Preview Week 1: Kentucky Wesleyan
Kentucky Weslyan College, GMAC (D2)
Broadcast: Friday September 1st FloSports 6 PM Central/7PM Eastern
When We Last Saw KWC
2022 Record 2-9 (1-7)
Kentucky Wesleyan was breaking in a new coach in 2022, Tyrone Young Jr., and they definitely struggled through the season. They started the year 2-3 over the first five games, but then lost six straight to close out the year. They won just one GMAC game last year, beating Hillsdale 31-27 in early October, before losing out the rest of the season. The Panthers were outscored by 25 points per game over the course of the 11 game season, and averaged a final score of 48-9 over the last six games of the season. They finished outside the top 100 in the Division 2 SP+ for offense (152) and defense (118). The Panthers skewed significantly toward the pass game on offense with nearly a 60% share of the playcalls (attempts+sacks), averaging 5.9 yards per attempt and throwing 17 TD against 20 INT. On the ground, the Panthers averaged 3.6 yards per attempt (excluding sacks) and scored just twice. Defensively they gave up 4.8 per rush attempt, worst in the GMAC. KWC only surrendered 179 yards per game through the air, finishing 3rd in the GMAC in completion percentage allowed, yards per catch allowed, and passing yards per game allowed, but allowed a GMAC worst 21 passing touchdowns in 2022. There is a lot of roster change expected between the 2022 and 2023 rosters due to a program record 44 man 2023 recruiting class.
Three Players to Know
Soph. Bryce Yeast LB 6’1” 225
2022 Stats: 36 tackles (14 solo) 5 TFL 1 INT 1 PBU
Yeast had a solid debut season in 2022 and looks like pretty athletic every down LB. He should be a bigger presence this year as well, with the departure of Panthers veteran Jalen Humphrey.
UWF is going to have a someone different looking run game this year, certainly in personnel, possibly in scheme as well. It will be good to see CJ Wilson and the new group of RBs work against a solid defender right out of the gate.
Senior Jaden Santos-Lopez DE 6’1” 230 WT
2022 Stats: 51 tackles (22 solo) 7.5 TFL 5 Sacks 1 PBU
The Florida native has been a key contributor for Kentucky Wesleyan each of the past two seasons, compiling 13 TFL 7 sacks and 9 hurries. He is the top returning defensive player for the Panthers and looks like a potential All-Conference player.
Santos-Lopez will be facing an experienced duo of Offensive Tackles, LT Jacob Bruce and RT Nymonta Doucoure, so the sledding won’t be easy. This should be a good test right out of the game for the returning starters.
Senior Landon Newman ATH 6’0” 210
2022 Stats: 81 attempts 413 yards (5.1 per carry) 2 TD 8 catches 83 yards (10.4 per catch)
Listed as a Slot Receiver on the Panthers roster, you’ll probably see the Senior get the ball in a variety of ways. He comes into his final season with over 800 yards rushing and 234 yards yards receiving.
UWF has a brand new defense but they also have a brand new starting DB group. The Panthers are probably going to get creative with Newman, so watch out where #1 lines up.
Matchup of the Week
UWF Pass Defense vs Kentucky Wesleyan Passing Attack
This one is hard to pick week one for a bunch of reasons, it is week one, both of these teams had massive roster turnover this offseason, coaching changes. It is hard enough to tell at this point which players or positions will be strengths and weaknesses when it’s a new season under normal circumstances, so when you tack on the other changes, there is a lot that can happen. At this point what we do know is UWF’s DB room will have a new defensive scheme, new coaches, a bunch of new faces, and will have new starters at every position, replacing veteran presences. We also know KWC is probably going to throw the ball, a lot, and return a QB with 3100 career passing yards and 25 TD in 18 games over the last two seasons. All that makes this the most intriguing matchup going into this game, however…
There should be a pretty big talent discrepancy between these teams at just about every matchup, so I expect the Argos to lock down this KWC team defensively. It’ll still be good to see these new faces, guys like Virgil Lemons, Justin Mathieu, Quincy Milhomme, Elijah Williams, as well as some returning players looking to step up in Brandon Cross, Amari Mitchell, Braylon Anderson, among others, I just don’t think they’ll be challenged much athletically in this one. The Panthers have a multi threat playmaker in Newman who may be a bigger contributor at WR this season, but lost their top three leading WRs from last season. Those three accounted for over 75% of their receiving production, while scoring 12 of the teams 14 receiving TDs.
Prediction
You never know until you know, but despite all the changes since last fall I expect the new regime starts out the season just about how the last one would have. This will be a lopsided out of conference affair. Everyone should get plenty of reps in this one, with UWF pulling comfortably away early. Peewee and a supercharged WR room get loose early for a few scores before we see backups Michael Rich Jr. or Brett Nezat, as well as possibly True Freshman Marcus Stokes.
Defensively the Argos athleticism up front will overshadow any new defense hiccups, and I expect we will see a deep rotation of front 7 players from early in this one. I don’t think the Panthers have the size or strength to handle the West Florida DL, and that should make room for a lot space for the second and third level defenders to make plays.
Argos roll to 1-0 with a 55-10 opener on a Friday night before taking the show on the road next weekend. Jarrett has 3 TD in a half, each to a different pass catcher, while the run game piles up 200+ yards. UWF DL eats and the new look Argos defense has 5 or more sacks and forces a few turnovers.
