The University of West Georgia football team will face a tall challenge when it visits North Alabama, the No. 3 team in the country, for today’s 7 p.m. Gulf South Conference contest.

The Lions have some new faces, as former Auburn coach Terry Bowden is the first-year UNA coach, and former ACC players Harrison Beck and Preston Parker are two of the offensive leaders.

Beck, a former backup quarterback at N.C. State, leads the Lion offense, with a 62.6-percent completion rate, 130.12 passer rating, 916 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, two rushing scores and three interceptions. Parker, who was kicked off Florida State’s team earlier this year after a DUI, leads all North Alabama receivers and is second in the Gulf South Conference with 269 receiving yards this season and has one score.

What hasn’t changed, Wolves coach Daryl Dickey said, is the strength of the Lions (3-0).

“I think they’re every bit as good as the team they had last year and every bit as good as any team that we’ll play this year,” Dickey said.

He said one of the most concerning things is how many different types of problems UNA can cause opponents.

“They’re extremely physical and talented on the defense with, you know, a lot of athletes. And they’ve got a pretty complicated scheme,” Dickey said. “They’ve got it all put together there offensively, got a good quarterback and a lot of good, skilled athletes. So they put a lot of pressure on you in a lot of different ways.”

Sean Gray will start his first game at quarterback for UWG (0-3) this season after sitting out the first three as the NCAA clarified his eligibility, but Dickey is concerned about the offensive line in front of him.

“It’s great to have Sean back. I wish I had the pieces that, you know, we started the year with. But right now we’re going to have a new center, a new right guard and a new right tackle going into the ball game,” Dickey said. “So, you know, we’re kind of patched together in a lot of different spots.”

Wolves sophomore running back Yusuf Holloway is second in the GSC with 87.7 rushing yards per game, but Dickey knows he’ll need more help going forward. Freshman receiver Malcolm Johnson may be beginning to step into that role, as he has nine receptions for 136 yards and a score this season, including a highlight-reel 47-yard play that set up a score in the home opener against Lambuth on Sept. 5.

“In this conference, you’ve got to have multiple weapons, and Malcolm is one that is trying to grow up and make some plays on the outside,” Dickey said. “That’ll be a big challenge versus their coverages, you know, which are man-to-man coverages.”

But more than anything right now, Dickey is just hoping his team can get healthy.

“The injury-bug has just been devastating to us this year, and we’re struggling finding consistency with the people that are on the field only because we’re having troubles keeping the same groups on the field for long periods of time,” Dickey said. “So it’s been a really difficult year as far as that goes. We had a young football team going in that needed to be able to stay healthy, and it’s just not been the case for us.”