THIS WEEK IN THE SOUTHLAND
Thursday, September 12
Northwestern State at South Alabama 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 14
12/14 UIW at #9/8 Southern Illinois 6 p.m.
Louisiana Christian at HCU 6 p.m.
RV/25 Weber State at RV/RV Lamar 6 p.m
Grambling at Texas A&M-Commerce 6 p.m.
Eastern Washington at Southeastern 6 p.m.
RV SFA at RV McNeese 7 p.m.
24/23 Nicholls at #11/11 Sacramento State 8 p.m.
All Times Central
LAST WEEK IN THE SOUTHLAND
Saturday, September 7
Texas A&M 52, RV McNeese 10
Southern Miss 35, Southeastern 10
Prairie View A&M 37, Northwestern State 31
RV Lamar 28, Mississippi Valley State 14
21/20 Tarleton 35, HCU 18
1/1 South Dakota State 45, #12/11 UIW 24
18/18 UC Davis 36, Texas A&M-Commerce 22
THE OPENING DRIVE
Taking Notice
Two Southland teams remain ranked in both the Stats Perform and AFCA Polls, while
three teams continue to receive votes. Despite a tough road loss to top-ranked South
Dakota State, UIW remained strong in the polls at No. 12 in Stats Perform and No. 14 in
AFCA. Nicholls moved to No. 22 in AFCA and No. 23 in Stats Perform after an impressive
showing at LSU. Lamar received votes in both polls, while McNeese and SFA each received
votes in the AFCA Poll.
Massive Match-Up Weekend
Conference play begins as a pair of teams who are receiving votes square off with SFA
traveling to Lake Charles to battle McNeese. It is a massive weekend for non-conference
play as well as No. 12/14 UIW plays their second-straight Top 10 opponent in No. 9/8
Southern Illinois. No. 24/23 Nicholls hits the road to battle No. 11/11 Sacramento State,
while RV/RV Lamar welcomes in No. 25 Weber State. In addition, Southeastern welcomes
in Eastern Washington and Texas A&M-Commerce takes on Grambling in home contests
for both.
Aerial Brilliance
It was an incredible weekend for Texas A&M-Commerce quarterback Ron Peace. Earning
the start against nationally-ranked UC Davis, Peace finished with 457 yards passing
and three touchdown tosses in a near come-from-behind effort against the Aggies. For
Peace, he led all of FBS and FCS in Week 2 in passing yards and was the second most this
season in all of college football. It also finished fourth all-time in Lion football program
history.
Big Time Performances
Peace was not the only impressive offensive output as Nicholls’s Collin Guggenheim
rushed for 145 yards on 25 carries and two scores inside Tiger Stadium against LSU,
Lamar’s Khalan Griffin had a giant 23 carry, 193 yard, and two score evening, and UIW’s
Zach Calzada finished 31 of 39 for 351 yards and three touchdown passes against the top
team in FCS. Blake Gotcher added a big time performance on the defensive end with an
incredible 23 tackles, while Jermaine Brown had a jaw-dropping Pick 6 against UNT.
2024 SOUTHLAND PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
RON PEACE, TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE • QB • R-JR • MALAKOFF, TEXAS
- Ron Peace threw for 457 yards and three touchdowns in a game where the Lions had the chance to tie the game with less than a minute left in the game at No. 18 UC Davis. His 457 passing yards are most for a Division I quarterback, FBS or FCS, throughout Week 2, the second most this season in college football, and fourth in program history. All three of his touchdown passes came in the 2nd half.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
BLAKE GOTCHER, NORTHWESTERN STATE • LB • JR • LITTLE ELM, TEXAS
- Blake Gotcher recorded a career-high 23 tackles in the Demons’ loss to Prairie View A&M, becoming the first Demon since 2019 with a 20-tackle game (Ja’Quay Pough 22 at UIW) and just the third Demon in the past 10 years to hit that mark. Gotcher added a pair of sacks and a forced fumble. Gotcher had a tackle or a forced fumble on 29.6 percent of Northwestern State’s defensive snaps. He has recorded 34 tackles through two games at Northwestern.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CHASE LEON, LAMAR • P • FR • BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
- Chase Leon Recorded his second strong outing to open his collegiate career for Big Red’s special teams unit. Leon averaged nearly 43 yards on five punts (5-214/42.8 ypp) and recorded a long of 51 yards. Leon is currently third in the conference averaging just under 45 yards per punt.
