Carrollton, GA - The first foray into Gulf South Conference play for the 2016 West Georgia Wolves was a success, as head coach Will Hall's squad faced adversity for the first time this season and delivered a convicing knockout blow to the Delta State Statesmen at University Stadium. The Wolves fell behind 12-0 in the first half, then bounced back from an 18-13 deficit in the third quarter to score 21 unanswered points in a 34-24 victory. West Georgia now heads to south Georgia to face Albany State in the final non-conference battle of the season this Saturday.

JACKSON STEPS INTO THE LIMELIGHT
Devontae Jackson was the back down the stretch last year for the Wolves, but hadn't had that breakout moment yet this year. That happened Saturday, as the sophomore had 96 yards rushing, 62 yards receiving and 44 yards in the return game.

DONAHUE LEADS THE D-Line
It took three games, but it is safe to say that senior defensive end Dylan Donahue is on a mission. The Montana native increased his career sack total to 16 at UWG with three against Delta State last weekend. He and the Wolves' defensive front that picked up five sacks on Saturday now goes into a week with a team that is averaging giving up more than three sacks per game in Albany State.

IRON SHARPENS IRON
This week ends a tough gauntlet for the Albany State Golden Rams, a team that after Saturday, will have played three 2015 playoff teams in the first three weeks of the 2016 season. ASU opened with a 16-7 loss to Valdosta State, then lost to Tuskegee 28-18 before a 24-2 win over Southeastern College last weekend. West Georgia, on the opposite side, has played two teams that were conference champions in 2015 as well as perennial power Delta State.

DEFENSIVE BATTLE ON DECK
Two solid defenses will collide in South Georgia this weekend, as both UWG and Albany State come into the game giving up 250 or less yards on average per game this season. The Wolves allow 88.7 rushing yards per game compared to 96.3 from ASU while the UWG secondary gives up 147.0 yards per game through the air compared to 154.3 for Albany State.

ALBANY STATE STANDOUTS
The Wolves will be taking a close look at quarterback Caleb Edmonds, who is the Golden Rams' leading rusher as well this season. Edmonds has 209 rushing yards through three games and 672 yards passing. He has three passing touchdowns and four interceptions on the year as well.

GARDNER HITS FOR FOUR
The passing game stood out this past weekend, with UWG quarterback Will Gardner passing out multiple gifts to his receivers. Three different wideouts caught a touchdown pass against, as Gardner had four of his 18 completions reach paydirt. Deniko Carter was the biggest recipient with two touchdown receptions against DSU.

THE COACHES
West Georgia's coach is Will Hall, who is in his third season at the helm of the UWG program. The Wolves are 27-5 under Hall, including 5-2 in the postseason. In his sixth year as a head coach, Hall is 52-15. Dan Land is the frontman for Albany State, coming into the fourth game of his second season as the head coach at ASU with a record of 7-6 thus far. Land led the Golden Rams to a spot in the SIAC Championship game last year.

CARTER MOVES TO THE HEAD OF THE CLASS
Carter now has three receiving touchdowns this season, with all of them coming in the past two weeks. He has eight receptions on the season for 138 yards, which second on the team. Qa Walker leads with nine receptions for 146 yards on the year and he has one touchdown. K.J. Parmer leads UWG in yards per catch, averaging 18.3 yards per reception on the season on six receptions for 110 yards.

UWG DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
Perhaps the most overlooked stat from the Delta State game among all the sacks, blocked kicks and big hits was that the Wolves held a team that came into the GSC opener averaging 495 yards per game to just 332 yards of total offense. West Georgia sacks Harlon Hill contender Tyler Sullivan five times and allowed just over 200 yards through the air. The first touchdown allowed by the defense in the game did not come until the third quarter.

TWO-HEADED RUNNING BACK
Devontae Jackson and Lamarcus Franks have been trading off the limelight at running back, and are within two carries of each other for the team lead (37-35), and within a yard of each other for the team lead as well (212-211). Franks had 86 yards to lead the Wolves against Miles two weeks ago and Jackson had 96 this past weekend against Delta State to pace UWG on the ground.