West Georgia Wolves 2026 Season Preview

Englehart's Foundation

West Georgia went 8-3 with a No. 23 power rating, the kind of season that buys Steve Englehart real credibility heading into 2026 rather than questions. A 5-3 mark in league play shows the Wolves can hang with the UAC's upper half, and the incoming roster additions will slot into a program with a proven offensive and defensive identity rather than one searching for one. The floor here is a winning team, and the ceiling depends on how well the new pieces mesh with an experienced group already accustomed to playing meaningful November games.

Hurst Takes Over a Ground Game

West Georgia's identity on offense was never the arm, it was the legs, with a rushing attack that ranked 42nd nationally while the passing game sat 84th, and that split hands the keys to Collin Hurst, the Presbyterian transfer projected to start under center. His only logged stat is a pair of punts, so this offense is built to lean on the run and its 41.9% third-down rate rather than ask him to sling it 30-plus times. The bigger separator is defense, a unit that held opponents to 21.2 points and 123 rushing yards per game, and that side of the ball buys Hurst room to grow into the job without needing to be spectacular right away.

Davin Wydner is gone after throwing for 1,672 yards and 15 touchdowns, and the punting stat lines attached to the incoming quarterbacks tell their own story about what this room actually looks like right now. Collin Hurst arrives from Presbyterian and Luke Marble from South Dakota State, neither with a passing snap on file, while Davis Strickland joins as a high school signee out of Morgan County with no prior stats to evaluate. West Georgia's offense leaned on the ground game last season (167 rushing yards per game, 42nd nationally) while the passing attack sat at 189 yards per game, 84th nationally, and until one of these three proves he can throw it, Steve Englehart has every reason to keep leaning that direction again in 2026.

Latrelle Murrell's 894 yards and TJ Lester's 432 walk out the door together, gutting a ground game that ranked 42nd nationally in rushing yards per game and gave West Georgia's offense its explosiveness (33rd nationally in explosive-play value). Christian Monfort arrives from Morgan County as a three-star addition with no college stat line yet, which means the Wolves need him or an unnamed veteran to develop into a real early-down grinder fast. Steve Englehart's offense leaned on the run to set up a 41.9% third-down conversion rate, and replacing that volume, not just the names, is what determines whether the passing game (189 yards per game, 84th) gets any easier on itself.

West Georgia's passing attack was already the soft spot in a solid 8-3 offense, ranking 84th nationally in passing yards per game, and now the production tied to that unit is gone. Jordan Dees (36 catches, 508 yards, 3 TD) and Owen Dupree (26 catches, 310 yards, 4 TD) accounted for the bulk of the receiving work and both are departed, leaving no proven volume in the room. East Carolina transfer Malik Leverett arrives with only a token college target share, so the passing game's identity in 2026 gets rebuilt largely on unproven names while the run game, which finished 42nd in rushing yards per game, carries the offense in the meantime.

Bryce Dickerson's 19 catches and Jacob Ritchie's short-yardage touchdown work both walk out the door, taking the bulk of last year's tight end production with them. West Georgia's passing game was already modest at 189 yards per game and 84th nationally, so the position needs to produce rather than just block if the offense is going to push past 39.1% success rate. Alexander product Paxton Dobbs arrives as the name to build around, stepping into a room with no proven pass-catching numbers on file and a real chance to define the position by simply making plays no one else has yet.

West Georgia ran for 167 yards a game and posted 1.34 in explosiveness (33rd nationally) behind a line that is now almost entirely turned over, with David Evbomenya, Alofaletauia Maluia, Cedrick Nicely, Sam Regina and Cedric Richardson all gone. Steve Englehart rebuilds the front around Campbell transfer Freddie Pelling at tackle, high school signee Quadra Barnes inside, and interior additions Logan Miller and Jourdin Pettaway. The passing game was the bigger issue anyway at 189 yards a game and 84th in yards per play, so the new group's early test is whether it can hold up enough for that ground game to carry a 41.9% third-down offense again.

West Georgia's front held up well in 2025, part of a defense that limited teams to 123 rushing yards per game and 5.17 yards per play, both top-20 marks nationally. Almost the entire depth chart along the line turns over, with Jonathan Cajigal, David Hoage, Mason Huntley, Robert Johnson and Geoffrey Speight all gone, so Steve Englehart is leaning on the portal to keep that run defense intact. Ja'Darious Morris arrives from Middle Tennessee, and 3-star edge signees Elijah Mosby and JaKambry Brown join him alongside Antoine Johnson, a near-total remake tasked with matching a line that already played winning football.

West Georgia's front seven held up its end last season, ranking 16th in rushing yards allowed per game (123) and 18th in yards per play allowed (5.17), and the Wolves aren't just standing pat at linebacker. Kendric Davis arrives via transfer from East Carolina to add depth and experience to the room, while Duane Johnson and Noah Outland bring in fresh bodies from the high school ranks. The bigger swing factor is the pass defense, which sat 51st in yards allowed per game at 209, and how this retooled linebacker corps fits alongside the back end will decide whether that number climbs toward the unit's stronger rushing and per-play marks.

Last year's secondary held opponents to 209 passing yards a game, good for 51st nationally, while the run defense ranked a stout 16th, and that split is the tell heading into 2026. Five defensive backs are out the door, including both starting safeties in TreShawn Moore and Joenel Figueroa and corners Jalen Burton, Jordan Clark and Carson Yancy, wiping out the back end that helped Steve Englehart's defense finish 19th in points allowed. Stewarts Creek's Omari Bledsoe arrives to compete at corner, but the group's identity will come from the experienced pieces of the secondary left to tighten up that pass defense number rather than any single newcomer.

Tommy Holden hit 12 of 14 field goals with a 49-yard long and 60 points last season, and Reilly Mason averaged 41.1 yards on 44 punts, so West Georgia is replacing its entire kicking operation from the ground up along with long snapper Daniel Meunier. Steve Englehart cannot lean on returning production here, since the specialist spots that produced steady field position and points off the foot are all vacant heading into 2026. Whoever wins the placekicking and punting jobs inherits a real workload after Holden and Mason handled the bulk of it in an 8-3 season.

Collin Hurst at Quarterback

West Georgia lost Davin Wydner and his 1672 yards and 15 touchdowns, and the presumptive answer is Collin Hurst, a Presbyterian transfer whose only listed college stat is two punts. That is not a typo problem so much as a leap-of-faith problem: an 8-3 team with a 146th-ranked signing class and a portal that sent out double the arrivals cannot punt away possession while it figures out what it has under center. If Hurst cannot move this offense at close to Wydner's clip, the margin that got West Georgia to 5-3 in conference evaporates fast.

Bettors, Beware the Bounce-Back Spot

West Georgia went 8-3 straight up but broke exactly even against the number, and the split tells the real story: this was a team that beat inferior competition without covering, then failed to answer adversity at all, going 0-3 against the spread the week after a loss. Road value was real, a 60% cover mark and a 2-1 clip as a road underdog, but line-setters have clearly caught up to Steve Englehart's team at home, where the club covered just 40% of the time, including as a favorite. Against ranked competition the numbers cratered further, 1-2 against the spread, and until the roster turnover settles, the smart read for 2026 is fade this team as a short home favorite and look for spots on the road.