UWF football's final home game in its first Division I season presents its biggest challenge and greatest opportunity.

The Argos (4-4, 1-4 United Athletic Conference) face undisputed No. 1-ranked Tarleton State (10-0, 5-0) on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Located in Stephenville, Texas about 65 miles southwest of Fort Worth, Tarleton State brings a loaded roster to Pen Air Field. Featuring 17 of the starting 21 offensive-defensive players are either fourth-year or fifth-year seniors.

“It is a huge opportunity to play these guys,” UWF coach Kaleb Nobles said. “It’s exciting to play them and show our guys that hey, man, this is where we are trying to get.”

Tarleton’s State’s football history dates back to 1915 as a junior college team. The first year as four-year program was 1961 and the Texas were NCAA Division II members from 1994-1999 before leaping to Division I in 2000.

This is Tarleton State’s fourth 10-0 start, but its first in eight years and first-time being ranked No. 1. The school has announced its intentions to join the FBS division.

“I think you have a lot of people there (at Tarleton State) who are financially committed to that university because they are alumni," Nobles said. "They been committed to football in a big way and it gives us an example of hey, if we keep staying on track as we are, this is what we can and will be.”

The Argos will be playing only their second home game in two months. Their schedule was altered by Hurricane Isaias, which forced cancellation of a home game Oct. 10 against Northeastern State.

An upset win gives UWF a chance at a winning season in their first year as Division I members. The Argos close out the season next week at West Georgia.

The Argos seek a rebound after back-to-back road games where they had opportunities to win. After falling 16-13 on Oct. 24 at Eastern Kentucky, UWF had a first-and-goal from the 1 in the final minute last Saturday at North Alabama with a chance to tie the game.

Four plays, however, were unsuccessful and it resulted in a heartbreaking 28-21 loss to a former Gulf South Conference rival.

“I thought our guys played as hard as they possibly could,” Nobles said. “Obviously, we didn’t get the win, but I saw a lot of good things, a lot of growth from our guys.

When the team reconvened on Monday for a meeting at UWF’s Darrell Gooden Center, Nobles made sure to accentuate positive aspects of the past game.

“I think (players) were expecting me to come in here and get on them pretty hard and show them things,” Nobles said. “But I don’t think that is my job to dwell on the failures. My job is to kind of the opposite… show them what they did really well and why we were in the game, because we kept fighting.

“I felt like we did some things that gave us a chance to score, but we just didn’t execute down there. We were probably one guy away from doing that.”

UWF sophomore quarterback Ty’Ray Davis passed for a season-high 308 yards and two touchdowns in that game. Freshman Luc Carroll caught six passes for 85 yards and a touchdown in that game. Gage Armbruster had five catches for 69 yards.

“I think everybody should kinda see what Ty’Ray Davis is capable of,” Nobles said. “I think he played his best game passing this year...He has done a great job of eliminating turnover-worthy type plays and decisions. We called a couple plays early where a guy was not open and instead of trying to force it, he runs around and gets seven or eight yards. And now it’s second down and two instead of second and 10 because he is growing as a quarterback. And we knew that was going to be the case with him this year."

For the Argos to stay in Saturday’s game against Tarleton State, ball control is what Nobles wants to produce the most. The Texans have an explosive offense led by senior quarterback Jason Gilkey, a transfer who started all 12 games last season at Wyoming.

“I have watched a lot of quarterbacks on the FCS level and if he’s not the most accurate one, he is one of the most accurate quarterbacks I have watched at this level," Nobles said.

“We can’t give up the batch of big plays early in the game. They have explosive players at all positions. We have to ride the wave, stay on the horse and give us a chance as the game goes on.”

Want to go?

  • Who: No. 1 Tarleton State (10-0, 5-0 UAC) vs. UWF (4-4, 1-4 UAC)
  • When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
  • Where: Pen Air Field
  • Livestream TV: ESPN+
  • Radio: SportsRadio Pensacola (99.1 FM, 1330 AM).

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: UWF football hosts No. 1 Tarleton State in final home game

Source: Yahoo Sports