UWF football travels to Division I FAMU for Week 3 contest with a crowd that's 'going to be rocking'
It’s the game everybody’s been talking about for the 2023 season.
The University of West Florida football team is headed to Division I Florida A&M, an FCS program, for a 5 p.m. CST (6 p.m. EST) Saturday contest in Tallahassee from Bragg Memorial Stadium. On that same day, FAMU will also unveil its stadium as Ken Riley Stadium for the first time in the Rattlers’ home-opener.
It’ll be the first meeting between the two in-state opponents. However, it’s not the first time the Argos have gone against a Division I opponent.
Most recently, UWF traveled to McNeese State in 2021 and won in a high-scoring contest, 42-36. Just a handful of players are still on the Argos’ roster from that game – redshirt seniors Jacob Bruce, Gael Laurent, Aidan Swett and Oake Stipe; juniors Zac Offord and Will Breland; and redshirt junior Nash Nelson.
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Defensive assistant coach Shea Campbell was a graduate student linebacker in 2021 for UWF.
The Argos also have faced North Alabama, a former Gulf South Conference rival, in 2018 during the Lions’ first season at the Division I level.
“Everybody outside the building has been talking about this one for a long time,” UWF head coach Kaleb Nobles said. “Now our guys finally get a chance to focus on it.”
UWF has opened the 2023 season with a pair of wins – both with identical scores of 35-3 – and looks to keep momentum going into a stadium where “the crowd’s going to be rocking,” Nobles said.
“Somebody told me they don’t think a head coach has ever done that in his first two games, winning by the same exact score,” Nobles said with a laugh, adding he didn’t know if there was anything “magical” about the No. 35. “All I’m worried about is getting the W.”
Revisiting Week 2
There were a lot of positives to take out of the Argos’ win at McKendree in Lebanon, Illinois. Primarily, the offense was back out in full force with Peewee Jarrett – who was named the GSC Offensive Player of the Week – throwing for 329 yards with four touchdowns.
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Jarrett targeted 10 receivers, with John Jiles recording the most yards receiving (102). On three receptions, Jiles scored twice. Caden Leggett had the most receptions (4) for 93 yards and a touchdown. Jakobe Quillen also produced a scoring catch.
UWF put up 200 yards rushing with C.J. Wilson leading the pack, tacking on 60 yards. Though, Jamontez Woods scored the team’s long touchdown on the ground with 20 yards rushing.
The Argos went up 21-3 at halftime to put McKendree in a deep hole early.
“I would love to do that every game, that’d be great,” Nobles said of the quick scoring. “We’re going to play some tough teams. We know that we may not score every drive in the first half. We’ve just got to do whatever we can as an offense. Scoring points, that’s what we’ve got be focused on.”
Defensively, the Argos – again – held their opponent to just a field goal. This time, it was a 48-yard field goal – a career long for Bearcats kicker Ryan Kastl. But it was the new four-man front that UWF has been sporting that stole the show. Quarterback Caleb Fisher was sacked seven times in the contest. John McMullen – named the GSC Defensive Player of the Week – recorded three sacks for a loss of 23 yards, and added a tackle. Aidan Swatt also added a pair of sacks. Ralph Ortiz and Byron Puryear both piled on a sack as well.
Laurent led the team with five solo tackles. Donovan Barnes – a Tallahassee native who will play in front of a “home” crowd on Saturday – had an interception.
The defense also held strong during a long McKendree drive that started at the Bearcats’ 18-yard line in the fourth quarter. McKendree drove all the way down to UWF’s 4-yard line with a third-and-1 situation. On fourth-and-1, McKendree was called for a false start and was pushed back to the 9, ultimately missing the field goal wide.
The Bearcats were held to minus-32 rushing yards in the contest.
“Their relentless effort and physicality is unbelievable. … Now, having an extra defensive lineman down there kind of poses some different stuff. We’ve got some good players on that side of the ball,” Nobles said. “We’ve got a bunch of guys in the back seven that are phenomenal about great effort and getting after the ball. Obviously I’m excited about their play, and we’ve got to keep getting better and work to improve.”
But one thing stands out from the Week 2 victory: penalties. The Argos were called for 15 penalties totaling 160 lost yards. Some of the penalties were in-play calls – such as holding, primarily – but there was some after-whistle action that forced some unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against UWF.
The after-play penalties were “talked about a bunch” during team meetings on Monday, Nobles added.
“We talked about making sure we’re handling our job and not worrying about anybody else. That was really the thing,” Nobles said. “We started focusing on talking too much trash and getting involved in the game, when we need to be focused on being ourselves.”
‘It’s going to be a great atmosphere’
To play at a stadium like Bragg Memorial is something these players won’t forget anytime soon. Add in that it’s the season-opener for the Rattlers, and that environment will be even better in Tallahassee.
And Nobles knows crowd noise will be “a little bit of a factor” come Saturday.
“But our guys are excited. They know at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing. We’re playing a nameless, faceless opponent on the other side,” Nobles said. “Any time you play somewhere like this, it’s going to be a great atmosphere. It’s their first home game. The crowd’s going to be loud.”
Three players on the UWF roster will be “heading home” this weekend to potentially play in front of family and friends. Barnes, a freshman who went to Florida State University High School; Cristian Duquetoro, redshirt freshman who went to Lincoln High School; and Matthew McQueen, a freshman who went to Chiles High School will have a homecoming on Saturday.
For a lot of the UWF roster however, for players who are from central or southern Florida, the drive to Tallahassee is a little bit easier than Pensacola, Nobles noted. “A lot shorter than Illinois, too,” Nobles said with a smirk.
“I know a lot of them have family coming, have big groups coming. … Those (three) guys are excited to play at home,” Nobles said. “A lot of our guys are excited. They’re ready to play. But they know it’s just about us.”
Playing in a Division I stadium also isn’t new for some other players who transferred in from Division I programs. Caden Leggett, who transferred from Texas Tech which is part of the Big 12 Conference, not only played at Jones AT&T Stadium at Texas Tech – which holds over 60,000 people – but competed at other top schools such as Texas, TCU and Baylor.
The Argos have 21 other Division I transfers on the roster.
“Obviously some guys have played in some bigger stadiums. … For some, this might not be the biggest stadium they’re playing in,” Nobles said. “Those guys are able to calm the storm a little bit and say, ‘Just relax.’”
Scouting FAMU
When asked what the UWF coaching staff was honing in on for FAMU this weekend, Nobles quickly said, “really everything.”
The Rattlers have split their first two games, having shown “flashes of dominance and drawbacks” against both Jackson State and the University of South Florida. FAMU defeated the former 28-10, but fell to South Florida 38-24 in Tampa on Saturday.
“They’re one of the better teams we’ve seen on tape over the years. … Coach (Willie) Simmons has done a great job there,” Nobles said. “It’s just a great opportunity for us to go and play them, and bring our D2 team that everybody’s talking about and go play an FCS (school).”
FAMU, ranked No. 24 in the FCS Coaches Poll, is on a 15-game home winning streak. In Week 2, quarterback Jeremy Moussa went 24-for-43 in passing with 374 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. He was also sacked four times.
Moussa has 524 passing yards in two weeks, completing a little more than 55% of his passes (36-for-65) with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
Between sacks and other runs for losses, FAMU finished the contest with just 19 rushing yards on 29 attempts. Jaquez Yant led the team with 94 yards and a touchdown, while Terrell Jennings had 86 yards and two touchdowns.
“(Moussa) is a great player. He’s a big kid that can run, that can throw. One of the better quarterbacks in the country, in my opinion, not determined at what level. Just any level,” Nobles said. “We know we’ve got a challenge ahead of us. We know he’s a good player – and we’re going to play against a lot of good players – but he’s the next best one we’re going to play, so we’ve got to figure out a way to stop him.”
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Defensively, Anthony Dunn Jr. led the Rattlers with 12 total tackles (6 solo, 6 assisted). Two-and-a-half of those tackles were for a loss. He recorded an assisted sack for a loss of three yards. Isaiah Major – who was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Week 2 Defensive Player of the Week – recorded 11 tackles (9 solo, 2 assisted). Three of those were for a loss, with two sacks with 15 yards lost.
“Our guys have a chip on their shoulder,” Nobles said. “People say we’re a good little D2 team. Well, we’ll find out Saturday how good we are and how much of a real little D2 team we are.”
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 Division I Florida A&M for Week 3 matchup
