HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (August 28, 2026) – The University of North Alabama football team just over 24 hours away from kicking off the 2026 season, which will begin with an in-state test against fellow FCS member Samford in the Story Financial Partners Bowl on Saturday in Huntsville, Ala.
Kickoff from Wicks Family Field at Joe Davis Stadium is set for 6:02 p.m.
Saturday will mark the first-ever college football game to take place inside Joe Davis Stadium, which was built in 1985 and served as the longtime home of the Huntsville Stars minor league baseball team before renovating into the pro soccer stadium for Huntsville City FC.
For a list of "things to know" for Saturday's game,
click here.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
North Alabama vs. Samford
Date: Saturday, August 29
Time: 6:02 p.m. CT
Location: Huntsville, Alabama
Stadium: Wicks Family Field and Joe Davis Stadium
Capacity: 6,000
TV: ESPN+ ("Voice of the Lions"
Benjamin Ray, Bryan Neece,
Gyvan Hammons)
Radio: Roar Lions Productions (Jordan Campbell, Jacob Tucker,
Chase Glover)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Click Here
Social Media:
@UNAFootball
UNA Game Notes |
Opponent Game Notes |
UAC Notes
NOTABLES
A MILESTONE SEASON: The 2026 season will mark the 78th for the UNA football program dating back to the full-time rebirth of football in 1949. The program initially started in 1912 and played until 1928 before going on pause for two decades. The 78th season of UNA football will be a memorable one with the opening of Bobby Wallace Field at Bank Independent Stadium set for Saturday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. against Alcorn State. UNA played its first 77 seasons off-campus at historic Braly Stadium. Now, the Lions will have their own 10,000 seat stadium to call home in the heart of campus. The stadium is located on Pine Street between Mike D. Lane Field and CB&S Bank Arena. For more information,
click here.
ABOUT THE LIONS: North Alabama finished with a 2-10 record last season and will enter its fourth season under head coach
Brent Dearmon. Despite their record the last three seasons, the Lions have been competitive against some of the top teams in FCS, including a nationally-ranked win over No. 10 Abilene Christian in 2024, a win over EKU last season and a near-upset in double-overtime on the road last season at No. 6 Illinois State, which went on the become the national FCS runner-up. UNA returns 30 true contributors from last season, has a strong mix of transfer and freshmen talent and will debut new offensive and defensive coordinators in Travis Partridge and Clint Bowen.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: Despite recent success this past decade, Samford is coming off one of the toughest seasons in program history with a 1-11 record last season. The Bulldogs will enter 2026 under new leadership with the hiring of head coach John Grass this offseason. Grass was the head coach at Jacksonville State from 2014-21 and led the Gamecocks to a 72-26 record in that span. He comes to Samford from Clemson where he was an assistant coach. Samford returns nine starters from last season but has not announced a starting quarterback. The Bulldogs return two all-conference players in safety Trey Lenhardt and kicker Jake Garner.
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday will mark the 13th all-time meeting between UNA and Samford in UNA's modern era of football, but the first since 2002. UNA leads the series with a 6-4-2 record against the Bulldogs. These two teams also met once in 1913 before UNA paused its football program until 1949. This will be the first meeting between the two as Division I foes.
FIRST WIN: After pausing football from 1928 to 1949, UNA (then known as Florence State Teachers College) brought back the program and earned its first win over Samford (then Howard College) with a 28-7 victory in Florence. UNA's first-ever 100-yard rusher came from this 28-7 win, as Carl Boley rushed 13 times for 107 yards. Football legend Bobby Bowden played for Howard College during this time. His son, Terry, went on to become the head coach at Samford from 1987-92 and then UNA from 2009-11.
THE 2002 GAME: The last meeting between UNA and Samford will be exactly 24 years removed from this year's meeting, coming on August 29, 2002. Samford hosted UNA in Homewood at Seibert Stadium, escaping with a 24-21 double-overtime win over the Lions. UNA was Division II at the time and would have been considered the road underdog against Division I Samford.
NOT AFRAID OF A CHALLENGE: Over the last three seasons under Dearmon, UNA has played 25 opponents that were either ranked or receiving votes in the FBS or FCS polls. This leaves just 10 games against teams left off the rankings. UNA is 5-5 in those games, including one against FBS opponent WKU in the 2025 season opener.
CAPTAINS: UNA named its four permanent captains for the 2026 season last week, including redshirt senior defensive line transfer
Joshua White, senior defensive lineman
Jyheam Ingram, redshirt senior offensive lineman
Collin Wright and redshirt junior quarterback
Destin Wade. Ingram and Wright are both Muscle Shoals natives.
PRESEASON PRAISE: The Lions celebrated two preseason all-conference selections from the UAC this season in linebackers Tango McCauley and
Fred Vili. McCauley is the leading tackler returing to the team from last season and the third-leading tackler returning to the UAC. He played in all 12 games last season with starts in the final six. He had 58 tackles last season with 3.5 for loss. Vili will make the move from edge rusher to mike linebacker this season, strengthening the defense. Vili finished with 41 tackles and ranked second on the team with 8.0 tackles for loss last season.
MEMPHIS PIPELINE: Eight UNA players come over from Memphis, including five defensive linemen in
Joshua White,
Kamore Harris,
Kavion Benton,
Donovan Nevils and
Mond Cole, two wide receivers in
Xavier Johnson and
TJ Holmes and offensive lineman
Will French III. Almost all of them are expected to contribute right away. Four players at UNA are from Memphis, including two that played at Memphis last year.
NFF ACADEMIC AWARD NOMINEE: Graduate offensive lineman
Noah Bolticoff is UNA's nominee for the 2026 National Football Foundation William V. Campbell Trophy, which is given each season to the top college football player in combined athletics, academics and leadership. Bolticoff will be a starter on the offensive line and owns a 4.0 GPA as a master's student in criminal justice.
HUNTSVILLE NATIVES: UNA will have a number of key players playing college football in their hometowns for the first time ever, including returning wide receiver
KJ Fields from Bob Jones and returning kicker
Ian Vachon from Madison Academy, among others.
BIG BOOT TO FILL: True freshman punter
Charles Mulcahy has shown a powerful punting leg this fall camp and will be the starter for the Lions in 2026. He replaces former three year starter
Adam Watford, who transferred to Alabama this offseason and will compete for the starting job there. Watford was an FCS Punter of the Year Semifinalist in 2025 and set multiple school records for UNA en route to FCS Football Central Second Team All-American honors.
SEASON OPENERS: UNA owns a 42-31-4 record in season openers since 1949. UNA and Samford played each other in one season opener — the 2002 game. The Lions are on the hunt for their first season opening win since 2019, when they beat Western Illinois 26-17 at home. The Lions will again host Western Illinois on Sept. 26, 2026 as the second-ever opponent to play at Bank Independent Stadium.
UAC ROUNDUP: All eight members of the United Athletic Conference will play this week, including four that completed games on Thursday. Austin Peay won 35-17 against Gardner-Webb, Central Arkansas took down No. 22 ranked UT Martin 36-24 on the road, West Georgia fell 24-10 against Chattanooga and West Florida won its first football game as a Division I member with a 34-31 win over Southern Illinois. No. 15 Abilene Christian travels to No. 20 Lamar in a high-profile ranked matchup, while EKU travels to Western Carolina. No. 5 ranked Tarleton State will host Prairie View A&M.
NEW LOOK UAC: UNA Football has been a member of the United Athletic Conference since 2023, which began as a partnership between the ASUN and WAC Conferences for football. On July 1, 2026, the UAC became an official conference as part of the Unison Sports consortium along with the ASUN, making the UAC the primary conference for UNA Athletics as a whole. Of the 19 sports UNA sponsors, 17 will be members of the UAC with the exception of beach volleyball and men's tennis.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
