a sack, and launched a 61-yard touchdown pass to top receiver Jaden Robinson for the game's first score early in the first quarter.
The Argos offense was unable to get a first down on its next two possessions. Austin Peay took a 21-0 lead from that advantage. Denver Harper broke free on a 41-yard run and Parson's elusiveness was on display again when the second quarter started with a third Govs' touchdown.
"That is who is he is," said Nobles of the Govs' quarterback. "He's in consideration for the FCS Heisman (on the Walter Payton Award Watch List). He was last year and he is this year. We knew that. Where they did a really good job early is running the ball. But we're going to play these kind of guys at this level and we have tackle better. We need to wrap up when we have the chance."
Down 21-0, UWF rose up and played toe-to-toe with Austin Peay until late in the fourth quarter.
Two minutes after the Govs' third score, UWF completed a 10-play, 76-yard drive with quarterback Ty'Ray Davis rushing for a 10-yard score with 12:08 left in the half. Before getting hurt early in the fourth quarter, Davis completed 8-of-14 passes for 118 yards and one touchdown.
He was sacked four times, threw an interception and lost a fumble.
Austin Peay answered UWF's score to take a 28-7 lead, but the Argos' defense then tightened up and UWF got a field goal from
Reid Grek, who rushed out with no timeouts and clock running to convert as time expired in the first half.
In the third quarter,
Avery Giddens caught a 3
rd-and-goal pass from the 1 to make it a 28-16 game. The Argos then had a 4
th-and-1 situation at the Austin Peay 25 when Davis was tackled on a run-option play behind the line of scrimmage.
"He (Davis) tried to run but he didn't have the full push, the full power and he went down and that's just a tough break," Nobles said. "If we convert and score there it's a one-possession game and we're down by just four or five points after PAT."
Instead, Austin Peay got a field goal after a time-consuming drive, then returned an interception for a touchdown off a pass from UWF backup quarterback
Donovan Leary.
But the Argos had positive elements. Backup running back
Markel Townsend was a top UWF offensive player, rushing for 93 yards on nine attempts.
"He did some great things," Nobles said. "There are a couple of running backs we like and Markel is one of them."
Eight UWF players caught passes, led by
Tyshon Mansell (48 yards) and Townsend with three catches for 42 yards.
UWF punter
Michael Shine averaged 50.2 yards on four punts.
"We won the middle sections of the game, but that's not good enough," Nobles said. "We didn't capitalize on the momentum we had going our way. We didn't deliver that next punch."
WHAT'S NEXT – UWF will make another long road trip, this one 593 miles to face Southeast Missouri State next Saturday on September 26 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Kickoff is 6 p.m.
The Redhawks (2-2) beat Central Arkansas 27-9, who the Argos beat 42-14 on Sept. 5. They also lost to Southern Illinois, the team UWF beat in the Argos' inaugural Division I game on Aug. 27.
The game will be available on the ESPN-Plus livestream broadcast as well as the audio broadcast on SportsRadio Pensacola (99.1 FM, 1330 AM).
