2021 North Alabama Lions football team

American college football season

2021 North Alabama Lions football

Conference	Big South Conference
Record	3–8 (3–4 Big South)
Head coach	Chris Willis (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Zach Lisko (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Steadman Campbell (4th season)
Home stadium	Braly Municipal Stadium
Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

2021 Big South Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 11 Kennesaw State $^	7	–	0	11	–	2
Monmouth	6	–	1	7	–	4
North Carolina A&T	3	–	4	5	–	6
North Alabama	3	–	4	3	–	8
Charleston Southern	3	–	4	4	–	6
Hampton	3	–	4	5	–	6
Robert Morris	3	–	5	4	–	6
Campbell	2	–	5	3	–	8
Gardner–Webb	2	–	5	4	–	7

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2021 North Alabama Lions football team represented the University of North Alabama during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Lions played their home games at the Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama. The team was coached by fifth-year head coach Chris Willis.

Schedule

North Alabama announced its 2021 football schedule on April 21, 2021.^[1] The 2021 schedule consists of five home and six away games in the regular season.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	6:00 p.m.	No. 15 Southeastern Louisiana*	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL^[a]	ESPN3	L 28–49	3,433^[3]
September 11	7:00 p.m.	Chattanooga*	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL	ESPN+/WHDF	L 0–20	10,281
September 18	6:00 p.m.	at No. 10 Jacksonville State*	Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL	ESPN+	L 24–27	20,992
September 25	3:00 p.m.	at Nicholls*	John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA	ESPN+	L 14–31	7,314
October 2	6:00 p.m.	Campbell	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL	ESPN+	L 31–48	6,533
October 9	12:00 p.m.	at North Carolina A&T	Truist Stadium Greensboro, NC	ESPN+/Nexstar	L 34-38	6,824
October 16	6:00 p.m.	Robert Morris	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL	ESPN+	W 42–31	8,123
October 23	2:00 p.m.	Charleston Southern	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL	ESPN3	W 45-22	5,647
November 6	12:00 p.m.	at Monmouth	Kessler Field West Long Branch, NJ	ESPN3	L 33-45	2,231
November 13	2:00 p.m.	No. 10 Kennesaw State	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL	ESPN+	L 24-28	7,023
November 20	12:00 p.m.	at Hampton	Armstrong Stadium Hampton, VA	ESPN+	W 35-27	1,500
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[4]

^ North Alabama's game against Southeastern Louisiana was originally scheduled to be played as an away game, in Hammond, Louisiana, but the game was moved to Florence on August 31, 2021, due to safety concerns related to Hurricane Ida.^[2]

Game summaries

No. 15 Southeastern Louisiana

Southeastern Louisiana at North Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 15 SLU Lions	7	7	13	22	49
UNA Lions	0	14	7	7	28

Date: September 4, 2021
Location: Braly Municipal Stadium
Florence, AL^[2]
Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT
Elapsed time: 3 hours and 36 minutes
Game attendance: 3,433
Game weather: • Weather: TBD • Wind: TBD
Referee: Drew Myers
TV announcers (ESPN3):

Scoring summary

1	0:43	SLU	Nolan Givan 4-yard pass from Cole Kelley (Mateo Rengifo kick) (7 plays, 67 yards, 3:24)	SLU 7–0

2	13:03	UNA	Corson Swan 29-yard pass from Jaylen Gipson (Sam Contorno kick) (1 play, 29 yards, 0:13)	TIED 7–7
	6:12	SLU	Cephus Johnson III 13-yard pass from Cole Kelley (Mateo Rengifo kick) (17 plays, 68 yards, 6:51)	SLU 14–7
	1:39	UNA	Kennebrew Tak. 40-yard pass from Jaylen Gipson (Easterling Gra. kick) (8 plays, 75 yards, 4:33)	TIED 14–14

3	11:40	SLU	Austi Mitchell 1-yard pass from Cole Kelley (Mateo Rengifo kick failed) (7 plays, 61 yards, 3:20)	SLU 20–14
	9:37	UNA	Takairee Kennebrew 47-yard pass from Jaylen Gipson (Easterling Gra. kick) (4 plays, 75 yards, 2:03)	UNA 21–20
	6:37	SLU	Taron Jones 3-yard run (Mateo Rengifo kick) (7 plays, 75 yards, 3:00)	SLU 27–21

4	13:07	SLU	Cole Kelley 9-yard run (Nolan Givan pass) (13 plays, 99 yards, 6:29)	SLU 35–21
	12:38	SLU	Ferland Jordan 41-yard interception (Mateo Rengifo kick)	SLU 42–21
	10:21	UNA	Takairee Kennebrew 24-yard pass from Jaylen Gipson (Easterling Gra. kick) (8 plays, 75 yards, 2:17)	SLU 42–28
	0:44	SLU	Cephus Johnson III 15-yard run (Mateo Rengifo kick) (6 plays, 79 yards, 3:38)	SLU 49–28

Pregame line	Over/under

Statistics	Southeastern Louisiana	North Alabama
First downs	30	23
Total yards	495	404
Rushing yards	232	54
Passing yards	263	350
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	36:49	23:11

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southeastern Louisiana	Passing	Cole Kelley	30/41, 263 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Taron Jones	11 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	CJ Turner	3 receptions, 52 yards
North Alabama	Passing	Jaylen Gipson	23/46, 350 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Jaylen Gipson	7 carries, 22 yards
	Receiving	Takairee Kennebrew	7 receptions, 132 yards, 3 TD

References

^ "LIONS FACE RUGGED 11-GAME SCHEDULE IN 2021". University of North Alabama Department of Athletics. April 21, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Kelley, Kevin (August 31, 2021). "North Alabama-SLU football game moved to Florence due to Hurricane Ida". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
^ "SE LA at UNA Box Score". RoarLions.com. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
^ "2021 North Alabama Lions Football Schedule". FBSchedule. Retrieved June 8, 2021.

v t e North Alabama Lions football
Venues	Braly Municipal Stadium (1949–present)
Rivalries	West Alabama
Culture & lore	Leo III "Go! Fight! U-N-A" Marching Pride of North Alabama
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928–1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold