LIVINGSTON, Ala. - After a 42 day absence, the University of West Alabama Football team returns home to Tiger Stadium on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. for their Homecoming matchup against the Chowan Hawks.
No.18 West Alabama (5-1, 2-1 GSC) comes into Homecoming Weekend after suffering their first loss of the season on the road against Delta State, 21-6, last Saturday. For Chowan (2-4, 1-2 GSC), they make the trip to Livingston carrying a two-game losing streak with their last defeat coming to West Florida also this past Saturday.
"Homecoming is always a great time around our campus," said head coach
Brett Gilliland. "It will be great to have alumni and fans back to campus for our first home game in a while. Our job during Homecoming week is to perform and win the game and that's what our players' focus has been on. We have had a good week of preparation and we are excited to face a new GSC opponent."
UWA's offense looks to rebound on Saturday against the Hawks after mustering up a season-low six points against Delta State last weekend. The Tigers didn't have many problems moving the ball down the field, but their offense became stagnant once they entered the Statesmen's territory. West Alabama looks to prove that last Saturday was an outlier game for their offensive unit since they've been exceptional at finishing off drives all season long. Even after last Saturday's result, UWA still ranks third in the conference and 41st in the country in red zone efficiency, scoring on 84 percent of their trips to the red zone.
Spencer Arceneaux remains the leader of the Tiger offense and enters this weekend's game after surpassing 1,000 passing yards on the year last weekend. The Junior Quarterback is now up to 1,055 passing yards along with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. While Arceneaux is solid in the pocket, West Alabama is at their best when their running game is productive, which has been the case for the majority of the season. The trio of
Bry Webb,
Brayden Jenkins, and
Devontae Causey continue to lead the Tigers' rushing attack as the three have propelled UWA to third in the GSC in rushing yards with a total of 942.
Defensively, West Alabama remains stout as they rank second in scoring defense, only allowing 15.3 points per game while leading the league in rushing defense, allowing 96 rushing yards per game. The Tigers are loaded with talent on that side of the ball but
Trevon Lambert and
Ishmael Naylor are the leaders of the group. Lambert continues to lead the league and sits fifth in the country with 6.5 sacks which stands as 3.0 more than any other player in the conference. For Naylor, he leads UWA and ranks third in the GSC with 48 tackles, making six or more tackles in every game this season.
The Chowan Hawks have struggled to score this year, averaging 15.9 points per game on 271.0 yards. The Hawks bring a run heavy attack to the table as they've rushed for more yards than they've thrown for in 2024. Their Quarterback, Maurice Smith, spread heads Chowan's rushing attack as the dual threat leads the team with 277 yards on the ground while throwing for 888 yards through the air.
While Smith can be explosive at times, Chowan's most dynamic offensive weapon is Jakobe Lane. Lane has been versatile for the Hawks, lining up out wide and in the backfield as the junior comes into the matchup against the Tigers with 733 total yards and four touchdowns.
Chowan's best overall player arguably lies on the defensive side. Linebacker Kenny Pride Toh currently leads the conference and ranks 21st in the nation with 71 total tackles. Toh leads a Chowan defense that ranks fifth in the GSC in scoring defense, giving up 27.0 points per game. The graduate student linebacker will be all over the field for the Hawks on Saturday but he will need his offense to find their rhythm if Chowan wants to pull off the upset and spoil the Tigers' homecoming.
"I hope all alumni will be able to come be a part of the many festivities that happen this weekend," Gilliland closed.
Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday from Tiger Stadium.
