Week 7 Preview: University of West Georgia
West Georgia, GSC (D2)
Broadcast: FLOSPORTS 5 PM EST/4 PM CST
When We Last Saw West Georgia
2021 Record: 5-1 (3-1)
West Georgia is coming of a drubbing of Mississippi College, 41-20, on the road. The Wolves jumped out to a commanding 27-7 lead by halftime, and outgained the Choctaws 550-308. This was a MC team who had just tallied their best win of the season over North Greenville the week before, 42-21. While the Wolves did give up 278 yards on the ground at a workman-like 5.6 yards per attempt, MC just couldn’t find the end zone enough, failing to even cross midfield on 5 of 10 drives. The Choctaws did score on three of their five trips into UWG territory, they also punted and turned it over on downs, and only scored their second TD of the game late in the 3rd quarter. The game was tight at the beginning of the 4th quarter when MC clawed back from that 27-7 halftime deficit to make it a one score game 27-21 with 7:39 left, before the Wolves closed it out. West Georgia, for those who haven’t followed along, is one of the premier passing offenses in not only the GSC but in the nation. Junior QB and Mercer transfer Harrison Frost is putting up good numbers and the MC game was no difference, finishing the contest 34-47 415 yards 3 TD 1 INT. Frost has the luxury of throwing to throwing to GSC leading WR Mechane Slade, who finished the game with a TD and over 100 yards through the air, his fifth game with at least 80 yards this season. Quan Harrison (8 catches 118 yards 1 TD) lead a Wolves WR group who had four pass catchers with at least 6 receptions and 60 yards, the aforementioned Slade and Harrison, as well as Ronnie Blackmon (6 catches 70 yards 1 TD) and UWG second leading WR Terrill Cole (7 receptions 62 yards). West Georgia’s running back by committee contributed 135 yards on 22 carries and scored twice, lead by Jace Jordan (7 for 55 yards 1 TD) and Tyray Devezin (7 for 50 yards). Defensively, the Wolves don’t have an individual standout player in the first half of the season, but they’ve been a solid unit collectively. Against MC, a team who runs a very frustrating triple option offense, the Wolves held the Choctaws out of the end zone for a long stretch from the middle of the 1st quarter until the end of the 3rd. The Choctaws were also held under their season averages for rushing (-6) and passing (-30).
Series History
A new feature of the weekly preview, I’ll take a look at the history between the Argonauts and whichever team they’re up against that week.
The Argos and the Wolves have met five times in the last four seasons, with West Florida holding a 3-2 edge in the record and the Road team winning every game in the series to date. The Argos lost their first ever meeting in 2016 in a shutout 69-0, but bounced back in the National Championship appearance run with two wins against UWG, both in Carrolton 34-29 in the regular season finale, and then two weeks later 17-14 in the second round of the playoffs. In a slumping 2018 campaign, the Argos lost once again at home 27-7 before blowing out the Wolves last season 30-2.
In the 2019 contest, a rain soaked, turnover riddled battle in Carrolton. The Wolves struck first with an INT on UWF’s first drive and a safety on special teams on the second, but only got into UWF territory on three drives (missed FG, turnover on downs, fumble). West Florida QB Austin Reed was just 2 for 15 43 yards 1 TD 1 INT, but Jervon Newton lead the way for an Argo rushing attack that mounted a 185 yard performance with 100 yards. Ian Bush had 6 TFLs including a safety on defense, Gael Laurent had 2 sacks, the defense recovered 5 fumbles, and snagged 1 INT. West Florida outgained West Georgia 227-147, in a game completely dominated by two defenses in horrible field conditions. Expect a very different game between these GSC powers in 2021, when two top 15 scoring offenses in all of D2 square off this weekend.
Three Players to Know
Junior Harrison Frost, Quarterback 6-1 190
2021 Stats: 163 for 251 1956 yards 13 TD 5 INT 326 yards per game 7.8 yards per attempt
Frost, a transfer from D1 Mercer, has been a great addition to the Wolves since the 2019 season. He leads the conference in passing yards and is just 0.2% behind league leader Jack McDaniels for completion % (64.9%). They have become an effective volume passing attack with Frost (42 attempts per game), leading the league by 81 attempts over Delta State. He thrives a spacing based attack, where the Wolves spread out the defense and find holes in short to intermediate range. However, Frost is capable of pushing the ball and they’ll lull teams to sleep with their dink and dunk game before taking a shot down the. The Junior QB is also pretty effective in their play action/RPO scheme, and the Wolves roll him out of the pocket pretty frequently to get him open looks. He isn’t a threat to run necessarily, but he does run the play fake well, freezing defenses and giving himself more space to operate.
Despite the gaudy numbers, Frost is middle of the pack in passer efficiency, TD:INT ratio, yards per attempt, and tied for 2nd among starting QBs in the GSC with 5 INTs. Watching the MC game from this past weekend, where he threw an INT and had at least three more passes that could have been picked off, he is willing to throw into tight windows and that doesn’t always work out for him. UWF needs to do what they do best on defense and pressure the QB, Frost has only been sacked 3 times, and limit the downfield plays to Slade, Harrison, or Terrill. That will force Frost and this offense to have to sustain multiple drives, to keep pace with UWF’s offense.
Senior Mechane Slade, Wide Receiver 5-9 175
2021 Stats: 39 receptions 567 yards 4 TD
Another transfer who has made a big impact on the Wolves this season is Mechane Slade, a former Memphis signee. Slade currently leads the GSC in yards and is tied for 4th in TD. The diminutive Slade plays mostly on the outside for the Wolves and has been a reliable playmaker for Frost hauling in receptions on 70% of his targets this season. He has the speed to beat defenders deep, but also shows ability after the catch to make guys miss and pick up YAC. He hasn’t scored as much as maybe expected for a player that leads the league in receptions, scoring about once every 10 receptions (for comparison David Durden is scoring every 2.9 receptions, Rodney Coates every 4.4), but Slade is a chunk play machine. Of his 39 catches, 46% have gone for 15 yards or more and he has six catches of 25 yards or more, with a season long of 40.
It is going to be a big task to slow down the Senior, he has had multiple receptions each game this year and three games of 100+ yards. He is a big part of their game plan and West Georgia will try to get him lots of looks on out routes, corners, and curls, where he can use his quickness in and out of breaks to create separation and pick up yardage after the catch. UWF mostly plays zone coverage and will need to keep their eyes up and try to disrupt the passing lanes near the line of scrimmage to keep the ball away from Slade and tackle well on the outside.
Senior Quan Harrison, Wide Receiver 5-9 185
2021 Stats: 15 receptions 289 yards 3 TD
While Harrison’s usage is quite a bit lower than Slade (targeted on 5.3% of offensive plays vs 12.5%) he is the more explosive of the two with 4 of his 15 receptions coming on plays of 25 yards or more. He has also scored at a higher rate than Slade, 12.5% of targets lead to scores vs 7.1% of targets, making Harrison is the big play guy to Slade’s primary target role. Harrison’s athleticism was on full display last week when he caught an insane leaping 40 yard reception with one hand while going to the ground. It was all Harrison as he beat the slot defender and got way up on a ball that was a little overthrown for a 5-9 target.
On the flip side, the senior has disappeared from games, tallying 0 receptions on 4 targets in the two game stretch of Delta State and Shorter. He is the guy UWF will have to worry about taking the top off of the defense, as he leads UWG with nearly 20 yards per reception. Safety play is going to need to be sound because the Wolves will line Harrison up in the slot and try to take advantage of mismatches.
Matchup of the Week
Austin Reed vs Harrison Frost
This is obviously not a direct competition as in weeks past, but this will be the story of the game. Frost averages 326 yards per game and has thrown 13 touchdowns in 6 games, good for first and second in the GSC respectively. Reed averages 297 yards per game and has thrown 18 touchdowns in 5 games, good for second and first in the GSC respectively. Both guys have already had big game experience this season. Both have a deep group of pass catchers, West Georgia with six players recording at least 30 yards per game while UWF has five. With the talent surrounding these talented throwers, this could be a shootout.
The Argos have faced against a couple of high volume passers this season with mixed results. Delta State’s Patrick Shegog had a career night against UWF throwing 50 times and racking up 459 yards and 2 TD on 64% passing, and tossing two picks. SBU’s Cooper Callis threw it 34 times for 230 yards and a score, completing 65%. Frost is averaging 42 attempts per game and aside from blowouts against Morehouse and Shorter where backups got reps in the second half, has thrown at least 40 times each game. West Florida is giving up 278 yards per game and about 60% completions on defense, surrendering 6 TD and picking off opposing QBs five times this season. I think turnovers could be a factor in this game, especially if UWF can get pressure up front against the Wolves. Frost has thrown five picks and threw a few more near turnovers against MC, and the Choctaws were able to get into the backfield against the Wolves OL, despite no sacks.
Austin Reed he has to build on the last two games for UWF to be successful. In the last 6 quarters of play Reed is 33 of 53 484 yards 7 TD 2 INT, and the Argonauts have scored 81 points. West Georgia has been pretty stout against the pass, but they have only played two offenses who average over 200 yards per game through the air. Delta State was held to only 110 yards passing, well below their 245 per game average. West Alabama’s potent offensive attack was able to throw it well on the Wolves with QB Jack McDaniels going for over 300 yards and 2 TD. West Georgia has not pressured the QB well (7 sacks, 10 hurries) nor have they gotten their hands on the ball (2 INT, 7 PBU). If Reed has time, UWF is at their best offensively when he is ripping it downfield and relying on a bevy of playmakers to make catches and gain YAC. This is a West Georgia defense that has played some bad passing offenses (three opponents averaging less than 110 yards passing per game) and had trouble with a team that has a similarly efficient passing game to UWF, West Alabama.
It should make for an excellent show on Saturday seeing these guys dueling it out.
Prediction
Whew this is going to be a doozy of a game. There are a lot of similarities between these teams, offenses that throw the ball all over but still have respectable running games and teams that have played big game scenarios already, plus played similarly close games against their only common opponent, Delta State. UWF is allowing about 113 more yards per game than the Wolves and 7 more points per game on defense, however an argument could be made that West Florida has played the tougher schedule so far especially considering being on the road for most of the first half of the season. UWF’s five opponents have a combined 11 wins, while UWG’s 6 opponents have a combined 12 wins 5 of which come from UWA alone. West Florida had the challenge of playing an FCS school, and going on the road against a top 10 defense in TAMU Commerce, while UWG has played at winless Carson-Newman, at one win Morehouse, and last weekend at Mississippi College. The Wolves have played the tougher individual game, when they hosted UWA for a 38-20 loss. I just feel like the Argos have two big things in their corner in this scenario. The first is getting to play a home game, on their actual home field, being back in that familiar routine, and a likely sold out crowd roaring to see the defending Champs on the Bayfront. The second is UWF’s history in big spots, this Argos team largely won a National Title together in ‘19 and some of them competed for another in ‘17. They’ve proven over the last 11 games that there is no situation too big for them, and more importantly their leaders, Coach Shinnick and the staff, Reed, Archie, Coates, Bell, Gotel, Dilla, Ashley, Bruce, etc… have all been in these big spots together. We have also seen the Argonauts wear teams out practically every game this season, and if they can stop big plays and force UWG to mount sustained drives all night the Argonaut offense should be able to put pressure on that defense with their pace and explosiveness. I am going with the Argonauts to win it at home 38-28, I just like the Argos’ experience in this kind of game. I think West Georgia is a great team, and that defense has been solid against their schedule, but they’ve only played one offense in the realm of UWF and they gave up 38 points and 449 yards in that loss at home. The Argos should be able to get things going on the ground too, MC’s weird offense aside that game showed that big plays can happen when you get to the edge against the Wolves, who are giving up 144 yards per game on the ground and 117 even if you exclude the Choctaws' triple option.
