LIVINGSTON, Ala. - After a perfect 3-0 start at home, the University of West Alabama Football team is set to put their No. 23 ranking on the line as the Tigers open up GSC Play with a top-25 clash against the 12th ranked West Florida Argonauts in Pensacola on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.

#23 West Alabama enters this weekend's highly anticipated matchup after wins over Miles, Tusculum, and Limestone to begin the season, while #12 West Florida comes in after opening their season with a 38-6 win over McKendree.

"GSC play always leads to an extra pep in your step," said head coach Brett Gilliland. "We are excited for the challenge of playing on the road against a top-ranked team to open GSC play. This year is a unique situation with us entering our fourth game as they are coming into their second but we focus on what we can control and that is staying mentally focused on our first road trip and working to continue improving our play every week."

UWA defeated UWF, 10-6, in Livingston last season, in a defensive dogfight. A win over West Florida, no matter how it comes, is impressive as the Argos have been a national powerhouse since they arrived on the college football scene in 2016. With that being said, the Tigers would certainly want to score more points in this season's contest and have the firepower to do so, with the weapons at Quarterback Spencer Arceneaux's disposal. 

The backfield trio of Bry Webb, Brayden Jenkins, and Devontae Causey has caused major headaches for West Alabama's first three opponents. Webb is the starter, but all three running backs have eclipsed 100 yards rushing this season, including Causey who was a nominee for the GSC Offensive Player of the Week award this past week after recording a career-high 102 rushing yards in the Tigers' 33-14 win over Limestone. As for wideouts, Khris Binion has been UWA's number one receiver through three games, recording a team-high 156 yards on a team-high 10 catches, while fellow pass catcher, Tyler Walker has accumulated 145 yards on seven catches.

West Alabama has been feasting on the defensive side of the ball to begin the year, only allowing 12.7 points per game which ranks 25th in the country. The Tigers have also forced eight turnovers already this season, returning two for touchdowns which is the second most in all of Division II. One of those defensive touchdowns was scored by Davonta Jackson, who was named the GSC Defensive Player of the Week after a monster game against the Saints last Saturday. Jackson put together a statline of 4.0 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1.0 sack, one forced fumble along with his fumble recovery for a touchdown. Beside Jackson, Trevon Lambert and Cody Sigler are enforcers in the middle while Issac Williams, Uriah Ratliff, and Devonte Harris are ball hawks in the secondary, creating an uber talented defense for a West Alabama team that is looking to replicate their defensive performance that they put together against West Florida last year.

After losing Peewee Jarrett in the offseason, Marcus Stokes was named the starting Quarterback for West Florida in fall camp. Stokes, a redshirt freshman, made his first career start against Mckendree two weekends ago and played well before making two costly mistakes, resulting in a pair of interceptions. Stokes didn't account for any of the Argos' five touchdowns in Week One, but didn't have to as his running backs did majority of the scoring for him. Similar to UWA, UWF has a handful of running backs that will get touches on Saturday night. The leader of that group is Jamontez Woods who scored two touchdowns and ran for 46 yards in the Argonauts' season opener. 

On the defensive for West Florida, Ralph Ortiz is their guy. Ortiz was named the GSC Freshman of the Year in 2023 after recording 37 tackles, 6.0 TFL, and three interceptions which put him third in the league in that category. The redshirt sophomore assumes a larger role this season and is the leader of the Argos' defense. Ortiz got his second year in the blue and green started, by registering 10 tackles and a pick-six to lead West Florida to their dominant win.

Kickoff for Saturday's game is set for 6:00 p.m. from Pen Air Field in Pensacola, Florida.