PENSACOLA, Fla. -- — Ty'ray Davis threw for two touchdowns and ran for another and West Florida won its first-ever Division I FCS contest upsetting Southern Illinois 34-31 on Thursday night.
West Florida only started playing football a decade ago, and at the Division II level won the national championship in 2019.
In the season opener for both teams, the Argonauts built a 27-9 and held on against the Salukis, ranked No. 16 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25.
The Salukis scored their first touchdown when Jake Curry connected with Kyle Thomas from 18 yards out. The two-point conversion reduced the deficit to 27-17 with 2:19 left in the third.
Later, after an Argonauts turnover, Curry ran it in from 19 to reduce the deficit to 27-24 with 7:39 remaining.
After forcing West Florida to a three-and-out, the Argonauts defense took a stand and stripped Edward Robinson on the first play and recovered the fumble.
Both teams exchanged late touchdowns for the final margin before David Law-Mortimer intercepted Curry with 58 seconds left to end it.
Davis sprinted 45 yards to the end zone with 1:14 left in the first quarter for a 7-3 lead and West Florida never trailed.
With 9:48 remaining in the second, Davis threw a 19-yard touchdown to Jakari Mozelle to make it 13-6. Five minutes later, West Florida's A'Khoury Lyde intercepted Curry and ran it back 44 yards for a 20-6 lead.
In the third, Markel Townsend ran it in from the 9 ending an eight-play, 77-yard drive that made it 27-9 with 7:27 left.
Southern Illinois Stephen Green kicked field goals of 31, 47 and 50 yards but missed from 41.
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