UWF football: Argos stun Ferris State to reach national championship game

Eric J. Wallace | Pensacola News Journal

The University of West Florida is heading to the NCAA Division II National Championship Game for the second time in four seasons of college football.

All it took was yet another win over an undefeated, 20-point favorite on the road in the playoffs.

UWF surged with 18 points in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 2 Ferris State 28-14 in Big Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday afternoon, ending the longest home winning streak (14) in NCAA Division 2.

The Argos will face Minnesota State in the national final on Dec. 21 in McKinney, Texas. Minnesota State defeated Slippery Rock 58-15 in Saturday’s opposite semifinal.

The Argos (12-2) forced three fourth-quarter fumbles and punished the Bulldogs with Austin Reed touchdown passes to Tate Lehtio and Quentin Randolph.

What was a 14-10 deficit entering the final quarter rapidly turned into a demoralizing two-touchdown deficit for a previously confident Ferris State (12-1) side.

“Never giving up, never losing heart ... it’s just a great, great team victory,” UWF head coach Pete Shinnick said. “We’re now going to our second national championship in three years.”

After a frustrating postseason, the UWF defense “answered the call” with a dominant performance against one of the nation’s top rushing attacks.

It was needed, too.

UWF’s offense struggled abnormally, tossing a first-half interception from the 3-yard line and settling for short field goals in the red zone. The Argos entered the game averaging over 35 points per game in the postseason.

But Ferris State, which scored its final touchdown on the opening drive of the second half, could do little to stretch its lead. While the Bulldogs rushed for 255 yards at 4.9 points per carry, they managed 123 passing yards.

It was the type of defensive performance Reed, the redshirt freshman quarterback, predicted for his teammates this week during practice.

“We just kept believing,” Reed said of the offense’s struggles. “We had a bunch of guys coming up to us and kept saying to keep grinding. We know the kind of team and players that we have. We knew eventually it would all work and we would get into the end zone.”

Reed finished 18-of-44 for 299 passing yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Lehtio, the program’s all-time leading receiver, finished with seven catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

Randolph had 57 receiving yards and a score while veteran Kevin Grant had 67 receiving yards.

After missing the postseason in 2018, the Argos are back in a position to win a national championship and cement their status as a Division 2 national powerhouse.

It’s a chance many Argos have been working for since 2017’s national final loss in Kansas City.

“Beginning of the year, we talked about wanting to get better every week as opposed to last year when we thought it was going to come to us,” Lehtio said. “We’ve worked hard every day in practice to get better. It’s a great team to be on and I’m just so happy.”

Eric J. Wallace can be reached at ejwallace@pnj.com or 850-525-5087.