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Austin Peay Governors Football head to Alabama to take on Jacksonville State Saturday

Austin Peay vs. Jacksonville State

November 10th, 2012 • 3:00pm (CT)
Jacksonville, AL • JSU Stadium (24,000)

Austin Peay State University GovernorsJacksonville, AL – With one not-so-pleasant streak behind it, Austin Peay’s football team will seek to put an end to a couple other negative streaks this week when the Governors play at Jacksonville State, 3:00pm, Saturday.

Austin Peay Governors Football.
Austin Peay Governors Football.

The Governors snapped a 10-game losing streak when it defeated Culver Stockton, 56-0, last Saturday. They enter this contest having lost 12 straight Ohio Valley Conference games, including 10 straight league road encounters. In total, the Govs have lost 15 straight road contests, dating back to September 18th, 2010, when APSU downed Tennessee State, 26-23, in Nashville, TN.

With a victory under their collective belts, the Governors now will face a JSU team reeling from a 49-47 loss at UT Martin, a game that saw the Gamecocks nearly make an epic comeback. The visitors trailed 28-7 in the first quarter and actually tied the score at 35 all.

However, UT Martin regained the lead twice more and then with 41 seconds left in the game, JSU scored on Washaun Ealey’s short TD run, slicing the deficit to 49-47. But the two-point conversion failed and the first-place Skyhawks were able to hold on.

In that game, senior receiver Alan Bonner tied an OVC record and set the JSU school record with a five-TD performance against UT Martin. He finished with 10 catches for a career-high 235 receiving yards

Quarterback Marques Ivory threw six TD passes against UT Martin and has completed 128 of 226 passes for 1801 yards on the season.

Former Georgia running back Washaun Ealey has rushed for 638 yards. Fellow back DaMarcus James has 688 yards rushing, averaging 5.9 yards per carry.

On the flip side, sophomore defensive back Rashod Byers finished with a career-high 15 tackles, including seven solo stops, and one tackle for loss against UT Martin. However, it is linebackers Ben Endress and Rashad Smith who lead the team in tackles for the season with 70 stops each.

Defensive tackle DiMetrio Tyson has 6.5 tackles for loss, including three quarterback sacks.

The Governors, meanwhile, finished with 447 yards total offense against Culver-Stocktom, with 378 of it coming on the ground. Sophomore running back Ean Pemberton became the third Gov to rush for more than 100 yards a 112-yard performance on eight carries.

The overmatched Wildcats were held to just 41 yards total offense.

Scouting Jacksonville State

  • Senior receiver Alan Bonner tied an OVC record and set the JSU school record with a five-TD performance against UT Martin. He finished with 10 catches for a career-high 235 receiving yards
  • Quarterback Marques Ivory threw six TD passes against UT Martin and has completed 128 of 226 passes for 1801 yards on the season.
  • Former Georgia running back Washaun Ealey has rushed for 638 yards.
  • Running back DaMarcus James has run for 688 yards, averaging 5.9 yards per carry.
  • Sophomore defensive back Rashod Byers finished with a career-high 15 tackles, including seven solo stops, and one tackle for loss against UT Martin.
  • Defensive tackle DiMetrio Tyson has 6.5 tackles for loss, including three quarterbacks sacks.
    Linebackers Ben Endress and Rashad Smith each have 70 stops on the season.

Offensive Notes

Jake RyanAustin Peay enters the game with a streak of scoring in 81 straight games. The last time APSU was shutout was by Drake, 54-0, September 24th, 2005.

APSU finished the 2011 season ranked 13th in the FCS in sacks allowed per game (1.0). It was the second straight year the Governors were ranked in the Top 15 in fewest sacks allowed per game. They were 8th in 2010. However, with a revamped offensive line in the season opener, senior quarterback Jake Ryan was pressured constantly, being sacked twice. Since then he has been sacked just seven times. The Govs are tied for 12th nationally in sacks allowed (1.0 avg./game) this season.

In the last six games, Govs senior quarterback Jake Ryan 96 of 162 passes (59.2 percent) for 976 yards with nine TD passes and just two interceptions.

With his 38 pass attempts against Southeast Missouri, Jake Ryan moved pass Brian Baker for second place behind Jesse Kellogg for most career pass attempts with 848. Kellogg (2001-05) had 1063 attempts during APSU’s non-scholarship era.

Ean PembertonEan Pemberton and Terrence Oliver each scored two rushing touchdowns against Culver-Stockton, becoming the first Austin Peay duo to score two rushing touchdowns in the same game since Rafael Hill and Kenneth Ellison did it against Davidson, October 25th, 2003.

By defeating Culver-Stockton 56-0, the Govs scored 50 points in a game for the first time since defeating Kentucky Wesleyan 59-7, October 20th, 2001.

When Ean Pemberton rushed eight times for 112 yards against Culver-Stockton he became the third Governor to rush for 100 single-game yards this season following Wesley Kitts (three times) and Reco Williams (twice).

Reco WilliamsBefore missing the Culver-Stockton game with an injury, redshirt freshman Reco Williams has produced a pair of 100-yard rushing efforts in three games in the regular rotation.

He had 110 yards against Murray State and then had an APSU season-best 133 yards on 22 carries against SEMO.

Defensive Notes

Craig SalleyIn defeating Culver-Stockton 56-0, Austin Peay held an opponent scoreless for the first time since November 5th, 2011, in a 40-0 victory against Central State.

Junior linebacker Craig Salley leads the Govs in tackles with 60, followed by safety Johnathan Shuler and linebacker Josh Carroll at 55 apiece.

Sophomore free safety Johnathan Shuler set a team season-high with 19 tackles against Southeast Missouri. He was the first Governor to record 19 or more tackles since Daniel Becker, September 15th, 2007, against Tennessee State.

Freshman defensive end Corey Teague recorded his first career interception while also recording a sack at Eastern Kentucky.

Earnest SmithJunior linebacker Craig Salley, a former walk-on, recorded his career’s first double-digit tackle performance with 11 against Tennessee State, including 10 solo stops.

Junior defensive end Earnest Smith produced his career’s best performance against Virginia Tech. Smith finished with eight tackles, including a sack of Logan Thomas. He also was credited with another tackle for loss along with forcing a fumble.

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