CARROLLTON, Ga. - Week two of the 2025 college football season is set to commence this weekend and UWG is looking face-to-face with a road trip to 22nd-ranked Nicholls on Saturday, September 6.
Game Information
UWG (1-0, 0-0 UAC) at #22 Nicholls (1-1, 1-0 SLC)
Saturday, September 6
Kickoff: 7 p.m. EST
TV: ESPN+
Radio: KISS 102.7
It will mark the third time UWG has face off against a top-25 opponent as a Division I program, and head coach Joel Taylor knows it's a tough test for the Wolves, especially on the road.
"We're getting ready to face a really good ball club," said Taylor in his weekly press conference on Tuesday. "I think Coach Tommy Rybacki does a phenomenal job, he's been there for a while, and I think he has eight returning starters on defense. And I think that's probably the most in FCS football, so to have a veteran defense coming back like that is definitely going to be a challenge."
A win on Saturday would mark the first win over a ranked opponent in the Division I era. UWG fell at Central Arkansas when the Bears were ranked in 2024, and also lost to a ranked Tarleton State team in the final home game of 2024.
Nicholls has already shown what they are capable of in 2025 as the Colonels opened the season with a 20-6 over a top-five Incarnate Word team in week zero and then fell last week at FBS opponent Troy after leading by a field goal in the fourth quarter.
West Georgia is coming off of a dominant, 34-3 road win over Samford in their opening game. UWG's defense, who enters week two ranked fifth in the country in scoring defense, kept Samford out of the endzone, something that an FCS team hadn't done since 2011.
Both defenses have seen success in the early parts of the season with UWG's unit ranking 28th in the country after giving up just 271 yards to Samford in game one while Nicholls comes in ranked 38th averaging 310 yards allowed per game. Nicholls allowed over 400 yards to Troy last week, but in week one at home against UIW, allowed just 204 yards of offense and 16 yards rushing with a 0.5 yards per carry average against. The Colonels' defensive line unit was also effective in the pass game, accounting for four sacks in that UIW win.
"He (Rybacki) is a defensive-minded coach, he was the defensive coordinator there for I think the past 15 years," Taylor added. "So, they do a good job of keeping the ball in front of them and stopping the run, and like I said they're a veteran group and have seen a lot of football."
West Georgia's offense hung 411 yards of total offense on Samford and featured 129 rushing yards from Latrelle Murrell while Davin Wydner threw for 209 yards, connecting with Owen Dupree a team-high seven times for 71 yards and finding Jordan Dees six times for 60 yards.
Nicholls' offense has only rushed for 65.5 yards per game while the passing attack averages just over 200 per contest, but that doesn't mean they have weapons offensively in the backfield.
"They've got a good player in number 22, who I think was the Freshman of the Year in that conference last year," Taylor said of his opponent's offense. "So, they're going to run him and then play action pass over the top and run some naked bootlegs, and keep you honest."
Miequle Brock, who rushed for nearly 500 yards and three scores while adding 213 receiving yards out of the backfield and 300-plus kick return yards, on his way to Freshman of the Year honors in the Southland in 2024, has averaged 3.3 yards per carry thus far in 2025.
It's the first meeting all-time between UWG and Nicholls as the two teams square off in a Saturday night contest from John L. Guidry Stadium in Thibodaux, Louisiana. The game is being broadcast on ESPN+ and UWG fans can also listen live to the radio broadcast on KISS 102.7 or the Gradick Communications Listening Portal.
