WEST ALABAMA (0-0) VS LIMESTONE UNIVERSITY (0-0) March 6, 2021 l Tiger Stadium | Livingston, Ala. | 1 p.m. l SLY 104.9 THE SERIES UWA leads 2-0. This will be second meeting at Tiger Stadium, WEST ALABAMA 2021 UWA Spring Schedule/Results This is the first of two games Date Opponent Time the Tigers are scheduled to play in the spring of 2021 3/6 Limestone 1 p.m. 3/13 Savannah State* 4 p.m. LIMESTONE *Gulf Coast Challenge Game in Mobile, Ala. This is the first of seven scheduled games this spring SERIES HISTORY for the Saints. This is the third game in the series. West Alabama has won both. The Tigers won, 16-13, in 2018 and 35-18 to open the 2019 THE COACHES season at Tiger Stadium in Livingston. Brett Gilliland is 43-26 in his EXPERIENCE seventh season as a head West Alabama has 23 players on the current roster who are listed coach, all at UWA. Brian Turk as either seniors or graduate students. is 3-10 in his second season at Limestone. DECEMBER WALK Twenty (20) Tiger football players walked across the stage to pick RADIO up their undergraduate degrees in December 2020 commencement exercises. Eight of those are suited up in this SLY 104.9: Robert Upchurch & game. Will Atkinson on the call. The Tiger Tailgate show starts at STADIUM RENOVATION noon. The UWA Board of Trustees approved the renovation of Tiger Stadium at its March 1 meeting. Construction of two new wings of TIGER VISION the press box, a new entertainment area, new reserved seating and an academic center will begin in a couple of weeks. The live video feed of the game, incorporating the radio NEW TURF, NEW SEATS call of the action, can be This game marks the first for UWA football on the new playing found at https://bit.ly/2lls7wI. surface that was installed in the summer of 2020 and the first There is no charge. opportunity for fans to sit on the new perm planks in general admission. UWA Record Breakdown GILLILAND vs LIMESTONE West Alabama head coach Brett Gilliland is 2-0 against Limestone Overall: 0-0 University, 1-0 in Livingston. Home: 0-0 TURK vs. UWA Road: 0-0 Limestone head coach Brian Turk is 0-1 against West Alabama, Neutral: 0-0 0-1 against the Tigers in Livingston. Day: 0-0 LAST TIME VERSUS THE SAINTS Night: 0-0 West Alabama, ranked 24th nationally cruised to a 35-18 victory over Limestone to open the 2019 season at Tiger Stadium. March : 0-0 Derrick Underwood rushed for 69 yards on 14 carries and James Score First: 0-0 Smith had 53 on 11 trips. The Tiger secondary broke up 11 passes in the game. Lead After 1st Quarter: 0-0 Trail After 1st Quarter: 0-0 SEASON OPENERS West Alabama is 5-1 in season openers under head coach Brett Tied After 1st Quarter: 0-0 Gilliland. It’s a good bet that there have been no other season Lead At Half: 0-0 openers in March and that the first game of the season has ever Trail At Half: 0-0 been the next to last game of the season, but so it goes with COVID 19. Tied At Half: 0-0 Lead After 3rd Quarter: 0-0 NEXT WEEK UWA travels to Ladd-Peeples Stadium in Mobile, Alabama to play Trail After 3rd Quarter: 0-0 Savannah State in the Gulf Coast Challenge. Game time is 4 p.m. Tied After 3rd Quarter: 0-0 1-5 Points: 0-0 CLIMBING THE RECEIVING LIST Tiger receiver Bayley Blanchard comes into the game eighth on 6-10 Points: 0-0 the UWA all-time receptions list with 110 for 1,378 yards and 12 11-19 Points: 0-0 touchdowns. 20-29 Points: 0-0 SIZE UP FRONT 30 or More Points: 0-0 UWA’s starting offensive line averages 6-foot-3 and 312 pounds. Overtime: 0-0 UNIFORM COMBINATIONS RECORD Red Jersey, Red Pants: 0-0 Red Jersey, White Pants: 0-0 Red Jersey, Black Pants: 0-0 White Jersey, Red Pants: 0-0 White Jersey, White Pants: 0-0 White Jersey, Black Pants: 0-0 ONLY TWO ON THE TWO UWA FOOTBALL HISTORY Coming into the game against Limestone there are First Year of Football: 1938 only two freshmen on the projected two-deep All-Time Record: 326-431-18 depth chart, wide receiver Silas Thompson from All-Time GSC Record: 237-286-6 Piedmont, Alabama and defensive back Nick Ellis of GSC Titles: 1971, 2012, Mobile, Alabama. 2013, 2017 NCAA Playoff Appearances: 6 ONE OF FOUR NCAA Playoff Record: 4-6 UWA head coach Brett Gilliland is one of just Last Playoff Appearance: 2018 Lost at four coaches in the history of Tiger football Bowie State, that have averaged seven or more wins over a 1st Round minimum career of three seasons. Gilliland, National Titles Won: 1 (NAIA ’71) Jim King, Micky Andrews and Will Hall are TV Game of the Week Record: 20-19 those four. Hall averaged eight over his three from 2011-13. COMBINED FOR 1965 Three returning UWA running backs NEW SPECIALISTS have combined to rush for 1,965 yards The Tigers will feature all new specialists since over their careers. Derrick Underwood the last time a game was played. All-American has 1,130, James Smith 6=553 and punter Zach Gaines has graduated and Demetrius Battle 282. freshman Trey Sullivan moves into that role. Gabe Dunkle, junior transfer steps into the DERRICK NEEDS 574 place kicking role. Running back Derrick Underwood needs just 574 yards to move into the UWA all- ONLY LILLY NOT NEW time top 10 in rushing yards. Bandit end Undraez Lilly is the only returning starter to the defensive line. He will be joined STATS COUNT by Chris Terrell at the other end and Charvez According to NCAA policy all stats collected Embrey and Rykeem Terry on the inside. In 26 in the two games that the Tigers play this games played as a Tiger, Lilly has 54 career spring will count toward player career records tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. and toward career coaching records. BAY BAY ONE OF EIGHT BOBBY AT 12:10 Receiver Bayley Blanchard is one of only eight West Alabama director of athletics Bobby receivers in UWA history to have 100 Wallace will be the special guest on the Tiger receptions. Blanchard is one of two receivers Tailgate Show this week. Wallace is expected in the league with over 40 catches with 43. to fill in Tiger fans about the upcoming stadium renovations. He is expected to join TYRI GETTING CLOSE the show at 12:10 p.m. Junior receiver Tyriq Martin is closing in on being the ninth receiver in Tiger history with PRESS BOX LUNCH 100 receptions. In just two seasons Martin To keep in line with COVID 19 policy box already has 75 catches for 917 yards ands 11 lunches will be served to press box personnel TDs. in the press box. Masked will be required when faces are not being used for eating. 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 43-26 in charge of the Tiger program and showing no signs of slowing down. Now entering his seventh 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. Dwyer was the ACC rushing leader and player of the year in 2008. In three seasons at Georgia Southern, Gilliland worked with the running backs (2010), tight ends and tackles (2011) and wide receivers (2012). He took over the recruiting coordinator duties following the conclusion of the 2011 season. With Gilliland on staff, Georgia Southern posted a 31-12 (.721) overall record, won two Southern Conference titles (2011, 2012) and made three consecutive NCAA Football Championship Series (FCS) semifinal appearances during Gilliland’s time as an Eagle. Gilliland was a regional finalist for the Harlon Hill trophy in 2003. He earned all-region recognition from the Football Gazette (2002). He concluded his career as the Tigers’ single-season (3,213) and career passing yards (6,689) record holder. In 2012, he was inducted into the UWA Athletic Hall of Fame. At the conclusion of his playing career, Gilliland had posted four of the top 10 single game passing performances in school history, including a then school-record 470 yards against Valdosta State in 2002.