The Unexpected Contender: How West Georgia Is Poised to Shake Up the FCS in 2026

Englehart’s hiring has paved the way for an influx of talent at UWG. Ten former Presbyterian players followed him to West Georgia and perhaps the most notable of them is junior quarterback Collin Hurst. Hurst has been excellent, throwing for over 5,000 yards over the last two seasons and was named the Pioneer League’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2024. He completed 68% of his passes last year and finished with the seventh highest QB rating among FCS quarterbacks.

The addition of Hurst is huge but is also far form the only noteworthy one, even in that room. Ex-South Dakota State backup Luke Marble also joined the team and is expected to at least compete for the starting job. Marble appeared in six games for SDSU last year as a redshirt freshman in the wake of Chase Mason’s injury. He threw for 492 yards and four touchdowns.

Running back Justin Montgomery is another big get that West Georgia was able to lure away from Presbyterian. He ran for 744 yards and seven scores in 2025 and was named to the All-Pioneer League Second Team. Him, along with a handful of fresh faces on the offensive line including senior Freddie Pelling (Campbell), sophomore Warren Sandbothe (Davidson) and redshirt freshman Austin Powell (Mississippi Valley State) should all help reinforce the offense.

Defensively the Wolves made some splash moves as well and again they come largely from Presbyterian. Linebacker Michael Torres registered 74 tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles last season and now will feature on the UWG defense as a senior. So too will fellow senior Malik Lewis who is expected to fill into a safety role. With the Blue Hose last year he had 59 stops, a PBU and a pair of fumble recoveries.