First Reaction Delta State
*Deep Breath and Exhale* I needed some time to process this game. A 20 point halftime deficit. Program’s biggest comeback. Heroic performances on both sides of the ball. This is the kind of game that shortens your life as a fan, but the West Florida Argonauts just keep winning games. 4-0 for the first time in program history, 10 straight wins, dating back to the final regular season game of 2019, and most importantly 1-0 in GSC play in 2021. After trailing 30-10 at halftime, Coach Pete Shinnick’s team absolutely dominated rattling off 29 second half points and allowing just a single FG. In a place that is always tough to play, against a team that is just just a couple scores away from undefeated, the Argos showed the kind of fortitude that you need to survive in the GSC.
It wasn’t pretty though. The Argonauts fought bad weather, some questionable calls, and a team desperate not to lose three in a row after a promising 2-0 start to the season. They had some self inflicted wounds, committing 9 penalties for 102 yards, including two that lead to a fresh set of downs for the Statesmen, throwing a couple of picks in scoring position, and missed opportunities on to score on offense and get off the field on defense. In the end, the UWF we expected to see, explosive offense, opportunistic defense did show up in the second half, and controlled the final frames of the game. They just had to do it in come back mode instead of running away with the game, but the end result was still the same.
Second Half Team
The Argos just didn’t have it in the first half of this ball game. After opening with a 90 yard strike from Reed to Durden, the West Florida offense struggled to get in any rhythm in the first half. The rest of their first half drives netted just 69 yards and 6 first downs. UWF punted three times, had another punt attempt end in a safety due to a high snap, and managed just one more scoring drive getting a FG off of a DSU interception. They had some drops, there were some penalties, and it looked like bad weather set in as the second quarter wore on. Austin Reed was just 1 of 11 for 90 yards and 1 TD going into half. On defense things weren’t any better, the Argonauts allowed scores on 5/8 first half drives, with three drives (two scoring) of 12 or more plays. The defense just couldn’t get off the field in crucial moments, including 3 first half 4th down conversions. Delta State dominated TOP for the entire game, but it really hurt the Argos in the first half, when the offense was struggling to get started. The team overall had 5 penalties for 60 yards in the first half, and ran only 24 plays.
In the second half, we saw the same kind of adjustments we have seen so far this season from the West Florida coaches and players. Offensively Austin Reed comes out on the first drive of the second half and leads a 5 play 73 yard TD drive in 2:28. Austin Reed found Freshman Jared Smith for 17 yards and his first collegiate TD. Smith continuing to make his presence felt in that WR group. Delta takes the field and looks like they’re driving like they had all game, 15 plays 67 yards and 5:57 later and they come away with just a FG, despite getting to the Argo 11 yard line. And that is the last time we will hear from the DSU offense for the rest of the night, their remaining drives go punt, downs, fumble, interception, downs, ball game. They gained a respectable 183 yards in the second half, but it was 200 yards less than their first half output, and only made it into UWF territory three times in the second half. The defense stiffened significantly in the run game, allowing a stingy 45 yards on 18 carries while adding 33 more negative yards from four second half sacks. They got a goal line stand and turnover on downs when Trent Archie, once again, tore in from the blindside and took down Shegog at the UWF 14. The offense took it 9 plays and 93 yards in just 3:24, culminating in a Ra’vieon Hargrove (7 carries 65 yards 1 TD 1 reception 2o yards) 10 yard TD run.
That drive, which set the Argos up 33-31, looked like the breaking point for Delta looking back. Shomari Mason (10 carries 86 yards 3 catches 54 yards 1 TD) broke a big play taking a dump off 32 yards and near midfield. Delta’s defense had a crucial pass interference call moving the ball down to the DSU 36, then two plays later ripped Austin Reed’s helmet off moving the chains again, this time on what would have been 4th down. To make matters worse, WR Tyler Kennedy fumbled on the first play of the next Statesmen drive giving the Argos the ball in plus territory again. West Florida gained 37 of 46 yards on the ground en route to a 9 yard Shomari Mason TD on a great check down in the flats. After going ahead 4 points, Coach Shinnick opted to go for 2 and converted on a throwback to TE Maverick Wolfley. From there the Argos closed it out with some good defense, stalling a DSU drive at the UWF 41 with 34 seconds left in the game.
This week’s result brings UWF’s second half scoring splits this to 92-30 in four games. UWF has scored at least 21 points in each second half, and only allowed 10 points in the second halves SBU, TAMUC, and DSU.
David Durden Dominating
What an addition the Junior has been for the West Florida offense this season, he is arguably the best WR in the GSC this season through 4 games, and is well on his way to one of the top seasons by a pass catcher in UWF’s short history. He quickly became a top target for Austin Reed week 1 with 172 yards 1 TD and another TD rushing, then followed that up with a 4 reception 66 yard 2 TD effort against SBU, and 53 yards and a crucial TD at TAMUC. While almost all of his production (3 receptions 117 yards 2 TD) this week came on the first offensive play of the game, it doesn’t count any less in the final stat line. Additionally, that 90 yard TD is the longest play from scrimmage in Argos program history.
So far not only does Durden lead the Argonauts in yards (407) but he also leads the conference in yards per game (101.8) yards per reception and receiving scores (6), despite missing a game due to last week’s cancellation against Ft Lauderdale. He isn’t getting a lot of catches, just under 4 per game, but nobody on the team is many. What he does when he has the ball is incredible, scoring every 2.4 touches, and averaging over 25 yards per reception, which also leads the GSC. It will be interesting to see if he has a game this season again where he gets 6 or more touches, can he continue to produce the same kind of per touch numbers as the season wears on.
The Mercer transfer has lived up to the offseason expectations, and is on pace to possibly break all time records at UWF. The top season by a West Florida Wide Receiver came last season from Quentin Randolph who finished with 58 receptions for 1169 yards and 12 TD over 15 games. Durden is currently on pace for just over of 1000 yards and 15 TD in just the regular season (10 games). If he kept his current pace up for the same 15 games Randolph had, Durden would eclipse 1500 yards and score more than 20 TD. He has the chance to do something really special this season, and has started to turn some eyes among NFL Draft analyst circles with his torrid start to the season.
Creating Chaos, but Work to Do
The UWF defense has had its ups and downs this season. They have struggled to get off the field at times, and have given up early points in every game so far. This isn’t the last dangerous team that the Argos will play, so they’re going to have to get some early stops in future games. The first half of this game was no exception, where the Argos defense allowed 5 scores (4 TD) on the first 8 drives of the game, which included the first drive of the second half. The coaches and players have made great adjustments at half and tightened up when it mattered, but the thing they have consistently done as a unit has been create chaos for opposing teams.
Coming into this week the Argos had 21 TFL 12 sacks 3 turnovers and 12 hurries in just three games. This game was their most disruptive yet. The Argonauts harassed Patrick Shegog the whole second half, coming away with 5 of their 6 sacks in the 3rd and 4th quarters. They forced two turnovers on downs, both in UWF territory, one inside the red zone. The first, ended an 11 play 64 yard drive from the Statesmen inside the Argos 20 yard line. After giving up a 25 yard reception to take it down to the UWF 6 yard line, TJ Limehouse came up with a huge TFL to stop Patrick Shegog behind the line on a designed run. The three yard loss proved huge, as the Statesmen ended up making it down to the 2 on 2nd down. Third down ended with a stop at the line by Ja’Quize Cross, and set up a momentum changing 4th down attempt at the 2 yard line. On the money down, Trent Archie came screaming off the edge and ended the drive with a huge sack for the second week in a row, meeting Myles Meyer and Matthew Gotel in the backfield. In addition to the turnovers on down, the Argos snagged an INT and recovered a fumble in the last 5 drives of the game.
The final chaos stat line, 6 sacks 11 TFL 2 INT 2 fumble recoveries, is impressive, but they also were on the field for 102 plays and gave up 500 yards and 4 1st half TDs. If they can consistently start to bring the second half caliber of football to whole games, this defense is going to be really hard to deal with for everyone left on the schedule. There is so much depth and so much talent, but there are several issues right now. The first is 4th down conversions, where the Argos have allowed 12 of 18 including 4 of 6 last night. They also have had some crucial penalties, with two roughing the passer fouls being called on 3rd down where Delta would not have converted.
