West Florida Bursts onto FCS Scene with Upset of #16 Southern Illinois

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It was a night they won’t soon forget in Pensacola, Florida. The first ten years of the West Florida football program has been brimming with big wins. Perhaps save for their 2019 national championship, though, Thursday night’s might now be the biggest that Argos and their fans have ever witnessed. Making their Division I football debut, UWF looked like anything but a lower-tier team against the Top 20 Salukis. Backed by a strong defensive showing and a flurry of big plays on offense, West Florida sent Southern Illinois packing and, in doing so, sent a booming message to the rest of their new subdivision; they are here.

For as well as things ended up for the Argonauts, they got off to a rocky start. The first West Florida drive was cut short when running back T.J. Lane coughed up the ball and SIU defensive end Abraham Sanogo fell on it. The turnover led to three quick Saluki points, however, the bend-but-don’t-break swagger that the UWF defense exhibited on that first drive would show itself time and time over.

Trailing 3-0 late in the opening quarter, West Florida’s offense strung together a long eight-play, 82-yard drive that got them in the end zone. Quarterback Ty’ray Davis did most of the work himself, running the ball three times and completing a throw. It was his 45-yard scamper that gave the Argos the lead. Davis broke free down the right sideline and wove his way through the Salukis defense to break the chalk.

The pressure was starting mount a little for Southern Illinois and they leaned on the legs of their own dual threat signal caller D.J. Williams to relieve it. Williams got his offense down into scoring position again but three straight incompletions resulted in another field goal try. Kicker Seth Adams nailed his 50-yard attempt to cut the deficit to 7-6 with 13:36 to play in the second quarter.

Davis and company would not let the Salukis hang around that close for long. The very next play he zipped a 31-yard completion to receiver Tyshon Mansell. The big play sparked another one that would come moments later when Davis connected with Jakari Mozelle over the middle for a 19-yard touchdown. The ensuing two-point attempt failed but still, the underdog Argos were leading 13-6 and were gaining full control of the game.

As bad as the score was looking for Southern Illinois, what was worse was the fact that Williams had to exit the game with an injury. It was a sight that had to make every Saluki fan sick because it was one they’ve seen several times throughout his career. Williams would not return to the game and backup Jake Curry would be tasked with leading the comeback attempt.

Curry struggled once he came in. On his first drive in he tossed an interception to Noah Gibson and, although that turnover wouldn’t prove to be costly, the next one would. Curry dropped back on third and short from his own 41-yard line and had it picked by A’khoury Lyde. Lyde sprinted the other way and went untouched into the end zone putting the Argonauts up by 14. Upset watch was officially on and Southern Illinois looked as lost as they could be. SIU did tack on three more before the break but still trailed 20-9 at halftime and had yet to score a touchdown.

West Florida added on in the third. After a missed field goal, the Salukis defense was once again diced through by the UWF rushing attack. Davis and Lane marched them down the field paving way for Markel Townsend to get in the scoring action. Townsend knifed his way to the outside and cut in for a nine-yard scoring run. The Argos weren’t just winning anymore. They were dominating.

Desperately seeking a spark, Southern Illinois finally got one later in the quarter. UWF receiver Bryce Cannon fumbled the ball and Salukis defensive end Sam Farmer recovered it. Finally Curry and the offense were able to do something. With 5:34 left in the third, Curry hit senior wideout Allen Middleton for a 18-yard scoring strike. Middleton’s touchdown was followed up by a two-point pass from running back Len Wash. The once 21-point hole was down to ten.

The momentum to swing back the way of the visitors early in the fourth. The once-deadly Argos offense was beginning to falter and that was evident when running back Kei’Shawn Smith got the ball jarred loose on a big hit by Southern Illinois safety Matthew McClelland. The Salukis recovered again, giving Curry another chance to slice into the deficit with 12:04 to go.

With their offense sputtering, the West Florida defense knew it needed to rise up but it, too, could not find its footing. Curry converted two big third down passes and drove SIU down inside the red zone as the clock ticked under eight minutes. Curry called his own number on a second and seven and tucked the ball. He ran to his right and evaded the defense on his way to the end zone. The crowd fell silent and the Salukis bench celebrated. They had stormed all the way back to make it 27-24.

Southern Illinois’ defense rose up shortly after and forced a quick three-and-out and, with barely a minute of game time passed, Nick Hill’s team got the ball back in good field position with the opportunity to take their first lead of the evening.

When all seemed lost, though, the UWF defense picked a great time to return to its early form. Linebacker Demontrae Gaston hammered running back Edward Robinson and knocked the ball free. The Argonauts sideline jumped in unison as Eli Webb fell on it. It was the momentum-squashing turnover that the boys in green needed and suddenly the whole tenor of the game changed again.

The buzz in the stadium only grew as Davis picked up a big first down on third and medium. With the time ebbing away, West Florida’s goal was simple; hold onto the ball as long as possible. With 2:36 left, though, Davis caught the SIU defense… which was surely expecting a run… napping and darted out a quick pass to Luc Carroll on the outside. Carroll broke a tackle, slipped a block and bolted in for 22-yard touchdown. Any hope Southern Illinois had of staving off the upset died with that play.

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For Southern Illinois this loss is a rough one. The Salukis will surely tumble from their #16 rank soon and, in a Missouri Valley Conference where every win is needed to make a case for a playoff spot come November, this one will hurt. What hurts just as much is the loss of Williams. Without him the offense is completely different and, as the team found out two years ago, the wins are a lot harder to come by.

Curry had an up-and-down night in Williams’ absence, completing 14 passes for 168 yards. He did account for three touchdowns but also tossed three picks. It was a microcosm of the inconsistency that plagued his team all night, an inconsistency they could not overcome.

On the other side, Davis finished his night with 195 all-purpose yards and was responsible for three touchdowns in an impressive effort. Four different Argos found the end zone and the defense forced four takeaways. West Florida had to also survive three turnovers of its own.

In the end it fell the way of the new kids on the block, though. They were a three-touchdown underdog coming in and yet when the clock hit all zeroes at Pen Air Field, the Argonauts were the ones celebrating a 34-31 stunner. Head coach Kaleb Nobles quarterbacked the team in their first season back in 2016 and now he’s guided them to their first-ever win as a DI program from behind the headset. All around it was a historic night in the upper West corner of the Sunshine State.

West Florida is an FCS team and they have emphatically proven their place as such.

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