TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (November 18, 2023) – Welcome to the big time, North Alabama.
 
The University of North Alabama got the attention of the college football world on Saturday, playing in front of over 70,000 fans at Doak Campbell Stadium and leading 13-0 after the first quarter.
 
The UNA lead slipped late in the second quarter and the No. 4 ranked Florida State Seminoles went on to a 58-13 victory over the Lions to remain unbeaten at 11-0.
 
UNA's season ends with a 3-8 record, but ends with promise under first year head coach Brent Dearmon. The Lions played the second-toughest schedule in all of FCS based on win percentages and came away with three wins, including one over No. 16 Chattanooga. Florida State is one of six ranked opponents on UNA schedule, while three others received votes at some point this season.
 
The Lions won the coin toss and elected to receive, trading punts with FSU to open the game after a third down stop by linebacker Rush Lansdell. UNA went three-and-out on the next drive, but turned that out into a red zone opportunity on a 64-yard fake punt run by JJ Evans.
 
Two plays after the fake punt, sophomore quarterback Noah Walters connected with redshirt senior Takairee Kenebrew for the first score of the game. Kenebrew's touchdown broke the school record for career touchdowns at UNA. He now has 26 for his career, passing Dre Hall (2014-17) for the all-time record. Kenebrew also tied UNA's single-season record for touchdowns at 10 alongside Hall and Ed Gant. The Sam Contorno extra point made it 7-0. FSU went three-and-out on its next possession, putting UNA on its own 20 midway into the first quarter. Walters sparked the drive with an 18 yard run, then later Kobe Warden ran a 28 yard sweep to put UNA near the red zone once again. Coach Dearmon reached into the bag of tricks once again to set up first and goal, as freshman running back Dennis Moody went 15 yards on a screen pass that UNA successfully played off as a busted play. On the next play, Evans caught a six yard touchdown pass from Walters to make it 13-0.

The Purple Swarm defense got another win after the end of the first quarter, keeping FSU out of the endzone on third-and-goal with a pass breakup by Philjae Bien-Aime. FSU settled for a field goal to make it 13-3.
UNA held on to the lead until the Seminoles ran one in from three yards out to make it 17-13 with 5:04 left in the first half. Florida State went on to post 34 second half points to keep its bid for the College Football Playoffs alive.
 
Coming into the game, Florida State had allowed just six touchdown passes all season. Walters finished with two tonight, which now accounts for 25 percent of FSU's passing touchdowns.
 
Gregory Reddick led the Lions with seven tackles, including six solo. His safety counterpart Edwin White Schultz added five solo tackles and a sack, coming one tackle short of the single-season FCS era record for UNA with 87 total tackles.

The Lions will look to continue building next season in year two of the Brent Dearmon Era. To view the 2024 United Athletic Conference schedule, click here.
 
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.