North Alabama Lions (2-6, 2-3 Big South) at
Monmouth Hawks (5-3, 4-0 Big South)
Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021; 1:05 p.m.
Kessler Stadium, West Long Branch, N.J.


BROADCAST INFORMATION
ESPN3
Matt Harmon (Play by Play); Emory Hunt (Color Analyst)
DIRECTIONS TO KESSLER STADIUM
Directions to Monmouth University and Kessler Stadium can be found here:
TICKET INFO:
For tickets call 732-263-5735 or visit MonmouthHawks.com for online sales
Day of game tickets can be purchased at the Austin Family Box Office 

A LOOK AT THE GAME

 

• Monmouth returns home for its first of back to back home games while North Alabama, who is coming off a bye week, brings a two-game win streak to Kessler Stadium this afternoon.
• The Hawks look to remain unbeaten in Big South play after downing NC A&T last weekend at their homecoming to win their ninth consecutive Big South road game. Since opening the facility in 2017, Monmouth is 20-3 in home games at Kessler Stadium, including two setbacks earlier this season to Holy Cross and Princeton. The Hawks have won 14 straight Big South games and bring the Big South's highest scoring offense at 30.8 points per game into today's matchup.
• North Alabama makes its second and final scheduled trip to West Long Branch on the crest of a two-game win streak. The Lions started the season with one of the more challenging FCS schedules but have averaged nearly 43 points in back to back wins over Robert Morris and Charleston Southern. UNA will leave the Big South and join the Atlantic-Sun Conference in 2022. 
• Today's game will air on ESPN3 with Matt Harmon (pxp) and Emory Hunt handling the analyst duties.

 
TODAY'S PROMOTIONS
Military Appreciation Day: All active duty members receive free entry to the game with a valid military ID presented at the box office


THE COACHING MATCHUP
Kevin Callahan, the 2019 and 2020 Big South Coach of the Year, is in his 29th season at Monmouth as the Hawks' head coach. Callahan owns a 171-128 career coaching record, all with Monmouth. Coming into the season, Callahan's 171 victories ranks him 6th among active coaches in the Football Championship Subdivision. He is one of two FCS coaches with 150+ wins all at one institution and his 29 years as a head coach is the seventh most among active coaches. The only coach in Monmouth history, he has led the Blue & White to six conference championships, in 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2020-21 and its first at-large playoff berth in 2017. Callahan has earned conference coach of the year accolades in 1998, 2003, 2006, 2019 and 2020 and was named as an Eddie Robinson Award finalist in 2017 (10^th), 2019 (4^th) and 2020-21. Prior to arriving in West Long Branch, Callahan served as defensive coordinator at Colgate for eight seasons and at Wagner for three years. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Albany (1977-79) and Syracuse (1980) before becoming a Seahawk assistant in 1981.
 
Chris Willis was introduced as the 10th head coach in North Alabama history in December of 2016 In 2018, the first of the Division I era, he led the Lions to a 7-3 record including winning their final four contests. In his first season heading up the UNA team he led the Lion's to Division II's toughest schedule, facing six playoff teams in 10 games. Willis is no stranger to the UNA program having served as the Lions' defensive coordinator from 2012-16 when UNA become the first school in Gulf South Conference history to win four straight league championships. A 1998 graduate of Delta State University, Willis initially joined the UNA staff in 2002 and served as the team's recruiting coordinator from 2002 to 2005. Prior to UNA he won a Division II National Championship as an assistant coach with Delta State.
 
INSIDE THE MU-UNA SERIES
Second Overall Meeting
Overall Record: MU 1-0
    West Long Branch: MU 1-0
    Florence, AL: ---
First Meeting: Nov. 9, 2019
Last Meeting: Nov. 9, 2019
Longest MU Win Streak: 1 gm
Longest UNA Win Streak: ---
Largest MU W Margin: 11 pts
Largest UNA W Margin: ---
Smallest MU W Margin: 11 pts
Smallest UNA W Margin: ---
Shutouts: ---
Overtime Games: ---
 
INSIDE THE MONMOUTH-UNA SERIES

• Monmouth and North Alabama have met just once before, in 2019 with that game also coming at Kessler Stadium
• The first matchup featured 87 total points, with most of those coming in the second half. MU held a 14-7 halftime advantage which it pushed to 35-10 in the third quarter. A blocked punt and big pass plays allowed UNA to get back in the game before Kenji Bahar threw his fourth and fifth touchdowns of the game to put it out of reach. The 25-point lead diminished as the Lions scored twice in 49 seconds to close out the game.
• For now, this is the last time the two teams are scheduled to face each other as North Alabama will depart for the A-Sun Conference after the 2021 season, along with Kennesaw State.

 
MONMOUTH AGAINST THE BIG SOUTH

• Since starting up Big South league play in 2014, Monmouth owns an 25-14 conference record, however is 21-2 since 2017.
• The Hawks own a 7-1 record against Gardner-Webb, 3-0 against Campbell, 5-1 against CSU and 2-4 vs Kennesaw State. The Hawks are also 1-0 against Hampton (3-0 overall) in conference competition. MU is 1-0 against North Alabama as well as North Carolina A&T.
• The Hawks won their first Big South Title in 2019 going undefeated for the first time since joining the league.
• MU was 0-3 against members of the Big South prior to joining the league, including dropping a home and home series with Coastal Carolina and a non-conference tilt with the Flames. The Hawks were also 4-2 against PC.
• With the win over North Carolina A&T Monmouth has won four consecutive conference games for the second time in program history (matching 2019).

 
SECOND LARGEST CROWD TO VIEW A MONMOUTH GAME
In last week's game at North Carolina A&T the Hawks played in front of the second largest crowd in the history of the program. Against Montana in 2019, the Hawks played in front of the largest crowd in the 29-year history of the program. In the 2013 season, Monmouth played in front of two of the top-two largest crowds in history after opening the season in front of 21k at Bobcat Stadium before playing in front of an active 18,467 fans, including a huge student section at Liberty's Williams Stadium. Prior to that, the largest crowd the Hawks ever played in front of was 21,431 at Delaware in 2007, the year the Joe Flacco led the Blue Hens to the National Championship game.
 
MONMOUTH FOOTBALL LARGEST CROWDS
                        Home Team                Stadium                      SeasonAttendance
            1.         Montana                       Washington-Grizzly       2019    23,119
            2.         NC A&T                         Truist Stadium              2021    21,500
            3.         Delaware                      Tubby Raymond Field   2007    21,431
            4.         Central Michigan           Kelly/Shorts Stadium    2015    21,092
            5.         Montana State              Bobcat Stadium             2013    21,007
            6.         Old Dominion                S.B. Ballard Stadium     2009    19,782
            7.         Liberty                          Williams Stadium          2013    18,467
            8.         Liberty                          Williams Stadium          2016    16,687            
            9.         Liberty                          Williams Stadium          2014    16,053
            10.       Western Michigan         Waldo Stadium             2019    15,021
 
300 MILESTONE FOR KEVIN CALLAHAN AND MONMOUTH FOOTBALL
Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan will coach his and the program's 300th career game today against North Alabama. Earlier this season he became the third-fastest Big South coach to 50 wins with the 34-17 win over Campbell. He is just the fourth coach in Big South history to earn 50 victories, and his 25 conference wins is fourth most.
 
MOORE AND GREENE JR LEAD THE BIG SOUTH IN CAREER RECEPTIONS
Seniors Lonnie Moore IV (192) and Terrance Greene Jr (134) are the lone active Big South teammates with 100 career receptions. Moore ranks fifth all-time in Big South history with 192 catches, and needs eight to become just the fifth with 200 in a career. He became the 15th player with more than 2,000 receiving yards in Week 2 against Fordham, and ranks 8th in the league record book with 2,511. Greene sits at 1,900 career receiving yards and is 100 from the 2,000-yard milestone.
 
DID YOU KNOW?
Monmouth quarterback Tony Muskett has had five multi-touchdown passing games in 2021, which is tied for first in the Big South. Muskett has also thrown a touchdown pass in 12 consecutive games which is the longest streak in the Big South Conference.

Social Media Links:
Follow the Hawks all season long on twitter (@MUHawksFB)
Facebook (facebook.com/MUFootball)  
Monmouth's YouTube page (YouTube.com/monmouthhawks)