FLORENCE, Ala. (October 1, 2024) – Thirty years ago, a dynasty continued.
In 1994, the University of North Alabama football team won its second of three straight NCAA Division II National Championships with a 16-10 win over Texas A&M Kingsville at Braly Stadium.
The 1994 football national championship made UNA the first school in NCAA history on any level to win two national titles in both football and men's basketball.
This Saturday, the 1994 team will return to the historic ground it won that championship on as the Lions welcome Utah Tech to Braly Stadium at 4 p.m. Last season, UNA honored the 1993 national championship team with nearly 50 members of that group in attendance for the reunion.
The RSVP list for the 1994 reunion is just as star-studded, including nine members of the UNA Athletic Hall of Fame. Legendary head coach Bobby Wallace will be in attendance, as well as many former players and staff members.
In 1994, the Lions finished with a 13-1 record with the only loss coming to Division I-AA (FCS) national champion Youngstown State. In a rare meeting between a pair of defending national champions, the Division I-AA No. 3 ranked Penguins defeated the Division II top-ranked Lions by a 17-14 final in Youngstown. Both YSU and UNA went on to repeat as national champions again.
For UNA, this loss was the only one over a three-year period, where the Lions went 41-1 from 1993-95.
The 1994 season started with four straight wins over Fort Valley State, Alabama A&M, Mississippi College and Delta State. Three of the four were shutouts for the Purple Swarm, while the other was a 58-13 thrashing of Alabama A&M in Florence. The 45-point win marks the 24th-largest win margin in school history and the third-largest during the three-year national championship run. This is also the fourth-highest attended game in Braly Stadium history with 14,217 fans.
Coming off a bye week, the Lions fell to Youngstown State to drop to 4-1. However, UNA remained the top ranked team in Division II and kept it that way by starting a new winning streak. This started with a 41-7 road win at Henderson State, followed by a 28-21 home win over Central Arkansas — a current conference opponent for UNA — and a 50-7 win at classic in-state rival West Alabama.
With a 7-1 record, the Lions would face six straight nationally-ranked opponents, including two games to end the regular season against No. 2 Valdosta State and No. 10 West Georgia. The Lions flexed dominance over the Blazers with a 38-21 win at Braly Stadium, then ended the regular season with a 37-25 victory in Carrollton.
The 1994 NCAA Division II Playoffs brought a handful of challenges to Braly Stadium, starting with a 17-13 win over No. 16 Carson-Newman. The quarterfinal round was a Gulf South Conference rematch with Valdosta State. The second go-around was much tighter than the first, as the Blazers forced overtime. The Lions pulled through and won 27-24 in double OT, keeping their championship defense alive.
The semifinal round brought No. 12 North Dakota to Florence, where the Lions handled business with a 35-7 win. Staying home, the Lions had another sell-out crowd of 13,526 fans for the Division II National Championship game. The Purple Swarm defense once again stole the show, defending its way to a 16-10 win over the Javelinas.
UNA's record run pushed the school's winning streak against Division II opponents to 27 straight and the Lions ranked No. 1 nationally in the Division II poll for the entire season, running that streak to 17 consecutive polls in the top spot.
The Lions became just the third school to win back-to-back Gulf South Conference titles, and the team would produce an unprecedented 12 first-team All-GSC selections and seven All-Americans, with five players from the Purple Swarm named to All-America teams.
UNA Hall of Fame linebacker and former NFL standout Ronald McKinnon set the single-season record for primary tackles in 1994 with 110. Of his school record 621 career tackles, 407 were solo stops.
Closing the season with 159 total tackles, McKinnon became one of the most honored athletes in school history. He was a first-team All-America selection by the Associated Press, the American Football Coaches Association, the Football Gazette, the Division II Sports Information Directors and C.M. Frank. He was also first-team All-GSC for the third straight year, named GSC Defensive Player of the Year, and was selected as Division II National Player of the Year by CNN's College Football Preview show, as selected by Danny Sheridan.
McKinnon was one of two Lions to grace the cover of the 1994 media guide. The other was fellow UNA Hall of Fame linebacker Keith Humphrey, who was inducted in 2006. Humphrey set the single season school record with 21 tackles for loss in 1994. He ended his career with 49 tackles for loss from 1992-95, setting the career record.
The Purple Swarm defense also had a young stud in the front seven in 1994, as Reginald Ruffin finished with a school record 11 sacks for the season. He played until 1997 and went on to set the career record with 34 sacks, which still stands today.
Joining McKinnon and Humphrey on the various All-America teams, defensive linemen Israel Raybon, Marcus Hunter and Marcus Keyes, and offensive linemen Kin Taylor and Jon Thompson. Kicker Jamie Stoddard, punter Lee Morris, defensive back Gerald Smith, tight end Jarius Hayes and split end Michael Edwards were also first-team All-GSC picks.
Head coach Bobby Wallace was named Division II National Coach of the Year by ABC and Chevrolet, the American Football Coaches Association, the Football Gazette and College Sports magazine.
Below is a list of confirmed attendees from the 1994 team:
Players:
- Brad Alsup
- Scott Basden
- Anthony Brooks
- Kevin Brown
- Bobby Chitwood
- Scot Davis
- Eddie Evans
- Patrick Freeman
- Josh Fuqua
- Jason Garner
- Richard Garris
- Jimmy Gay
- Sam Graham
- Heath Grimes
- Eric Groom
- Cody Gross *
- Jarius Hayes *
- Kenyatta Jones *
- Willie Jones
- Earl Mack
- Troy McClure
- Jerrod McCord
- Paul Sanders
- Tony Schrader
- Gerald Smith *
- Jamie Stoddard *
- Michael Williams *
- Steve Winkle
Staff:
- Bobby Wallace *
- Jeff Hodges *
- Johnny Long *
- Phil Abston
- Heath Barrett
- Spencer Butler
- Craig Hall
- Bill Hunt
- Joe Kemner
- David Martin
- Wes Richardson
* Denotes UNA Athletic Hall of Famer
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
