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FLORENCE, Ala. -- Carrying the momentum of a two-game winning streak, the University of North Alabama travels to the Pacific time zone this week to face an undefeated and ninth ranked Central Washington team in Ellensburg, Wash. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. Central (1:00 Pacific) on October 21 at Tomlinson Stadium.

North Alabama, now 3-3 overall, has rebounded from a 1-3 start to down Florida Tech 30-7 and Shorter 48-0.

To keep that momentum going, the Lions must now turn their attention to a 7-0 Central Washington team that it will facing more than 2,000 miles from home. It will technically be the third longest road trip in UNA football history, trailing only a 1993 trip to Portland, Ore., to play Portland State and a 2015 visit to Salem, Ore., to face Western Oregon.

The game should come down to a battle between a high-scoring Central Washington offense and a rugged North Alabama defense that is among the national leaders in interceptions and turnovers gained.

"This will be a big challenge for us," said UNA head coach Chris Willis. "Facing a nationally ranked team on the road on the other side of the country presents a lot of issues. First we have to handle the trip well and get ourselves ready to play on Saturday. As far as Central Washington, we know they are comparable on a talent level to a lot of the team's in our league and they play very hard. They have a really good offense and their defense is very sound and good at what they do."

The Lions will be facing a CWU offense led by an explosive dual-threat quarterback in junior Reilly Hennessey. Through the first seven games of the 2017 season, Hennessey has thrown for 1,543 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 363 yards and two TDs. As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 42.5 points and 470 yards per game on offense. Central Washington is ranked seventh in Division II in scoring offense and 19th in total offense.

CWU's defense is allowing just 16.5 points and 274.3 yards per game as the Wildcats have averaged defeating their opponents by 26 points per game.

The 2017 season is a break-out one for Central Washington. The Wildcats were 19-12 in three seasons under current head coach Ian Shoemaker before rolling to the 7-0 start this season. Shoemaker's offense averaged more than 32 points per game over his first three seasons at CWU and that has been elevated to 42.5 this season.

North Alabama, in its first season with former long-time assistant Willis as head coach, returned just five starters from last season's team that reached the Division II Championship Game. The Lions struggled to a 1-3 start but all three losses came to teams that have been ranked in the Division II Top 25 this season in Texas A&M-Commerce, West Alabama and West Georgia. UNA has since rebounded with two solid defensive efforts to out-score its last two opponents 78-7.  

UNA's defense held a high-powered Florida Tech offense to just 211 total yards and picked off four passes. The Lions followed that by allowing just 145 total yards to Shorter and caused three more turnovers. UNA has now scored 75 unanswered points in the last six quarters of play.

"We are playing good football now and we want to try and keep that momentum going," Willis said. "Having lost a dozen players to injuries, including our starting quarterback, I feel like we have things headed in the right direction. We are playing lights-out on defense and special teams and our offense is getting better. We just need to not turn the ball over, play hard and see what happens."

North Alabama is very familiar with playing nationally ranked teams. UNA has played 102 games against nationally ranked opponents since 1992 and this will be the second Top Ten opponent this season. The  Lions are 60-41-1 in the 102 previous meetings wth ranked opponents over the last 26 seasons and are 31-24 against Top Ten teams since 1992.

This wil be UNA's second and final non-Gulf South Conference game of the season and both have been against Top Ten opponents. UNA has an impressive 114-37-1 all-time record in non-conference games since joining the Gulf South Conference in 1971. The Lions are 69-18 at home against non-GSC schools since 1971, 42-17 on the road and 3-2-1 on neutral fields.
 
Following the trip to Central Washington, UNA will return home on September 28 to host another nationally ranked opponent in Delta State at 6 p.m. at Braly Stadium.