GAME TIME: 7:30 PM ET; INTERNET: ESPN3 LIVE; TV: CSS TV
FLORENCE, Alabama -- Just a year ago, Bobby Wallace carried a team loaded with freshmen newcomers to Birmingham for the first game of his second term as North Alabama's head football coach and escaped Legion Field with a 31-30 win over a talented Miles College team that would go on to make it's first-ever NCAA playoff appearance.
Fast-forward a year and Wallace and UNA will open the 2013 season Thursday at 6:30 at Braly Stadium against another talented Miles team that returns 15 starters and is primed for another run at the post-season. The difference for UNA is that the Lions are more talented and more experienced than they were in 2012 and have their own dreams of reaching the post-season.
North Alabama returns 16 starters from last season, including six All-Gulf South Conference performers and All-Americans in defensive back Caleb Massey and linebacker Tavarius Wilson.
While UNA was picked to finish third in the 2013 Gulf South Conference race in a pre-season poll of league coaches, the Lions had the most players selected for pre-season all-conference honors with 10.
On offense, UNA returns quarterback Luke Wingo, running backs Lamonte Thompson, Chris Coffey and Lamar Smith and receivers Jason Smith and Lee Mayhall. The offensive line is also big and talented.
On defense, UNA's linebacker corp should be as good as any Division II program in the country and the Lions are solid on the defensive front and in the secondary.
The kicking game is also strong with returning All-GSC punter Michael Schuster, who will also handle all place-kicking duties this fall.
The biggest challenge for the Lions will be an extremely demanding schedule that begins with Miles, has UNA playing at FCS member Jacksonville State in week two, hosting DII power Texas A&M-Kingsville on Oct. 19 and then closing the season with three long road trips over the final four weeks.
This game officially opens UNA's 65th season of football and the Lions have won their last 10 straight season-openers and haven't lost a season-opener at home since 1999.
The season-opener for both UNA and Miles is also a Homecoming of sorts for three members of Miles' coaching staff as head coach Reginald Ruffin, offensive coordinator Travis Carswell and linebacker coach Ronald McKinnon all played at North Alabama in the 1990s. In just two seasons at Miles, Ruffin has taken the program to new heights as the Bears won their first Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in school history in 2012 and made their first-ever playoff appearance in 2013.
On the flip side, UNA is 7-0 all-time against Miles and the Lions have a remarkable 36-5-1 record all-time against teams from the SIAC.
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