UWF Football: Argos show off strong 'competition level' during Fan Day Scrimmage

After a couple weeks of fall camp and practicing against each other with just one scrimmage, the University of West Florida football team finally got to put on a show.

In the Argos’ Fan Day Scrimmage Wednesday, no score was kept – but that didn’t stop players, whether they were veterans or new to the program – from making some big plays. With crowd noise and music blaring, it was a good first game-like feel on UWF’s new turf stadium at Pen Air Field, head coach Kaleb Nobles said.

UWF Media Day (Part 1): What did coach Kaleb Nobles have to say leading up to Fan Day Scrimmage?

UWF Media Day (Part 2): Can the Argos expect the same explosive offense from last year?

UWF Media Day (Part 3): Defensive players 'excited' about new structure for 2023 season

“I love (the) relentless effort we (had) – both sides of the ball. I thought we did a great job on special teams with our first opportunity to do live stuff,” Nobles said. “I thought we pushed the ball downfield well. I thought we ran the ball well with both units. I love our competition level. I love how competitive this team is.”

Quarterback Peewee Jarrett joked that he seems to be a player that experiences a lot of “firsts.” Last year, Jarrett was part of the UWF team that played all its home games on campus for the first time. Now, he got to christen the new turf stadium during the Fan Day Scrimmage. And he’s also here for Nobles’ first year with the program.

Jarrett said the players are taking “great pride” in the new field.

“They’re not shutting down campus next week for no reason. They’re shutting it down for us,” Jarrett said, referencing the team’s first game against Kentucky Wesleyan on Sept. 1. “It’s our job to put on a show week-in and week-out for these great fans.”

The on-field play wasn’t the only public display on Wednesday. Players and coaches that were part of the 2022 squad were also given their rings for being co-champions of the Gulf South Conference. The Argos shared the title with Delta State after splitting the two matchups against the Fighting Okras.

Nobles said coaches talked about presenting the rings in private, but really wanted to give the players “the chance to be recognized in public for what they earned.”

“Being able to do the ring ceremony after is cool,” Nobles said. “To be able to get a part of the Gulf South Conference championship and get rings and all that is awesome.”

Here are three takeaways from the Fan Day Scrimmage, leading to Week 1 of the regular season for UWF:

A weaponized offense

If one thing became clear during the opening drives, it’s that the Argos’ offense has options.

With Jarrett leading the offense at quarterback, he seemed to have several options at wide receiver, tight end or running back to throw the ball to. Even then, when throwing in younger players that aren’t expected to be starters early on in the year, those players showed their skills with some big plays.

It took a couple plays to get started, but Jarrett quickly found running back C.J. Wilson for a short pass in the middle. Wilson made the most of it, and with his shiftiness extended the play for a 30-yard gain.

Jarrett also connected with Zac Offord for a quick nine-yard pass during the back half of the scrimmage.

“It was great competition. We saw both sides flying around – no matter the color of the jersey,” Jarrett said. “I’m just proud of everyone out here.”

On the squad’s next drive after Wilson’s first touchdown, the running back had a 19-yard touchdown run with a nice cut to the outside after running around the defense.

“Overall, I’m pleased with our run game, being able to get our running backs involved,” Nobles said. “Obviously C.J. Wilson is a really good player.”

Redshirt sophomore Brett Nezat also had the chance to show of the cannon a little bit. He hit Luis Chafino, who snuck just behind the linebackers, for a 36-yard pass followed by a 34-yard touchdown pass to West Florida's Patrick Delcour, who broke a couple tackles to get into the endzone.

Nezat also found Anthony Ballard, who made a nice catch in the endzone with one hand as he toe-dragged out of bounds, later in the scrimmage.

“Being able to make completions, things like that, being able to move the ball down the field. But also, being able to take a couple shots. … I’d like to connect on a couple more with the older guys,” Nobles said. “Obviously we’re going to travel (with) nine or 10, maybe 11, wide receivers. I’m very pleased with our tight end room as well. We really stepped up, showing that we can be a great threat in the passing game.”

Nobles did mentioned the Argos were missing a few players from the offensive side of the ball, including No. 1 receiver Caden Leggett, who’s out with a minor injury. Nobles called his absence “precautionary” and will return to the field next week.

“There’s no reason to force push someone back for an early scrimmage. It’s nothing serious. He’s out with a minor injury right now that we know he’s going to be back from,” Nobles said. “He’s ready to go.”

The growing relationship

It was harped on during the team’s media day last week, but the relationship between Nobles and Jarrett continues to grow.

Nobles, the Argos’ first quarterback in program history in 2016, is pretty hands-on in the quarterbacks room, Jarrett said during the media day. But now that Jarrett is able to see Nobles in a game-like setting, he noted something that Nobles said in the post-scrimmage speech to the team.

“He said, ‘If you ever come out of a practice or a game and someone says it was perfect, they’re lying to you.’ There’s always something you can get better at. No team has ever played a perfect game,” Jarrett said. “That’s just something he’s striving for us (to do). No one’s been perfect. Why not us?”

As fall camp comes to a close, Jarrett said Nobles is “aggressive” and “pushes” the team during practice – and the Argos do one-on-ones every day.

“He knows our performance can always be better. That’s just something I love about being coached by him,” Jarrett said. “Nothing is ever good enough for him. He just makes you be a better player every day.”

On the flip side, Nobles said he’s “really challenged” Jarrett since Nobles was announced the new head coach back in December. During Jarrett’s first year with the program in 2022 – when Nobles was still at Clemson – he wanted to “earn his role as a leader.”

Entering 2023, Nobles said Jarrett’s earned it – especially after leading UWF to the Division II national semifinals last season.

“He knows that it’s important for him to be able to be the leader, not just with his play, but also with his voice,” Nobles said. “He really – I’ll be honest – has stepped up in the last seven days to take that role. I challenge him a lot.”

Gearing up for Week 1

Jarrett said among the Argos, there’s just excitement that they’ll be playing against someone different come Sept. 1.

With UWF scheduled to host Kentucky Wesleyan, now it’s a different mindset. Not only will the Argos have to move their weekly schedule up a day – since the game is on a Friday compared to the typical Saturday of college football – but now comes to added preparation of learning what an opposing team does.

“It changes by opponent. But we’ve got it really good, both sides of the football and special teams, where I try to tell our guys that I’m pushing ourselves to be at our best level every day,” Nobles said. “If we’re at our best, and we’re competing and pushing each other, I think we’re getting ourselves better. We’ve got great competition on both sides of the ball that get us ready for playing everybody.”

If there’s one thing that Nobles and Jarrett agree on, it’s that they’re just excited to go against another team.

“I think it’s more of an excitement knowing that we don’t have to go against each other as hard. I’m kind of tired of seeing their faces, snapping the ball and looking at them every time,” Jarrett said with a laugh. “I’m glad next week we get to take it to somebody else.”

“I can second that: I’m ready to play somebody. It’s been long time since December,” Nobles said. “I’m ready to go on the field and showcase to the city of Pensacola what we have and how great of a team it is.”

This week will be Nobles first time entering the regular season as a head coach. He’s experienced the anticipation getting ready for Week 1 as a player and an assistant coach, but never at the helm of a program.

But just like the rest of the country, college teams are ready to get the 2023 campaign underway.

“I hate waiting around. Ask my wife, she knows I’m very anxious,” Nobles said. “We’ve done a lot of good prep for the first couple games, giving these guys looks. … I’m very anxious, ready to go.”

Thankfully, even though it is a new head coach, it’s not a restart. Since Nobles knows the program – and has worked with a few of the coaches on staff already – Jarrett called it a “refresh.”

“Nothing is truly changed. That’s why I feel like a lot of guys from last year’s team are going to have a lot of success here at this program, because we’re not feeling like it’s a rebuild year or we’re starting from ground zero,” Jarrett said. “He’s just taking what we had last year and freshening it up.”

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 hosts annual Fan Day Scrimmage at Pen Air Field