UWF Football: Argos back on the road at North Greenville, looking for full 60-minute effort
A college football game, in regulation, is 60 minutes.
And after the University of West Florida football team’s 49-21 win over West Georgia on Saturday, head coach Kaleb Nobles felt his team only played around 51 1/2 minutes. That led to the two late touchdowns from the Wolves within two minutes in 20 seconds in the fourth quarter.
West Georgia drove down the field 94 yards that was capped off with a 5-yard run from J.B. Carlisle before Ben Whitlock found T.J. Lockley for a 33-yard pass.
But then UWF’s defense came back to life, with the Wolves threatening on the Argos’ 5-yard line. The Argos stopped a completed pass at the line of scrimmage, then forced three incomplete passes to close out the game.
As UWF prepares for its second Gulf South Conference matchup at North Greenville on Saturday, the focus has turned to playing a full game, Nobles said – whether that’s 60 minutes or potentially longer if a game goes into overtime.
That starts with emphasizing the last eight or nine minutes of practice.
AFCA Poll: UWF football improves one spot after win over West Georgia
First Conference Win: Argos 'responded to the challenge' in conference-opener against West Georgia
GSC Weekly Awards: UWF football's John Jiles, Ralph Ortiz earn conference honors
“We kind of lost our focus a little bit,” Nobles said of the late defensive blunders on Saturday. “We’ll scheme up some team periods at the end (of practice). … Just being able to stop and say, ‘Hey, this is the last eight or nine minutes that we didn’t finish the other day. Let’s finish and be strong.’”
The Argos, now ranked No. 6 in the latest American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches Poll after the win, travel to Tigerville, South Carolina, on Saturday to face the Crusaders. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST (7 p.m. EST).
“It’s the same mindset that we’ve had since the summer: lock in, do our job and continue to dominate,” wide receiver John Jiles said.
Revisiting Week 4
UWF was in need of a bounce back week after falling to Division I Florida A&M University. The offense was limited at the Rattlers while the defense was overpowered during a second-half surge from FAMU.
For the most part, the Argos got what they needed against West Georgia to open conference play. They quickly drove down the field in their second drive of the game 86 yards that was finished by a quick 1-yard punch up the middle into the end zone from C.J. Wilson.
While West Georgia responded after forcing and recovering a fumble that was ran in for a touchdown by Jeremy Smith, it was essentially UWF from there. After the Wolves scored, UWF took just two plays to go 65 yards – highlighted by a 64-yard pass from Peewee Jarrett to Jiles – followed by another 1-yard run from Wilson, his third of the season.
The Jarrett-Jiles connection was on fire the entire contest, with Jarrett finishing the game with 298 yards passing and three touchdowns. Jiles caught two of those touchdowns while adding 175 yards receiving.
Jiles also had an incredible leap over a West Georgia player for a couple extra yards, plus a bobbled, one-handed grab for a touchdown before falling out of bounds.
“It’s kind of weird, I don’t really have a correct answer,” Jiles said about deciding when to show off his jumping ability. “I don’t know, when somebody gets to close and I feel like they ain’t even looking at me at all, I’m just gonna jump. … I feel like Josh Allen a little bit.”
Even though Jiles caught a bulk of the receiving yards, Jarrett connected with eight other players during the contest.
“We’ve got four receivers that can all do the same thing, and have the same night I had. It really takes a lot of pressure off each one of us, because we can all do the same thing,” Jiles said. “If I’m getting double-teamed, I know one of the other guys is going to show up and have the same game.”
The defense forced a few turnovers, including a pick-six from Ralph Ortiz. But on the flip side, the Argos also gave up a couple fumbles – the scoop-and-score and another that put West Georgia on the Argos’ 5-yard line late in the game – that Nobles wants to avoid.
“We gave some points away that we feel like we shouldn’t give other teams,” Nobles said. “You start playing throughout the season, and that can come back and bite you in the butt.”
A two-dimensional need
After the incredible performance from the UWF air game, there’s still one thing missing from the Argos’ offense: the run game.
While eight of the Argos’ 17 touchdowns this season have come on the ground, all of them have come from within eight yards. The longest rushing touchdown this season was an 8-yard run from Wilson against Kentucky Wesleyan College in Week 1, where UWF scored four rushing touchdowns.
The best overall rushing night, distance-wise, was at McKendree University where the Argos racked up 200 yards on the ground, led by Wilson’s 60 yards. While there are a few running backs on the depth chart that can move the ball, the focus turns to “trying to move the entire line of scrimmage,” Nobles said.
“Obviously, we’ve had some movement at the offensive line position – trying to place a bunch of guys. It was good to get some guys some reps the other night, get some depth. But really, it’s just about creating more movement around the line of scrimmage because that’s where the big runs come,” Nobles said. “When your running backs are making the cuts, two or three yards down the field opposed to at the line of scrimmage, that’s a big game-changer.”
That’s where assistant coach Steve Saulnier, who focuses on the offensive line, comes in – who mentioned not only “controlling the line of scrimmage,” but making sure players identify the one-on-one battles against opposing team’s defensive line.
“It’s about mastering our technique now,” offensive lineman Jacob Bruce said.
Around the Gulf South Conference
Just three undefeated teams remain in the GSC, with Delta State (4-0, 2-0 GSC) on top of the league standings. Valdosta State (4-0, 1-0 GSC) and UWF (3-1, 1-0 GSC) are also unbeaten against GSC teams so far.
After standout performances, Jiles was named the Co-Offensive Player of the Week for the GSC, while Ortiz was the Freshman of the Week. Outside of the pick-six, Ortiz also recorded three solo tackles, one of which was for a loss of three yards.
Another big performance out of the GSC included Delta State’s Patrick Shegog, who went 15-for-19 in the air for 218 yards with five touchdown passes, while he also recorded 138 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground. Not only did that garner Shegog the other Co-Offensive Player of the Week nod for the GSC, but he was also named D2Football.com’s National Player of the Week. The Statesmen coasted past Shorter, 56-20, over the weekend.
Here are the GSC standings heading into Week 5 and the team’s opponent:
Delta State (4-0, 2-0 GSC) at West Alabama
Valdosta State (4-0, 1-0 GSC) at Chowan
West Florida (3-1, 1-0 GSC) at North Greenville
North Greenville (2-2, 1-1 GSC) vs. West Florida
Shorter (2-2, 1-1 GSC) vs. Mississippi College
West Alabama (2-2, 1-1 GSC) vs. Delta State
West Georgia (2-2, 1-1 GSC) BYE WEEK
Mississippi College (1-3, 0-2 GSC) at Shorter
Chowan (0-4, 0-2 GSC) vs. Valdosta State
Scouting North Greenville
If there’s one team – within the Division II teams in the early stages of UWF’s schedule – that has that dynamic, two-dimensional offense Nobles is striving for, it’s North Greenville. The Crusaders have a running back, Corey Watkins, who has rushed for 218 yards. But, one thing to note, is that North Greenville has yet to score on the ground.
All six touchdowns the Crusaders have scored have come from their passing game, which features quarterback Dylan Ramirez, who has thrown for 1,019 yards this season with a completion rate of 57.48%. He’s averaging 254.75 yards a game in four games.
Ramirez has primarily been targeting Dre’ Williams, who has 300 yards in three games with four touchdowns, and Cameron Walker, who has 228 yards in four games with a touchdown. Both players have a long reception of 75 yards or more.
Nobles said the focus is to keep Watkins and Ramirez both “held in the box.”
“We’ve got to make sure that we tackle better overall. … Just focusing on the fundamentals and attention to detail on that stuff,” Nobles said. “We’ve got our hands full with their offense. … They present a really good challenge.”
North Greenville has allowed just 17.75 points per game, but is coming off a 28-3 loss at Valdosta State. The Crusaders have sacked a quarterback 7.5 times this season with nine quarterback hurries, presenting a strong challenge for UWF’s offensive line.
“I would love to keep putting points on the board – that means we’re going to score a lot and hopefully win,” Nobles said of Argos’ offense so far. “When we’re at our best, we feel like we can compete with a lot of people. … We’ve got to focused on our job. Keep (Jarrett) in a rhythm, keep the running backs moving and be able to go make plays one-on-one in space whenever there are opportunities.”
Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on X (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: UWF football travels to North Greenville for GSC contest
