UWF begins its seventh season of football tonight at 6 p.m., welcoming Kentucky Wesleyan to Pen Air Field.
The Argonauts are 56-21 all-time and have made four NCAA postseason appearances – all coming in the last five years of play. They are one of only two teams nationally to reach the national semifinals three times during that span.
* The Argos are the reigning back-to-back Gulf South Conference Champions, having shared the title with Valdosta State in 2021 and Delta State in 2022.
YEAR ONE OF THE KALEB NOBLES ERA STARTS THIS WEEK
* The program has a new head coach in 2023, but not a new face in the position, as Kaleb Nobles takes charge following the successful run of Pete Shinnick from 2016-22.
* Nobles was the first quarterback in program history in 2016 and then spent parts of four seasons on the staff as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and as a graduate assistant.
* He was an offensive analyst at Clemson the past two seasons.
ARGOS RANKED SEVENTH NATIONALLY; PICKED SECOND IN THE GSC
* Coming off a 12-2 season and a run to the national semifinals in 2022, UWF was slotted seventh in the AFCA Preseason Top 25 and eighth in the D2Football.com Preseason Poll.
* In the GSC preseason coaches poll, the league’s eight coaches voted the Argonauts second behind Delta State. UWF earned two first place votes and 56 poll points, just behind DSU’s 61 points and six votes for the top spot.
UWF OFFENSE STILL FAST-PACED & FULL OF EXCITEMENT
* Led by QB Peewee Jarrett, the UWF offense is expected to continue to put points on the board and gain chunks of yards regularly this season. Along with Jarrett, the unit returns five other starters and a number of key contributors from a year ago.
* WR Caden Leggett and offensive linemen Jacob Bruce and Oake Stipe were both named to the preseason all-GSC squad.
DEFENSE FEATURES NEW LOOK UNDER NEW COORDINATOR
* The UWF defense will change looks this year under new coordinator Kavell Conner. The Argos will go to a 4-man front for the first time in their history while possessing one of the strongest linebacking groups in the country.
Preseason all-GSC pick Will Breland, and returning starters Willie Jordan and Kode Lowe should be able to use their speed and athleticism to disrupt offenses and collect negative yardage for the opposition.
GB Zoo Welcomes Baby Giraffe
The Gulf Breeze Zoo is excited to announce the birth of a baby reticulated giraffe. Staff were on hand monitoring as Kenya, a 14-year-old giraffe, gave birth to the 6’3” 160 lb. male on July 13 shortly before midnight.
Giraffes generally give birth to one calf after a gestation of around 457 days (15 months). Giraffes are the tallest land mammals with males reaching up to 18 feet tall and 4,200 lbs. Overall, giraffe populations are considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with population declines of up to 40% in the last three decades due to habitat loss, illegal hunting, and ecological changes The vulnerable Reticulated giraffe population has been estimated to range from only 4,500 to 4,700 in the wild and are amongst the most threatened large mammals in the wild so every successful calf is something to celebrate.
Both mother and baby are healthy and thriving. The tower of giraffe can be seen daily, weather dependent, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Although the newest addition is not old enough for romaine yet, romaine cups to feed the other giraffes and tickets for 1 p.m. giraffe encounters to meet the rest of the giraffe herd are available for purchase.
Perdido Landfill Closed Temporarily
The Perdido Landfill, located at 13009 Beulah Road in Cantonment, will close Saturday, Sept. 2 through Monday, Sept. 4 while crews install the landfill’s new scale house building. The landfill will re-open for regular hours Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Residents are encouraged to bring any solid waste to the landfill prior to closing at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1. Landfill customers with large loads that require manual offloading are asked to deliver loads no later than 4:30 p.m. Large loads delivered after 4:30 p.m. will not be accepted until regular hours Tuesday, Sept.
