CARROLLTON, Ga. - It was a shutout victory to close out the 2025 football season for the UWG Wolves as West Georgia knocked off Utah Tech 23-0 in front of the University Stadium faithful.
West Georgia (8-3, 5-3 UAC) doubled their wins from their inaugural Division I season by pitching their first shutout against a Division I opponent and the first since the 2022 season. The Wolves close out the campaign 4-1 at home with the win over Utah Tech (2-9, 1-6 UAC).
The Wolves led in total offense, putting up 378 yards while the Trailblazers had just 253 total yards. UWG had 143 yards on the ground led by 101 yards on 20 carries and one touchdown from Latrelle Murrell. Davin Wydner was 18-for-28 passing with 201 yards and a touchdown.
But the story was UWG's defense who had four takeaways and kept the Trailblazers out of the endzone, for their first time being shutout since last season against Tarleton State.
David Hoage had a pair of sacks in the win, giving him 20.0 tackles for loss on the season, tying a UWG single-season record that was set by Dylan Donahue in 2016.
The Wolves couldn't have asked for a better start as the defense got a three and out to force a punt and then the offense took it 67 yards on 11 plays to take an early lead. The score came on an eight-yard rush from Latrelle Murrell. UWG's PAT attempt was no good after a bad snap, making it 6-0, UWG.
Neither team added points to the board until late in the half when UWG added a field goal with 14 seconds left. On that drive alone, Murrell rushed for 70 yards, but the drive eventually stalled, and UWG settled for a 27-yard field goal by Tommy Holden.
Utah Tech got the ball across the 50 and took a hail mary heave as the clock expired, but Jalen Burton picked it off to end the half with UWG up, 9-0.
West Georgia went three-and-out on their first possession of the second half, and Utah Tech had the same outcome on the scoreboard, but managed to drive to the UWG 30 before a 48-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left to keep the UWG advantage at nine.
Late in the third, UWG engineered a second touchdown drive, and it was capped off with a trick-play touchdown as a double-pass went from Wydner to Bryce Dickerson and then to Murrell for an 18-yard score. The drive, that went 89 yards in 11 plays, made it a 16-0 lead with 1:16 left in the third.
A big play put Utah Tech deep in West Georgia territory, but the UWG defense bowed its neck and forced a turnover in the form of a strip sack by Geoffrey Speight accounted for the third takeaway of the day for the Wolves.
Wydner and the offense made the Trailblazers pay, taking advantage of two penalties on punts to extend the drive, capping off the drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Ritchie to make it 23-0, Wolves with 7:56 to play.
UWG got a fourth takeaway at the 4:04 mark of the game as freshman Jyarius Carter forced a fumble and senior Carson Yancy pounced on it, turning over the Trailblazers in Wolves' territory for the third time, preserving the shutout.
Utah Tech got the ball back once more, but the shutout remained in tact as the Wolves defense forced a sixth Trailblazer punt of the afternoon.
The Wolves wrap up the 2025 season with eight wins, doubling their win total from a season ago. UWG, who was ranked 24th in the AFCA Coaches Poll maintains a great chance of ending the season ranked in the final top 25 poll.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- UWG had four takeaways in the game and had a takeaway in every game this season and in 12 games straight dating back to the Utah Tech game to close out the 2024 season. UWG's four takeaways was a season-high, topping three from game one at Samford.
- Burton's interception was his third of the season. The last time a UWG player had three interceptions in a season was 2019 (Nasier Currie-Sudler and Latrell Gibbs).
- Tommy Holden's field goal late in the first half was his 12th of the season, tying him for eighth-most in a single-season in program history.
- UWG's four takeaways was a season-high, topping three from game one at Samford.
