MARTIN, Tenn. (September 13, 2024) – The University of North Alabama football team renewed a longtime rivalry with UT Martin last season and will look to avenge last year's home loss with a road matchup this Saturday at 6 p.m. at Hardy M. Graham Stadium in Martin, Tenn.

For a list of "things to know" for Saturday's game, click here.
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION 
North Alabama vs. UT Martin
Date: Saturday, September 14
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Martin, Tennessee 
Stadium: Hardy M. Graham Stadium 
Capacity: 7,500
TV: ESPN+ (Davis Gregory, John Halter, Chris Brinkley)
Radio: WLX 98.3 / 103.5 FM  ("Voice of the Lions" Benjamin Ray, Bryan Neece)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Click Here
Social Media: @UNAFootball 
 
UNA Game Notes | Opponent Game Notes | UAC Website 
 
 
NOTABLES
 
ABOUT THE LIONS: North Alabama enters with an 0-3 record after a 24-17 loss to No. 21 Illinois State last week. The Lions made a red zone stop with 3:36 left in the fourth quarter and drove into enemy territory with a chance to tie at under two minutes to go, but stalled on fourth down near the red zone. Despite this, UNA totaled over 400 yards of offense on 67 plays. Illinois State did most of its damage on the ground with over 300 yards rushing, but was limited to just 153 passing yards on 26 attempts.
 
ABOUT THE SKYHAWKS: UT Martin enters 0-2 after losses to FBS No. 17 Kansas State (41-6) and a heartbreaking loss to SEMO in double overtime last week (45-42). Despite the losses, UT Martin is still receiving votes for the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll and is coming off an 8-3 season in 2023 that included a share of the Big South-OVC Championship. UT Martin is led by returning graduate quarterback Kinkead Dent with 364 passing yards, senior Patrick Smith with 167 rushing yards, graduate DeVonte Tanksley with 141 receiving yards and junior cornerback Rob Johnson with 11 tackles and four breakups.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday will be the 34th all-time meeting between UNA and UT Martin. The Lions lead the all-time series 19-13-1. The series began in 1949 when UNA brought back the football program full time. After that first meeting, the Lions and Skyhawks played every season from 1960 to 1990. The rivalry went on break for 33 years as UT Martin moved up to FCS. This year will be just the second time the two foes are playing each other as Division I opponents. The Skyhawks won last year's meeting 37-21 in Florence. 
 
KEEP THE STREAK: Dating back to 1981, UNA has won each of the last five trips to UT Martin with wins in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1989. The Skyhawks have not beaten UNA at home since 1979. The series went on hiatus for over three decades after the 1990 season, as UT Martin moved up to FCS. The Lions joined FCS in 2018 and are now in their seventh Division I season with three of those as full-fledged members.
 
FRESHMAN PHENOMS: UNA owns claim to the most United Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week awards since the league began in 2023, winning for the fourth time overall and third time this season on Monday. This week's honoree was linebacker Josh Anglin with a game-high 12 tackles against Illinois State, including two for loss. He joins sophomore Jyheam Ingram and true freshmen Jalen Fletcher and Fred Vili as past winners. Fletcher and Vili have won each of the last two weeks, giving UNA all three weekly awards from the UAC this season.
 
NO CUPCAKES: For the seventh straight game, UNA will battle an opponent that is either ranked or receiving votes. This includes the last three games of last season against No. 20 Austin Peay, No. 25 Central Arkansas, FBS No. 4 Florida State. This season, UNA has already played SEMO (receiving votes), Memphis (receiving votes), No. 21 Illinois State and will play UT Martin who received 10 votes in the AFCA Coaches Poll. Last season, UNA had the second toughest strength of schedule in the nation according to the NCAA cumulative metric. That same metric has UNA tied for the 25th toughest schedule this season.
 
REDDICK ON HIS OWN: Redshirt senior safety Gregory Reddick ranks among the Top 25 players in FCS football with 5.7 solo tackles per game this season. He leads the UNA defense with 25 tackles, including 17 solo, with 3.0 tackles for loss and a sack.
 
DOUBLE DIGIT TACKLERS: The UNA defense has six players in double-digit tackle figures through three games, including Reddick with 25, redshirt senior Jackson Bratton with 20, Anglin with 18, as well as Kaleb Brown, Garrick Ponder and UAB transfer Ike Rowell with 10 apiece.
 
GOT THE JUICE: Redshirt junior Jayvian Allen, known as "Juice" by his teammates, leads the rushing attack for UNA with 27 carries for 163 yards and a touchdown. He had 100 yards in his debut against SEMO for his first-career 100 yard game, then followed that with 63 rushing yards against Illinois State. He averages 6.0 yards per carry.
 
CAREER HIGHS THROUGH THE AIR: Last week, graduate transfer Ari Patu threw for a career-best 328 yards against Illinois State and completed his first touchdown pass as a Lion to Kobe Warden. Fellow receivers KJ Fields and Tanaka Scott had career long catches of 31 and 41 yards, respectively.
 
RETURN GAINS: The UNA special teams unit leads the UAC and ranks 30th nationally in return yardage with 23.7 yards per kick returns. Leading the charge is former NAIA All-American and current UNA graduate student Logan Collier with 23.2 return yards per attempt. He leads the UAC with six returns for 139 yards, including a long of 44 which came last week against Illinois State.
 
LIONS FROM TENNESSEE: UNA has 11 players from the state of Tennessee, making it the third-most represented state on the Lion roster behind Alabama with 73 players and Florida with 12. This list includes Collier, quarterback DC Tabscott, offensive lineman Witt Mitchum, linebacker Rush Lansdell, defensive backs Jermaine Ray Jr. and Camden Allison, special teams starters Nathan Curry and Scott Payne, as well as Hayden Edge, Zach Aird and Ethan Cunningham.
 
NEXT ON THE DOCKET: The Lions return home to begin UAC play next week against Tarleton State. Kickoff is set for Saturday, Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. inside Braly Stadium. This will be UNA's Family Weekend game presented by Medical Associates of the Shoals.
 
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.