PRAIRIE VIEW – In what could be one of the most explosive matchups in HBCU football this week, the Prairie View A&M football team (3-5, 2-3 SWAC) welcomes Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-4, 2-3 SWAC) to the Hill for a Southwestern Athletic Conference contest.

Under second year head coach Cedric Thomas, UAPB has been one of the more surprising stories within SWAC football this season, having already achieved its best single-season win total since 2013.  However, the Panthers have designs on ensuring that the Golden Lions don't add to that total this weekend.

Perhaps the chief area of note to watch will be the battle of the trenches. Both Prairie View A&M and UAPB rank among the SWAC's best at protecting and getting after the quarterback. The teams are tied for the fewest amount of sacks given up this season (14), while Prairie View A&M holds a slight edge in sacks generated (22; second-most in SWAC) over UAPB (21; third-most in SWAC).

Additionally, the matchup features the league's top two leading rushers from last season in Prairie View A&M dynamo Dawonya Tucker and UAPB workhorse Taeyler Porter. Both players are putting together all-SWAC type seasons, with Tucker leading the league in rushing yards per game while Porter is third. Both runners have scored 10 touchdowns on the ground, so both sides will look to establish the ground game early.

Prairie View A&M senior quarterback Jalen Morton may be the X-factor for the Panthers in this contest. The dual-threat has posted five games with at least 150 yards passing and 100 yards rushing. If Morton is able to find similar success against an improved Lions' squad, the Panthers may be in good shape to shake off their Oct. 24 setback versus Jackson State.

UAPB isn't without weapons however, as the Panthers are tasked with slowing down quarterback Shannon Patrick, who brings with him one of the league's most productive trio of wide receivers in Harry Ballard III (46 catches, 734 yards, 8 TD), DeJuan Miller (33 catches, 582 yards, 5 TD) and Josh Wilkes (24 catches, 391 yards, 2 TD). The Panthers should be up to the task, fielding the third-ranked pass defense in the conference in terms of yards per game.

Additionally, junior receivers Tony Mullins (27 catches, 528 yards, 6 TD) and Tristen Wallace (32 catches, 417 yards, TD) will put some stress on UAPB's statistically-middling pass defense. Also, the Panthers have seen Kalen Riles (nine catches, 228 yards, 3 TD) and Jared Scott (eight catches, 214 yards, 2 TD) emerge as explosive big-play threats that can take the top off defenses when given the chance.

Defensively, linebacker Tre'Shaud Smith leads the conference in tackles per game (10.0), having made 70 total stops and five sacks with 10.0 tackles for loss. Additionally, Drake Cheatum (57 tackles, 2 INT) and Storey Jackson (48 tackles, 3 sacks) have put together solid campaigns for the Panthers so far this year.

UAPB fields a defense that is statistically, fourth-best in the league in terms of yards allowed per game. Prairie View A&M will be sure to put that unit to the test, as the Panthers have the nation's second-best offense in terms of yards per game.

Prairie View A&M has won six straight meetings over UAPB, scoring 40 or more points in five of those six games. In the teams' 2018 meeting – a 62-13 win for PVAMU – Morton had a night for the ages, accounting for 511 total yards of offense – including a then-school record 255 rushing yards – and six total touchdowns.