LIVINGSTON, Ala. – With three non-conference games now in the rearview mirror, the West Alabama football team will remain at home this week when they welcome in No. 8 West Georgia to kickoff the Gulf South Conference portion of the schedule. Game time is set for 2 p.m. this Saturday afternoon inside Tiger Stadium. Saturday's game will also be Military Appreciation Day.

Tickets are $15 for general admission, $30 for reserved, $5 for youth/student, while five and under are free. Purchase your tickets ahead of time on the Hometown Fan App. All forms of funds will be accepted on game day for tickets including cash, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Credit cards will incur a small processing fee. Make sure to find out all of the game day information by clicking here, which includes parking and other information.

Make sure to tune into SLY 104.9 at 30 minutes before kickoff for the game day coverage with Will Atkinson and Rob Pearson on the call. Click here to listed to SLY 104.9 online. There will also be a live stream that can be found here and live stats that can be found here.

UWA (2-1) is coming off of a tough setback in a close 13-10 home opening loss to Tuskegee last week. The Tigers held a 10-3 lead following a touchdown pass from Tucker Melton to John Hilbert early in the second quarter, but Tuskegee answered back with 10 straight points, including the only three points of the second half to claim the victory.

Melton completed 18-44 for 207 yards and a touchdown. Dalton Bailey caught four passes for 48 yards. Hilbert added three catches for 45 yards and a touchdown, while Caeleb Bass brought in four passes for 42 yards. On the ground, Battle rushed for 26 yards on eight carries.

On defense, Michael Anderson was well on his way to taking home GSC Defensive Player of the Week honors after piling up 13 tackles (nine solo), along with 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Lamar Gray added eight tackles. UWA tallied four sacks and had a 31-yard interception return by Shamar Lewis that setup the Melton to Hilbert TD pass.

Melton has completed 62-121 for 793 yards and seven touchdowns on the season. He ranks in the top-50 nationally in several categories:

• -          22^nd in completions per game (20.67)
• -          16^th in passing touchdowns (7)
• -          17^th in passing yards (793)
• -          19^th in passing yards per game (264.3)
• -          31^st in points responsible for (42)
• -          35^th in points responsible for per game (14)
• -          26^th in total offense per game (257.7)

Demetrius Battle continues to make his push for breaking into the top-10 all-time in both rushing yards and touchdowns. On the season, he has rushed 41 times for 147 yards and a touchdown. He is just 294 yards away and one touchdown away from breaking into the top-10 on the all-time record books. Bry Webb has carried the ball 25 times for 86 yards and Antonio Brown has rushed 17 times for 85 yards. Hilbert has caught 13 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns. Geordan Pollard has 10 catches for 141 yards and a score, while Bass has eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown. Silas Thompson and Webb have the other receiving touchdowns.

On defense, Anderson leads the way with 22 total tackles (16 solo), along with 6.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. Gray has 18 tackles (16 solo), along with a tackle for loss. Lewis adds 12 tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception. De Mays and Trevon Stanford all have 12 tackles on the season. Trevonte Carter and Jamal Ellis each have 3.5 tackles for loss and both have 2.5 sacks.

UWA ranks in the top-50 nationally in multiple categories:

• -          13^th in third down conversion percentage on defense (23.4)
• -          48^th in fewest penalties (16)
• -          44^th in fewest penalties per game (5.33)
• -          44^th in first downs allowed on defense (48)
• -          19^th in passing offense per game (279)
• -          15^th in passing yards allowed per game (133.7)
• -          T-8^th punt return yards allowed per return average (0.00)
• -          49^th in punt return average per return (10.17)
• -          19^th in red zone defense percentage (60)
• -          T-1^st in red zone percentage conversion on offense (100)
• -          48^th in rushing defense yards allowed per game (107.3)
• -          8^th in scoring defense points per game (9.7)
• -          36^th in tackles for loss allowed per game (5.0)
• -          23^rd in team passing efficiency on defense (97.32)
• -          7^th in team sacks per game (4.67)
• -          5^th in team tackles for loss per game (10.3)
• -          16^th in total defense yards allowed per game (241)

West Georgia (2-0) enters the week undefeated, having outscored Carson-Newman and Morehouse by a combined 80-7. The Wolves are ranked No. 8 in the nation and had last week off. They last played on Sep. 10 in Atlanta against Morehouse. During the game against the Maroon Tigers, West Georgia held just a 7-0 lead at halftime before putting up 28 points in the third quarter on their way to rolling to the 42-0 victory.

Harrison Frost has completed 26-52 for 449 yards and five touchdowns. Za'Tarious Anderson has caught eight passes for 162 yards and a touchdown. Zay Britt has added six catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, while Terrill Cole has three catches for 81 yards and a score. On the ground, Zion Custis has carried the ball 17 times for 148 yards and a touchdown. Jaxton Carson has 17 carries as well for 104 yards and a score. Rajaez Mosley has rushed 12 times for 81 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, Amos Dahn has 12 tackles, along with 1.5 tackles for loss, a half-sack and a forced fumble. Malcolm Mercer has 11 tackles, with 2.5 sacks. Xavier Robinson adds 10 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

West Georgia went 9-3 overall and 5-2 in conference play last season, finishing just ahead of the Tigers in the GSC standings.

Following the home game against West Georgia, the homestand will continue next Saturday when UWA will face Shorter with a 2 p.m. kickoff on Oct. 1 inside Tiger Stadium.

Game 4 Notes

• -          Won GSC opener and first three conference games last year, with all three coming on the road. During that stretch, UWA defeated then No. 9 West Georgia in Carrollton
• -          UWA is 16-22 in the all-time series against the Wolves, with the first meeting taking place in 1983
• -          Put together a four-game winning streak in the series from 2010-2013. Since that streak ended, UWA is 3-4 against West Georgia
• -          The Tigers picked up the big road win last year in Carrolton, outscoring UWG 31-6 in the second and third quarters to run away with the victory. Jack McDaniels completed 25-34 for 323 yards and two touchdowns. Tyriq Martin caught 10 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown. Bayley Blanchard added six catches for 87 yards and a score. Demetrius Battle rushed for 53 yards and a pair of scores. Defensive returners Michael Anderson and Lamar Gray combined for 14 tackles. Jeremiah Boyd led the team with eight tackles. The teams combined for over 800 yards.
• -          Since 2009, UWA is 6-5 in the series and it has been split home and away. The Tigers are 3-2 at home and 3-3 on the road
• -          The largest margin of victory during that time was 45-14 in 2013 and the smallest margin was 34-31 in 2017
• -          Demetrius Battle is now at 1,409 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns for his career and is 294 yards away from breaking into the top-10 all-time in rushing yards. He is one touchdown away from tying for 10^th on the all-time touchdowns list
• -          UWA collected their second straight Gulf South Conference Player of the Week award when Michael Anderson took home Defensive Player of the Week after posting 13 tackles (nine solo), along with 3.5 tackles for a loss of 13 yards and a sack against Tuskegee. Tucker Melton earned the Offensive Player of the Week award in the previous week against Miles College
• -          UWA is still receiving votes in the AFCA National Poll, entering this week with five votes
• -          Defense has posted a sack and an interception in 10 of the last 14 games dating back to last season. In the games in which they didn't have one or the other, UWA has an interception or a sack in three of the games. The only game over the last 14 in which neither occurred was against Mississippi College on Nov. 13, 2021
• -          With Melton's 207 passing yards against Tuskegee, UWA now has a streak of 34 games in which they have passed for at least 100 yards in a game. Last occurrence of under 100 yards was against North Greenville on Sep. 30, 2018 (88 yards)
• -          With UWA tallying just 23 rushing yards against Tuskegee, that is just the second time over the past 14 games in which the Tigers haven't rushed for at least 100 yards
• -          Melton has found multiple receivers throughout the season over the first three games. At least eight different receivers have caught a pass in every game this year, with a high of 10 catching a pass against Miles College
• -          UWA is 7-7 on red zone chances this year, including a 5-7 clip on touchdowns in the red zone
• -          The defense has tallied 14 sacks this year and have forced four turnovers, while allowing just an average of 9.67 points per game