10 CHAMPIONS WAY (September 18, 2026) – Tomorrow is a historic day.
For the first time ever, the University of North Alabama football team will play on campus Saturday at the newly constructed Bobby Wallace Field at Bank Independent Stadium. The Lions will welcome Alcorn State for kickoff at 6 p.m.
The University opened in 1830 and is the oldest public four-year institution in the state of Alabama. The football program played its first game in 1912 before discontinuing the program in 1928. The program was restored in 1949 and is currently in its 78th season with all home games played about a mile away from campus.
No matter who you ask — an on-campus stadium has been a moment in the making for many years. The stadium is located right on campus at the corner of Pine Street and Champions Way and is nestled between Mike D. Lane Field at Bank Independent Stadium and CB&S Bank Arena at Flowers Hall. It will be home to the football, soccer and flag football programs.
Tickets are limited but still available by calling 256-765-5466 or by visiting
this link. Fans can also
watch on ESPN+ or listen world-wide via
Roar Lions Productions.
Gates open at 4 p.m. However, the festivities begin much sooner as tailgating drop-off at The Pines begins at 6 a.m. and reserved parking opens at 10 a.m. Fans can also check out UNA's Countdown to Kickoff Gameday Show presented by Bank Independent starting at 2 p.m. and stick around for Lion Walk at 3:30 p.m. on Pine Street.
Fans are encouraged to review the following material while making plans to attend.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game: North Alabama vs. Alcorn State
Date: Saturday, September 19
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Florence, Ala.
Stadium: Bobby Wallace Field at Bank Independent Stadium
Capacity: 10,000
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
HOW WE GOT HERE: UNA was founded 196 years ago in 1830 and the first football team was fielded 144 years ago in 1912. This team — then known as Florence State Normal — played an organized football game against Butler High School at what was then known as Florence Athletic Park — the North Florence Athletic Field near seven points off Chisholm Road. There are also records of UNA playing in 1928 at Coffee Field, then later Coffee Stadium in 1949 which later became Braly Stadium in 1964. Braly Municipal Stadium was shared with local high schools over the years and was home to UNA for 424 home games in 77 seasons. Braly now belongs to Florence High School, while UNA will open Bank Independent Stadium on Saturday.
FIRST ON CAMPUS GAME: UNA has played 832 games in 78 seasons since the rebirth of the program in 1949. Of those 832 games, 424 were played at Braly Stadium and 408 have been at other sites. UNA has played football in 24 different states and has battled 112 different institutions. The farthest a UNA team has traveled for a game was 2,470 miles to Western Oregon in 2015. This is one of four trips to span over 2,000 miles. The trips to Braly Stadium spanned 1.4 miles from the team's on-campus locker room. Tomorrow will be the first time UNA has not had to travel any distance to play, but rather take roughly 200 steps from the locker room to the field.
UNIQUE LOCATIONS: UNA has played at some unusual venues over the years. Going back to 1980, the Lions hosted UCF at Russellville High School while Braly underwent renovations, and the Lions won 28-3. UNA also played at Athens High School in 1983, Hamilton High School in 1986, Toyota Field in Madison in 2022 and Huntsville's Joe Davis Stadium in both 1985 and 2026.
NEW DIGS: UNA will be the newest stadium in the nation on Saturday, making national headlines from the likes of ESPN, CBS Sports, NBC Sports, Bleacher Report and
The Dan Patrick Show, among others. Prior to UNA, the last FCS schools to open a new stadium (full-build excluding renovations) are Abilene Christian and East Tennessee State in 2017.
LAST TIME OUT: UNA fell 30-25 on the road at Southeastern Louisiana last week despite over 400 yards of offense and leading most of the statistical categories. The purple Lions took an 18-14 lead into halftime with a dominant second quarter, but the green Lions of SLU regained the lead in the third quarter and held on for the win.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT: Alcorn State enters with a 2-1 record and will look to begin 3-1 for the first time since 2018. The Braves are riding the momentum of a 53-51 double-overtime win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff last week at the Southern Heritage Classic in Memphis. Alcorn is led by quarterback Jalen Tolbert who ranks fourth in FCS in passing yards (869) and passing touchdowns (10). The Braves were picked third in the SWAC West Division.
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday will mark the first all-time meeting between UNA and Alcorn.
ROOKIE SENSATION: Redshirt freshman
Xavier Johnson — a transfer from Memphis — is the top receiver in FCS through three games. He has 19 catches for 386 yards and two touchdowns, leading the nation in receiving yardage and with 128.6 average receiving yards per game. The 386 yards is the most by any UNA receiver in program history over the first three games of their career. He won United Athletic Conference Player of the Week back-to-back weeks and was an honorable mention for Stats Perform FCS National Freshman of the Week.
DEFENSE ON LOCKDOWN: UNA ranks among the top 25 FCS teams in a number of defensive statistics, most notably being the eighth-ranked rushing defense with just 92.7 rushing yards allowed per game. The Lions are also 11th in sacks with three per game, 12th in fourth down defense, 13th in tackles per loss, 14th in fumble recoveries and 25th in turnovers gained.
A STAT THAT TRANSLATES: Most coaches claim the turnover battle impacts wins and losses more than any other factor, and UNA is off to a strong start on both sides of the ball. UNA ranks 29th of 128 FCS teams in turnover margin. Transfer defensive backs
Kanijal Thomas and
Trevion Butler already have interceptions this season, while three Lions have recovered fumbles. Sophomore defensive lineman
Cayden Adkins, who was the highest-graded edge rusher in FCS after two games this season, has forced two fumbles. Meanwhile, the offense has protected the ball with just one interception and two fumbles.
WELCOME TO TAE-MART: Sophomore defensive back
Tae Martin has been a breakout player on the defense for UNA, ranking among the top 10 tacklers in the UAC and leading the Lions with 23 total for 7.7 per game. Last week at SLU, he led with 11 tackles. For the season, he also has 3.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and four pass breakups with at least one breakup in every game. Fans can expect him to constantly match up with the opponent's best receiver.
WADE'S WORLD: Quarterback
Destin Wade ranks 14th in the country when it comes to passing yards per completion — not shying away from the deep ball. He totals 13.8 yards per completion and has 8.43 yards per pass attempt.
RECORD-BREAKING PASS: After a scoreless first quarter against Samford three weeks ago, UNA struck gold with a 95-yard pass from Wade to Johnson with 8:44 left in the half. This broke UNA's all-time record for longest pass in school history, last set in 1997 by Travis Carswell and James Moore at 94 yards. This was the first collegiate touchdown for Johnson, who redshirted and did not appear while at Memphis.
CAPTAINS: UNA named its four permanent captains for the 2026 season during fall camp, 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.
LAYING THE FOUNDATION: Wright and Ingram are two of the longest-tenured Lions, and both grew up in the Shoals and understand the significance of the stadium opening on Saturday. Three more Lions have played all four years of the
Brent Dearmon era and have contributed regularly, including redshirt junior
Avery Howard and seniors
KJ Fields and
Kaden Cooper. These five have combined for 167 games since coming to UNA. Two other Lions have also been with the program for four seasons during this transition to Bank Independent Stadium, but have not appeared in games —
John Taylor and
Nic Strong.
UAC ROUNDUP: All eight UAC teams will be in action, including a ranked conference game between No. 17 West Florida and No. 14 Austin Peay down in Pensacola, Fla. The No. 4 ranked Tarleton State Texans will battle Merrimack, while EKU welcomes Dayton. The other three UAC teams will travel, as ACU heads to Idaho, Central Arkansas goes to SEMO and West Georgia treks to ETSU.
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 is a member 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.
