This Saturday the Valdosta State football team will welcome the North Alabama Lions to Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

On Tuesday afternoon, The Valdosta Daily Times held a teleconference with North Alabama head coach Terry Bowden. Here is a scouting report on the UNA Lions:

The Lions enter the contest as the No. 5 seed in Super Region 2, while Valdosta State enters as the sixth seed. The winner will likely secure an NCAA Division II playoff berth, while the loser will likely be sent home with no playoff berth.

“Every year I’ve been here it has been a big game,” Bowden said. “It is big, obviously…Our players know what is at stake.”

UNA stands with a 7-2 record (1-2 in Gulf South Conference play). The Lions started the season with six straight victories, including a victory over Abilene Christian at Cowboys Stadium. When the two teams met, both were ranked inside the top five in the country, according to the American Football Coaches Association Poll. UNA has been ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation, before falling to Delta State on Oct. 13.

The Lions held a 10-point lead in the contest with the Statesmen, however fell 30-24 in overtime.

Following an off week, North Alabama fell to West Alabama in Livingston, Ala., but have since defeated the University of West Georgia, 28-3.

“It was a playoff game for us last week, we fell in overtime and then by five points, back-to-back, and all of sudden we went from being No.1 in the country to needing to win the next game, which was West Georgia,” Bowden said. “So, last week was a back against the wall game, and our kids responded real well.”

While UNA was in the midst of playing UWG last weekend, the VSU Blazers were enjoying a bye week, marking back-to-back years VSU has enjoyed the week off prior to the regular season meeting with the Lions.

“You know we had a bye week for West Alabama and got beat,” Bowden said. “Abilene Christian had a bye week before us and we beat them out in Dallas. At this point, you just say these are the cards that were dealt to us, and we just have to play it.”

The Lions are led, offensively, by quarterback Lee Chapple. Chapple, a two-year starter for the Lions, and a one time Georgia Southern Eagle, is averaging 279.7 yards passing per contest. He has thrown for 19 touchdowns with 10 interceptions on the season, while he is completing 64 percent of his passes.

Chapple has two favorite targets, Mo Milliam and Tristan Purifoy, who have combined for 102 catches for 1,423 yards and 12 touchdown receptions this season.

Defensively, North Alabama lines up in a 4-3 base defense, which features former Georgia Bulldog Marcus Dowtin as the starting linebacker. Dowtin has racked up 85 tackles on the season.

Along with Dowtin, the UNA defense is led by Illinois State transfer Tommie Westbrook and University of Florida transfer Janoris Jenkins, who lines up at cornerback for the Lions.

Jenkins, who was a presumed NFL first round draft pick out of UF in 2011 but chose to return to UF before being kicked out of the institution. On the year, Jenkins has recorded 42 tackles, one interception and two fumble recoveries. Jenkins’ totals could be higher, but offensive units have stayed away from his side of the field.

Altogether, North Alabama has 28 former Division I players on the roster, compared to just six on VSU’s roster.

“I would question how much greater our team is than someone else’s,” Bowden said. “We won the conference once, and we lost it once and we lost it again now this year. We try to recruit who we have the best opportunity to get, and I have a lot of connections in the 1-A circles. I mean, these are mostly backups. Janoris Jenkins was a star, but others didn’t have the opportunity to play. Everyone in this conference has used them.

“Whether you get a Dusty Bonner or a Fabion Walker, or you get seven guys who aren’t half as good as him, at the end of the day the point is to get the one who can be a Cam Newton,” Bowden said. “I don’t worry about what other people say…I don’t have to apologize.”

On Saturday, the UNA defense will have to stop VSU quarterback Cayden Cochran and the Blazer rushing game. According to Bowden, opponents rushing games have hurt the Lions this season. Opposing offenses are averaging 149 yards on the ground.

Bowden also indicated Saturday’s meeting with Valdosta State could be one of the final times the Blazers and Lions could meet, as the Alabama board of regents approved UNA’s move to the Division I-FCS ranks. The move is scheduled to be complete by the end of the 2012-2013 season, if North Alabama can meet all the requirements. If the move is successful, the 2012 meeting would be the final meeting for the two GSC rivals. UNA would become a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.