ARLINGTON, Texas. (August 31, 2026) – The United Athletic Conference announced its first set of weekly awards for the 2026 season Monday morning, as University of North Alabama redshirt freshman Xavier Johnson was tabbed the UAC Freshman of the Week.
Johnson — a transfer from Memphis who redshirted last season — played in his first college football game on Saturday against Samford at the Story Financial Partners Bowl in Huntsville, Ala. He caught five passes for 129 yards and a touchdown in his college debut.
The Richland, Texas native became the 12th player in UNA's Division I history to record 100 or more yards receiving in a game. Johnson is also the first rookie to post a 100-yard receiving game for UNA since Dexter Boykin had eight catches for 135 yards and two scores against Southern Utah in 2018.
With no score early in the second quarter and the Lions pinned back on their own five-yard line, quarterback Destin Wade got Samford to jump offsides to set up a free play. This allowed Johnson to sprint past his defender, catch a deep ball near midfield and sprint all the way to the end zone for a 95-yard touchdown.
The 95-yard connection set a new all-time record for longest pass play in school history. The previous record of 94 yards was set by Travis Carswell and James Moore against Arkansas Tech in 1997.
Today marks the 11th time UNA has won the UAC Freshman of the Week award since the league started in 2023 — the most of any former or current members of the conference. UNA has now won 21 weekly awards over four seasons.
Johnson joins current teammates Noah Gregg, Azariah Fletcher, Fred Vili, Jalen Fletcher and Jyheam Ingram as past winners of the award, as well as former Lion Josh Anglin. Ingram won the first award for UNA in 2023, then Jalen Fletcher won three times in 2024. Vili won it once in 2024, while Gregg and Azariah Fletcher did it once each in 2025.
UNA was one of five UAC teams to win its opener last week, joining Tarleton State, Central Arkansas, West Florida and Austin Peay. Tarleton's DeAndrew Buchannon was the UAC Special Teams Player of the Week, UCA's Donovyn Omolo won the offensive award and UWF's Byron Puryear won the defensive award.
The Lions hit the road this week for an SEC showdown against Arkansas. Kickoff is set for 3:15 p.m. on SEC Network. This will be UNA's first SEC opponent since Vanderbilt in 1959.
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