FLORENCE, Ala. (September 29, 2023) – The University of North Alabama football team wraps up a two-game homestand this weekend before heading into a bye week, welcoming Eastern Kentucky University to Braly Stadium for Homecoming on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m.
Saturday's game will be a "Gold Rush" theme, as fans are encouraged to wear gold to the game and visit the UNA Bookstore on campus or at the home side concourse Saturday to purchase gold apparel while supplies last.
For a list of "Things to Know" for Saturday's game,
click here.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game: North Alabama vs. Eastern Kentucky
Date: Saturday, September 30
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Florence, Ala.
Stadium: Braly Municipal Stadium
TV: ESPN+
Radio: WLX 98.3 / 103.5 FM
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Click Here
Social Media:
@UNAFootball
UNA Game Notes |
Opponent Game Notes |
UAC Website
ABOUT THE LIONS
- North Alabama has a 2-3 overall record following a 37-21 loss to UT Martin last Saturday.
- The Lions will play in their 74th Homecoming game this Saturday, owning a 52-20-1 all-time record in Homecoming games since 1949. UNA has won 16 of its last 17 Homecoming games dating back to 2005.
- Last week, UNA led UT Martin 21-10 heading into the half, but the Skyhawks stormed back to take the lead late in the third quarter to remain ahead the rest of the way.
- The Lions are outscoring opponents 94-54 in the first half of games this season, but are being outscored by an 86-26 margin in the second half.
- UNA remains second in the nation in turnovers gained with 12 — tied with Stephen F. Austin for first in the United Athletic Conference. The 12 turnovers are the most over the first five games of a season since 2017, which was UNA's last season in NCAA Division II. Seven of those 12 turnovers have happened in the last two weeks.
- Of the seven turnovers forced against Tennessee Tech and UT Martin, defensive back duo Philjae Bien-Aime and A.J. Seay were responsible for five of them. Bien-Aime had a pair of interceptions against Tennessee Tech and forced a fumble against UT Martin. Seay had a pick-six in Cookeville and provided an encore with another interception against the Skyhawks in Braly.
- The first five games for UNA have provided many challenges, as four of the five teams were either ranked or receiving votes in one or both of the major FCS polls — the Coaches Poll and Stats Perform FCS Top 25. One of UNA's wins came against Chattanooga, who are now 3-1 on the season and ranked No. 22 in the FCS Coaches Poll.
- UNA's strength of schedule for all opponents this season is ranked 16th of 128 teams in FCS, based on win percentages, while ranking 27th in the Massey Ratings.
- On offense, UNA is averaging 395.6 yards per game to rank third in the UAC. The Lions are atop the league and second in the nation with 103 first downs this season, ranking only behind Western Carolina with 109.
- Sophomore quarterback Noah Walters has thrown for over 1,000 yards this season, averaging 204 passing yards per game. He has completed 99-of-173 passes for a 57.23 completion percentage and seven touchdowns. All seven touchdowns have been at Braly Stadium.
- Sophomore running back Demarcus Lacey, who moved over from wide receiver this fall, is leading the Lions with 375 rushing yards. He averages 75 yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry. He became the starter after fellow sophomore Jalyn Daniels exited the game against Tarleton State with a lower body injury and will likely not return this season. Daniels was on pace to break UNA's yards per carry record set in 1993 by Kenyatta Jones, as Daniels was averaging 13.9 yards per carry on 16 attempts.
- UNA's top receiver remains redshirt senior Takairee Kenebrew with 18 catches for 292 yards and four touchdowns. At home, Kenebrew has 12 catches for 235 yards and has scored all four of his touchdowns at Braly.
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Speaking of touchdowns, Kenebrew moved up to third on the all-time career touchdown receptions list at UNA with 20. He tied UNA Hall of Famer Michael Edwards, who was in attendance Saturday as a member of the 1993 national championship team. Kenebrew needs three to move into second place beside Jason Messing (2004-07) and five to tie Dre Hall (2014-17) for the all-time lead.
- Redshirt junior Kobe Warden had a career night last week at Braly, catching 11 passes for 106 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown was just the second of his career and his first since 2021. Warden entered the game with 12 catches for 84 yards on the season, nearly matching his season production in receptions and surpassing it in yardage.
- On defense, the Lions are led by redshirt sophomore safety Edwin White Schultz with 50 tackles over five games. His 10 tackles last week against UTM led the team and kept him at a double-digit average. Last season at the University of Kansas, he had just two tackles in three games.
- Another key player for the defense is senior defensive lineman Philip Ossai, who recovered a pair of fumbles two weeks ago at Tennessee Tech. Ossai has 33 tackles, a team-best 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two quarterback hurries and a pass break up.
- Ossai was granted the privilege of wearing No. 44 this season in honor of UNA Hall of Famer and 1993 team member Ronald McKinnon, who went on to become the first defensive player to win the Harlon Hill Trophy as the best player in NCAA Division II football.
- Redshirt junior Gregory Reddick ranks second on the team with 35 tackles, including 20 solo. This week, he was graded at an 85.6 to rank as the fifth-best safety in FCS according to Hero Sports' "PFF Highest-Graded Players of the Week by Position."
- The Lions are in their 75th season of football in 2023 with an all-time record of 482-301-16.
- At Braly Stadium, UNA owns an all-time record of 276-127-8 with 11 home wins since moving up to FCS in 2018.
- This season will be the sixth for UNA since transitioning to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and the second as a full-fledged FCS member. UNA has an all-time record of 18-37 versus FCS opponents.
- The Lions are charter members of the newly-formed United Athletic Conference, along with Abilene Christian, Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, EKU, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State, Utah Tech and UTRGV, who will be joining in 2025. Former Gulf South Conference rival West Georgia announced its move to NCAA Division I and will join the league in 2024.
- The Lions are led by first year head coach Brent Dearmon, an Alabama native and offensive guru who made stops at Kansas, Middle Tennessee State and Florida Atlantic. Prior to those places, Dearmon was the head coach at Bethel University (TN), where he led the team to a 10-1 record and a top-five NAIA national ranking in 2018.
- North Alabama remains the second-winningest program in the state of Alabama since 1990 with 255 wins in the last 33 years, ranking second only to the University of Alabama with 296 wins. The Lions boast 21 NCAA playoff appearances, 17 conference championships and three national championship victories.
ABOUT THE COLONELS
- EKU enters with a 1-3 record against stiff competition, including two FBS losses to Cincinnati and Kentucky and a tight loss to Southern Conference contender Western Carolina.
- Last week, EKU tallied its first win of the season in walk-off fashion as Patrick Nations sailed a 46 yard field goal through the uprights as time expired to defeat No. 16 ranked Southeast Missouri State in Richmond, Ky. EKU has now defeated at least one ranked opponent in each of the last four seasons.
- The Colonels are led by redshirt senior quarterback Parker McKinney, who is the only player to account for over 10,000 yards in program history. The 2022 Walter Payton Award finalist and third-team All-American has already thrown for 1,022 yards in four games this season, including a 30-for-49 showing through the air against SEMO. He and North Alabama's Noah Walters each have thrown for seven touchdowns.
- The defense is led by graduate transfer Logan Blake with 37 tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss in four games. He also has a forced fumble and an interception. Blake transferred from Marian, the alma mater of UNA defensive coordinator Brock Caraboa. Caraboa coached Blake as the defensive coordinator at Marian before moving on to Kansas, where he connected with Coach Brent Dearmon in 2020.
- Last week, running back Braedon Sloan rushed for a career-high 122 yards against SEMO and leads the backs with 215 yards on 37 carries this season, averaging 5.8 yards per carry.
- McKinney's top target has been Jaden Smith, who has 26 receptions for 276 yards and a pair of scores, averaging 10.6 yards per catch and 69.0 yards per game. Sloan is his second most targeted receiver with 14 catches out of the backfield.
- Coming off his walk-off field goal, Patrick Nations is the reigning UAC Special Teams Player of the Week. Nations is 8-11 on field goals this season, including 4-6 from at least 40 yards. His longest field goal of the season was the 46 yarder that won last week's game.
- EKU is led by Walt Wells, who has an even 18-18 record at the helm over four seasons. Wells previously worked under Willie Taggart at Western Kentucky and South Florida. Taggart later hired Dearmon as his offensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic in 2022 before Dearmon left for UNA and Taggert left for the NFL.
SERIES HISTORY
- Saturday will be the second all-time meeting between UNA and EKU.
- The Colonels won the first battle last season, which ended in a 56-53 thriller that saw four lead changes. The Lions took the lead with 1:13 remaining as Walters found Kenebrew for a score. EKU then drove down and scored with eight seconds to go, taking back the lead for good.
- The last meeting produced over 1,000 yards, as UNA totaled 571 yards with 356 on the ground.
- UNA set two all-time school records and numerous FCS era school records against EKU last season, including most combined points in a game (109) and most points in a loss (53).
- UNA's FCS records that came from that game include most yards (571), most rushing attempts (50), most first downs total (31) and rushing (20), most points scored in a game (53) and in a half (32), most touchdowns scored (7) and most extra points attempted and made (6-6).
- The Lions are 6-4 against the state of Kentucky all-time, including a 5-3 record against Murray State from 1954 to 1961. After a long stretch without facing any opponents from the Bluegrass State, UNA played and defeated Kentucky Christian in 2012 at Braly Stadium. Another 10 years went by before UNA traveled to EKU in 2022.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
