Week 10 Recap: Argonauts Trounce Tigers 47-7 in Road Finale
Offensive Line Impact on Both Phases of Offense
West Florida was lead in 2019 by an experienced and veteran OL unit, including three year starting seniors at three of five spots. That group allowed 21 sacks on 53o drop backs over course of a 15 game season. A sack rate of 4.0% is a solid, that was probably good for the top half of the D2, likely among the best for the highest volume passing teams in the division, and more importantly it allowed for a highly productive offense that lead the way for a National Title. It was pretty reasonable to assume that there would be some growing pains with a unit replacing 60% of its starters, but the Argos were lucky in a few ways. First they returned the other two starters (Bruce and Dilla) and a player who started multiple games as a backup (Simpler). Second, the unfortunate loss of the 2020 season allowed the team time to rebuild the line without throwing them into the fire right away. Third, they received a transfer from PSAC powerhouse IUP (Roman) who had multiple years of starting experience and could effectively be a plug and play guy. All of those pieces were working to soften the blow of losing Antoine, Wintrick, and Gibson, but still had to assume the line couldn’t be better than that unit was.
Well I was wrong, and it is incredible how well this group has performed this year. Through nine games this season, the Argonauts have a total of 333 drop backs and have given up just 5 sacks (1.5%). This is amplified even more when you break it out to the starting QB/OL. Austin Reed has 308 total drop backs this season and has been sacked only twice, once each vs Delta State and West Georgia. That is a sack rate of just 0.6%. At the FBS level, that would currently be tied for the best sack rate in the country with Baylor. This week accounted for the 4th time this season the Argos haven’t allowed a sack (there is a credited sack in the box score, but it was a fumble on a RPO handoff that Reed fell on, not a sack), and the 7th time Austin Reed hasn’t been sacked this season. Among the top 10 passing offenses in D2, only two have sack rates lower than 2%, UWF (1.5) and Bemidji State (1.4) and the average for that group is 4.3% (similar to UWF’s 2019 numbers). This is despite losing day 1 starter Zac Elam to injury early in week 2 and having to shuffle Simpler to Center and working Juac Angoi and Oake Stipe at RG, as Angoi also missed some time to injury.
It isn’t just the passing game too, West Florida’s front five have also excelled in the run blocking scheme this year. A healthy Shomari Mason and a bevy of spelling options have lead to a team average of 6.1 yards per carry (6.4 when excluding sacks). Going back over the previous four seasons UWF has averaged 3.8, 4.4, 3.4, and 3.2 yards per carry, meaning this season’s 6.1 average constitutes more than a 60% improvement on the per carry average over the historical trend. Mason being full speed can help make any OL look good with his season average 9.0 yards per carry, but this OL has been opening holes and providing a lot of room to run, especially in the last few weeks. Since the UWG game, where the Argos managed just 39 yards on 20 carries, the running game has had its best stretch of the season averaging 204 yards per game and 8.5 yards per carry, while scoring 2.7 rush TD per game. Excluding sack yardage they’ve allowed just 10 TFL against RBs this season for -25 yards. That is quite impressive compared to 226 rushing attempts and 1515 gross yards gained on the ground. They allowed just 2 TFL this week, with one self inflicted on the aforementioned fumbled RPO exchange.
They didn’t beat the game they had against MC last weekend but had a solid contest (26 carries 159 yards 1 TD 4.4 yards per carry) while facing the best run defense in the conference. UWA was averaging less than 100 per game and 3.0 yards per rush allowed coming into the contest, and the Argos ran right through those marks. Shomari Mason averaged 13.2 per carry on his 5 attempts, with two of those five rushing touches from Shomari going for explosive gains of 34 and 19, while his other three runs went for 5, 4, and 4. His 6th game this season without taking a TFL, and he has lost just 6 yards on TFL this season, while losing yards on just 3.5% of his carries (3/86). The remaining 21 caries came from Anthony Johnson Jr (12 59 1 4.9), Jervon Newton (4 25 0 6.3), Reed (3 6 0 2.0), and Seth Johnson (2 3 0 1.5), mostly as the Argos tried to salt away the game in the 2nd half (19 of 26 attempts in the 2nd half).
Shutting Down the Tigers
From start to finish, the Argonauts dominated West Alabama with the defense on the field. The first drive of the game was a preview of what was to come, with the Argonauts allowing one first down then tightening up on 3rd down. On that first series, the tigers came out and found success on the ground right away, running for 5 and 8 yards on back to back attempts from Demetrius Battle. It looked like the Argos may have trouble stopping the run, typically a strength of the team, but West Alabama immediately went away from it, electing to throw on each of the next three plays. Those attempts resulted in a loss of 1, a gain of 5, and finally a gain of just 3 on 3rd and 6, due to a tipped ball forcing an off target throw. Shannon Showers Jr and Sharod Oliver made good 1 on 1 tackles in space to avoid any YAC on 1st and 3rd downs, the latter giving the Argos the first of many defensive stops that night. UWF would turn it into 7 on the other end pretty quickly. This trend would continue time and again Saturday, allow West Al to get a first down, maybe two or three, then the defense would buckle down and force a stop or a turnover, and UWF would capitalize on offense.
Statistically, the Argos posted one of their best performances of the season and did it against one of the best offenses they have faced thus far. West Florida gave up just 303 yards of offense to the Tigers on 66 plays (4.6 yards per play), they allowed 18 first downs on their 12 offensive drives. Most importantly, the Argonauts defense allowed no points for the first time since the 2019 West Georgia game, with the 7 Tigers points coming off a fumble returned for a TD. When you compare this game stacks up against UWF’s season averages, the Argos allowed fewer points (7 vs 22), yards (303 vs 359), yards per play (4.6 vs 4.8), rush yards (35 vs 112.4), first downs (18 vs 21.4), and 3rd down conversions (23.1% vs 41.0%). It is even more impressive when you consider the Tigers average 461.5 yards of offense on 6.5 yards per play and 39.9 points per game. The Tigers were also held well below season averages for rushing (199.5) and third down conversions (39.4%).
UWF has to feel really good about the defensive performance this week, which beyond the numbers and individual performances, was just higher energy and effort than we have seen especially in the first halves of games this season. They were able to disable two of the most potent offensive weapons in the GSC at the same time on Saturday. Guys were flying to the ball, UWA RB Battle was facing waves of defenders every time he got a carry. The conference’s second leading rusher coming into the game, Battle finished with his worst night of the year on the ground gaining just 38 yards on 9 attempts and no scores. UWF also held star WR Tyriq Martin to one of his worst contests of the season (6 receptions 66 yards 0 TD), only the 2nd time this season he has been held scoreless and his third worst yardage total.
Return to Chaos
I wrote in the pregame that this could be a game where UWF had a chance to get back to sacking the QB and turning the ball over. They had been so proficient at it in the early season (23 sacks, 9 turnovers in the first 5), but starting with the West Georgia game things really fell off (3 sacks, 3 turnovers in the last 3). The Argonauts failed to get a sack against UWG, but did pick of Harrison Frost, they scored two sacks against Shorter (who threw more than the Argos did) but couldn’t turnover Dennis and the Hawks at all, and did manage one sack against Mississippi College as well as two fumble recoveries. This stretch of 1 sack per game comes after averaging over 4 per game in the first five games, so it was really a significant drop off in production despite facing 77 combined pass attempts vs UWG and Shorter. Leading up to this contest, West Alabama had allowed some sacks (at least one vs everyone except Shorter) and Jack McDaniels had thrown a pick in each of the last four games. As it turned out, Saturday ended up being a banner day for chaos from the Argos defense.
West Florida’s defense, lead by a great showing from the Linebacker group, was extremely effective at pressuring McDaniels. He was sacked on 5 of 48 drop backs (10.4%), more than double their season average (5.0%) coming into the game. This also was West Alabama’s worst game in terms of sacks allowed, previously giving up 4 against Tuskgegee, and is only the second multi-sack game the Tigers have allowed in GSC play (3 against MC). Officially Vincent McIntosh, Brendan “Big Spicy” Cotilla-Delgado, Stephon Williams (sorry Aidan Swett), Khalib Gilmore (sorry Jonathan Sullivan), and DJ Artis recorded the five sacks for UWF, but no assists were assigned in the official box score. Unofficially, Artis had another half sack (with Big Spicy), Kee Whetzel contributed a half sack (with McIntosh) and was the third man in on another sack (with Big Spicy and Artis). West Florida got home with other forms of pressure even when they didn’t get sacks. Matt Gotel had a deflection at the line on some good inside pressure, DJ Artis also got a deflection on the 3rd down stop on the first drive, but the ball was tracked by the intended WR for a minimal gain. The other big pressure came from Artis and Gilmore on the pass attempt that lead to D Bell’s big INT return for a TD. Khalib Gilmore came off the left side and DJ Artis came off the right side, both beating their blockers with speed, and sandwiched McDaniels in the backfield as he threw. The hit clearly affected the trajectory of the ball and Bell was able to undercut it for a huge play.
Speaking of turnovers, the Argos were able to snag two of them on the night and forced a turnover on downs. Artis and Bell, in what was a recurring theme of the night, played big roles in most of these impact plays for the defense. The first forced turnover was on an 8 yard pass, and Artis was able to jar the ball loose from Davenport allowing Shea Campbell to fall on it. It was a big play, not only because it gave the ball back to the Argos, but it stymied a Tigers drive near the end of the half that was pushing into UWF territory and could have turned a little of the momentum away going into half. At the time UWF was up 30-0, so had the Tigers gotten in before halftime and gotten a stop to open the 3rd, they could have turned it into a 30-14 game with a lot of time left to play. UWF wasn’t able to score with the ball, but did flip the field giving it back to UWA with less than 30 seconds in the half and inside their own 30 again. The INT came in the 4th quarter, when UWA refused to stop throwing the ball even down big and hopelessly late in the game. The Tigers were again threatening in UWF territory, but Artis and Gilmore got home off the edge and forced a throw that was behind target. D’Anthony Bell, who has been waiting for this kind of big play opportunity, made the most of his shot breaking three tackles and taking the ball all the way back for a 90 yard TD return. You could see the reaction from his teammates’ once he broke free of the first tackle, they know what kind of speed he has and knew he would be making a house call.
Statement Win and Playoff Outlook After Week 10
No other way around it, this was a huge statement that the Argonauts really needed to make with just one contest left before playoff selection time. Style points to factor into the seeding as much as it does say for the College Football Playoff at the FBS level or for Division I’s March Madness, but this win will be sticking in the committee’s head as they ponder the final seeding for Super Region 2. Of course the biggest game is yet to come, as UWF has a chance to secure the GSC championship and ruin Valdosta State’s third consecutive undefeated season, but still this was a huge win over a team who was desperate to get into the playoffs after losing 2 of their last 3 games. UWF put UWA in their worst spot of the season, scoring more points (47) and putting up more yards (562) than anyone else had against the Tigers’ defense this season. Simultaneously UWA accumulated the fewest yards (303) and points (7) of their season, and were shut out on offense for the only time this year. It was the four quarter, whole team effort that this team hasn’t really had this season and it came against a quality opponent with the playoff conversation starting to really ripen.
UWA was the third best team the Argos have played this season, it was the third time UWF won a game against an opponent ranked at the time of the contest (TAMUC and DSU), however those two teams are currently unranked, as the rest of their seasons have not gone as expected. UWA however, was a team that was in the SR2 rankings over the last two weeks, a team that beat UWG earlier this season (the only team to beat UWF or challenge VSU), and a team that needed to win out to secure a playoff bid. Instead UWF pounded the Tigers and effectively ended their season barring any craziness this weekend. It seems like a case of UWF peaking at the right time, with VSU next week and some inevitably hard playoff games coming after that.
The SR2 picture is pretty clear up top, the home seeds (1-4) are currently VSU, Bowie State, Albany State, and UWF, with UWG taking the #5 spot currently. The #1 overall seed gets a bye week week 1, while 2-4 all host the weekend of the 20th. It is hard to say exactly what would happen if the Argos beat the Blazers next weekend, other than UWF would assuredly be hosting a home game. Bowie State seems primed to takeover the #1 seed if that happened, but UWF could shoot up the rankings as well. I would guess that the final top 5 in the case of a UWF win this weekend would be Bowie State, UWF, VSU, Albany State, and UWG, with the top 2 possible swapping. If the Argos fall this weekend, I think you’d see VSU, Bowie State, Albany State, UWG, and UWF in that order, meaning that barring an upset against one of the higher seeds, UWF would be on the road for the duration of their playoff run for the third time. Things could get whacky if Bowie State was to lose to Fayetteville State or Albany State to Miles this weekend in the CIAA and SIAC championship games.
Final Thoughts and Players of the Game
This feels like a team getting hot at the right time over the last 6 quarters, but every game starting here means more than the last one. What this team has done well all season, score fast, stop the run, force negative plays, is a solid plan for success going forward. The growth of this team was on display this weekend, seeing them finish plays, finish drives, and really round out their performance on that side of the ball. Offensively they made the most of their opportunities against one of the best defenses they’ve faced this year, and ended the game averaging 8.5 yards per play despite running out the clock for a lot the second half. Hopefully this level of effort translates back home against Valdosta State next weekend, because this is going to be game for the ages at Blue Wahoos Stadium. I think as an Argos fan you have to feel pretty optimistic about the way that Austin Reed is playing, about the health of this team, and depth that has developed this season at key positions (WR, DL, OL). Either way, we will all be waiting on the edge of our seats for Saturday evening to roll around and see who ends up atop the Gulf South Conference.
Offensive Players of the Game: Austin Reed
Austin Reed kept up his high level play with a 400 yard 4 TD performance this weekend. This marks his 2nd 400 yard game and his 7th with 4 TDs, he is averaging 330 yards and 3.7 TD per game, and beat both of those marks against a UWA team that had been solid against the pass this season. He was totally in sync with his WRs, regularly putting the ball into the right spot for a play to be made, even if they didn’t always come down with it. I can only think of one or two throws that were off target, and other than the INT, there were probably two other risky throws, neither of which ended up hurting UWF, as both were completed including one for a score. He had a pair of throws that really stood out for the night, one a deep route on the sideline to Ka’Ron Ashley and another on go route to Ashley. On the first throw, Reed had all day with good OL protection, but he wound up and found Ashley going out of bounds inside the 10 yard line. Reed was standing in the middle of the field at the UWA 45 yard line and dropped it into the bucket to Ashley on the sideline at the 5 yard line, the ball traveling 48 yard through the air with Ashley making a toe dragging catch to set up his own 6 yard TD on the next play, UWF going up 23-0 with under 4 minutes left in the first half. The second throw, Reed just put it right on the money with pretty tight coverage and Ashley was able to make the snag going to the ground down to the 1 yard line, they would score 4 plays later.
Defensive Player of the Game: Demarco Artis
This was a tough choice, because it could have just as easily been D’Anthony Bell here, but Artis really impressed me on the rewatch. The stat sheet seems wrong at this point, because I think Artis should have 1.5 sacks along with 4 tackles and the forced fumble. He was dynamic coming off the edge on Saturday, using a quick first step and good hands to swipe past UWA’s Jalen Gardner at Left Tackle. Even when he didn’t get to the QB, his pressure caused things to happen, forcing an INT and deflecting a pass. On the interception, he was coming off the right side of the OL instead of the left, he blew past the Right Tackle and sandwiched Jack McDaniels as he threw the ball. That throw came up a little off target, and allowed Bell to make an INT and show off his athleticism on the big return. It just seemed like all night long, Artis was involved in almost every big play on defense. The INT he affected, the fumble he forced, twice getting to the QB on sacks, deflecting a ball on 3rd down on the opening drive and forcing the WR to come back for an off target throw. He was just in the backfield and causing problems for the Tigers all day.
