24/25 West Alabama (0-0) Vs Limestone College (0-0)
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#24/25 WEST ALABAMA (0-0) VS LIMESTONE COLLEGE (0-0) Sept. 7, 2019 l Tiger Stadium | Livingston, Ala. | 6 p.m. CDT l ESPN 104.9 THE SERIES UWA leads 1-0, winning 16-13 in Gaffney, S.C. last season. WEST ALABAMA This is the season opener for 2019 UWA Schedule/Results West Alabama. The Tigers Date Opponent Time were 8-4 last season. 9/7 Limestone 6 p.m. LIMESTONE 9/14 at Tusculum 5 p.m. 9/21 at Valdosta State* (CFDS TV) 6 p.m. This is the season opener for 9/28 Tuskegee (HOF) 6 p.m. Limestone. The Saints were 10/5 North Greenville* (ESPN3) 1 p.m. 0-10 last season and have lost 10/12 Shorter* (HC) 4 p.m. 12 straight. 10/19 at Delta State*(ESPN+) 6 p.m. THE COACHES 10/26 West Georgia* 1 p.m. 11/2 at Florida Tech* 1 p.m. Brett Gilliland is 37-21 11/9 Mississippi College*(ESPN3) Noon beginning his sixth season at 11/16 at West Florida* 4 p.m. UWA. Brian Turk is coaching his first game as the full-time head coach for LC. He served *GSC Game as interim coach for the final two games of 2018. SAINTS AND TIGERS IN 2018 Jordan Bennett drilled a 45-yard field goal as time expired, COVERAGE allowing West Alabama to escape with a 16-13 win over Limestone College at The Reservation Stadium in Gaffney, South Radio: ESPN 104.9: Robert Carolina. Bennet's game-winner was his third field goal of the Upchurch & Will Atkinson game and came just 2:52 after Saints kicker Griffin Martin missed handle the call. Live video on from 42 yards. Limestone had a 15-yard touchdown pass negated UWA Athletics YouTube page. by a holding penalty two plays before the miss. The Saints had led 13-3 before letting the lead get away. NEXT WEEK WINNINGEST COACH IN UWA HISTORY Tigers travel to Greenville, The win at Limestone last year made Brett Gilliland the Tenn. to face Tusculum. Game winningest coach in UWA football history. He is currently time is 5 p.m. CDT. 37-21 heading into season number six at West Alabama. UWA Record Breakdown FIVE TV/DIGITAL PLATFORM EXPOSURES FOR TIGERS West Alabama is slated to play on TV/digital video format five times Overall: 0-0 GSC: 0-0 this season. The Tigers will be on ESPN3 three times, twice on the Home: 0-0 GSC-TV Game of the Week and once on the Division II National Game of the week. The Tigers will also play on ESPN+ at Delta State Road: 0-0 as part of the GSC package. The game at Valdosta State will be a regional broadcast as part of College Football Down South. Day: 0-0 Night: 0-0 PICKED THIRD West Alabama was picked third by league coaches in the Aug: 0-0 GSC Preseason Poll. Sept: 0-0 TOP 25 Oct: 0-0 The Tigers are ranked number 24 in the American Football Nov: 0-0 Coaches Association preseason poll and 25th by d2football.com. D2Sportsnet, a newcomer to Division II Score First: 0-0 polling, has the Tigers ranked at No. 21. Lead After 1st Quarter: 0-0 SEVEN PRESEASON ALL-GSC PICKS Trail After 1st Quarter: 0-0 Five offensive and two defensive players from West Alabama Tied After 1st Quarter: 0-0 earned preseason All-GSC honors. A preseason favorite for offensive player of the year, tight end Qua Boyd was Lead At Half: 0-0 selected by the coaches, as well as wide receivers Christian Saulsberry and Bayley Blanchard. Rounding out offensive Trail At Half: 0-0 selections were offensive tackle Brandon Anderson and Tied At Half: 0-0 center Call Dyer. Safety Tavarius Hutchinson and defense end Jordan Jones were Tiger selections from the defense. Lead After 3rd Quarter: 0-0 Trail After 3rd Quarter: 0-0 HOF HONORS SEPT. 28 AT TUSKEGEE GAME Michael Flynn, Jerry Smith and Gerald Worsham have been Tied After 3rd Quarter: 0-0 selected for induction into the University of West Alabama 1-5 Points: 0-0 Athletic Hall of Fame. Flynn played basketball, Worsham football and Smith is credited with starting the UWA track/ 6-10 Points: 0-0 cross country programs. The trio will be officially inducted 11-19 Points: 0-0 into the Hall of Fame at the Annual National Alumni 20-29 Points: 0-0 UNIFORM COMBINATIONS RECORD 30 or More Points: 0-0 Overtime: 0-0 Red Jersey, Red Pants: 0-0 Red Jersey, White Pants: 0-0 GSC Home: 0-0 GSC Road: 0-0 Red Jersey, Black Pants: 0-0 White Jersey, Red Pants: 0-0 TV Games: 0-0 White Jersey, White Pants: 0-0 OPENERS UNDER GILLILAND AFCA Top 25 1. Valdosta St. (Ga.) 14-0 West Alabama is 4-1 in season openers under Brett 2. Ferris St. (Mich.) 15-1 GIlliland. The Tigers defeated Stillman to open the 3. Minnesota St. 13-1 2014 and 2015 seasons, lost at North Greenville in 4. Notre Dame (Ohio) 13-1 2016 and defeated Lenoir-Rhyne the last two years. 5. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 12-1 6. Northwest Missouri St. 10-3 7. Tarleton St. (Texas) 12-1 11 OF LAST 13, PLUS 20-9 8. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) 12-2 West Alabama has won 11 of its last 13 games at 9. Colorado St.-Pueblo 11-2 Tiger Stadium. The Tigers are 20–9 at home under 10. Slippery Rock (Pa.) 11-3 head coach Brett Gilliland. 11. Fort Hays St. (Kan.) 9-3 12. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) 10-2 13. Texas A&M-Commerce 10-3 LAST SEPTEMBER 14. Minnesota-Duluth 11-1 West Alabama was 3-2 last September, with losses 15. West Georgia 10-2 coming to Valdosta State and North Greenville. The 16. Indianapolis (Ind.) 10-2 Tigers defeated Lenoir-Rhyne, Miles College and 17. Colorado School of Mines 10-2 Limestone. 18. Harding (Ark.) 9-3 19. Hillsdale (Mich.) 10-3 20. Midwestern St. (Texas) 8-2 TIGERS ON THE 53 21. Wingate (N.C.) 9-4 Five former Tigers made the 53-man roster for NFL 22. West Chester (Pa.) 10-1 teams. Seth Roberts is with the Ravens, Malcolm 23. Ashland (Ohio) 6-4 Butler the Titans, Dee Virgin the Lions, Tyreek Hill 24. West Alabama 8-4 25. Fairmont St. (W.Va.) 9-2 the Chiefs and Deon Lacey with the Dolphins. D2Football.Com Top 25 FURLONG JOINS STAFF 1 Valdosta State (Ga.) 14-0 Will Furlong, a former Florida State and North 2 Ferris State (Mich.) 15-1 3 Minnesota State 13-1 Alabama offensive lineman, has joined the West 4 Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 12-1 Alabama staff as running backs coach. Furlong 5 Tarleton State (Texas) 12-1 replaces Deon Williams, who left for the offensive 6 Northwest Missouri 10-3 coordinator job at his alma mater, Tuscaloosa 7 CSU-Pueblo 11-2 County High School. 8 Fort Hays (Kan.) 9-3 9 Minnesota Duluth 11-1 10 Grand Valley (Mich.) 10-2 FAMILIARITY ON STAFF 11 Notre Dame (Ohio) 13-1 Including head coach Brett Gilliland, the Tiger 12 Indianapolis (Ind.) 10-2 coaching staff has a combined 38 years on the West 13 Texas A&M-Commerce 10-3 Alabama football coaching staff. Defensive front 14 West Georgia 10-2 coach Roberto Pinilla has been on every Gilliland 15 Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) 12-2 16 Harding (Ark.) 9-3 staff at UWA. Defensive backs coach Ervin Jackson 17 Colorado School of Mines 10-2 and tight ends coach David Thornton are coaching 18 Midwestern State (Texas) 8-2 in their second go-around with the Tigers. 19 West Chester (Penn.) 10-1 20 Ashland (Ohio) 6-4 SOCIALLY SPEAKING 21 Hillsdale (Ohio) 10-3 22 Slippery Rock (Penn.) 11-3 Twitter: @UWAathletics 23 Wingate (N.C.) 9-4 Facebook: UWAAthletics 24 Pittsburg State (Kan.) 8-3 Instagram: uwaathletics 25 West Alabama 8-4 ! HEAD COACH BRETT GILLILAND Record setting quarterback and University of West Alabama Athletic Hall of Fame member Brett Gilliland is the 21st head football coach at his alma mater. The winningest coach in school history, Gilliland is 37-21 in charge of the Tiger program and showing no signs of slowing down. Now entering his sixth season as the Tigers head coach, Gilliland returned to West Alabama from Kennesaw State, where he was coaching quarterbacks. Previous coaching stops include Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern. In just his fourth year as head coach at UWA he led the Tigers to a 10-3 record and the 2017 Gulf South Conference championship and a third round trip in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Under Gilliland, the Tigers became just the third team in school history to win at least 10 games and the first since 1975. He followed that with an 8-4 mark in 2018 and another playoff trip. Following his playing days at UWA, Gilliland began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech before moving on to the offensive staff Georgia Southern. While at Georgia Tech, Gilliland was a part of three Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Coastal Division Championships (2006, 2008 and 2009). In 2007, Gilliland worked with Yellow Jacket quarterbacks after assisting with the receiving corps in 2006, including Biletnikoff Award winner and current Detroit Lions star Calvin Johnson. Gilliland coached the running backs for two seasons at Tech, a group that included Doak Walker semi-finalist Jonathan Dwyer.