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HomeSportsAPSU Governors Football offense sputters in finale loss at Tennessee Tech 34-0

APSU Governors Football offense sputters in finale loss at Tennessee Tech 34-0

Austin Peay State University Governors Sports - APSUCookeville, TN – Austin Peay State University football team suffered its final setback of the 2013 season, falling 34-0 at Tennessee Tech behind three rushing touchdowns from tailback Stephen Bush and 153 yards on the ground by quarterback Darian Stone.

Austin Peay Football.
Austin Peay Football.

The loss concludes the first season of head coach Kirby Cannon’s regime, and signals an end to the Austin Peay careers of 20 Governors.

Bush punched the ball in from a yard out to cap Tennessee Tech’s opening drive, a 13-play, 80-yard march that chewed up more than six minutes of clock. However, it would be the only points Austin Peay allowed in the opening half, with the Govs putting together a series of stops to keep the Golden Eagles out of the end zone.

Tennessee Tech wasted no time getting on the board to start the second half. Bush broke a 42-yard run on the half’s fifth play, cruising untouched into the end zone to give the home side a 14-0 lead.

Austin Peay’s next drive spanned 11 plays and more than five minutes before stalling in Tennessee Tech territory, whereupon the Golden Eagles took over and marched down the field on a 14-play, 66-yard drive of their own that concluded with Bush’s third touchdown run of the day on a one-yard plunge. Chris Harris’ extra point attempt clanked off the upright, making it 20-0 to Tennessee Tech’s advantage.

Bush may have gotten the touchdowns, but Stone was truly the entity that confounded the Governor defense on the day. The Golden Eagle signal-caller gained 153 yards on 24 carries, including a nine-yard scamper for touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Cody Forbes, who was Tennessee Tech’s second-leading rusher on the day with 64 yards on the ground, capped the scoring with a two-yard touchdown run with under three minutes remaining in the contest.

The Govs offense never reached the heights it enjoyed in last week’s matchup against Southeast Missouri. Austin Peay amassed just 186 yards of total offense on the afternoon, with punter Ben Campbell’s third-quarter fake punt rush attempt for 19 yards standing as the Govs longest play from scrimmage against the Golden Eagles.

Junior quarterback Andrew Spivey finished 9-for-19 for 68 yards in his first start since October 10th. Four of his passes were secured by junior Hunter Branch, who led the Govs with four catches for 33 yards.

A pair of young linebackers stood out on the Govs defense, with A.J. Gray and Antonio Turner both totaling 13 tackles. Freshman safety Jalen Miller was the Govs third-leading tackler with a career-high nine stops.

Campbell cemented his place in Austin Peay lore Saturday, punting six times to end his season with 87 punts, breaking Grad Wright’s 1990 record of 82.

Austin Peay finishes 0-12, the fifth winless season in program history and the first featuring 12 losses. Tennessee Tech moves to 5-7 overall, 2-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Box Score

Austin Peay (0-12,0-8) vs. Tennessee Tech (5-7,2-6)
November 23rd, 2013 | Cookeville, TN | Tucker Stadium | Attendance: 4110

1 2 3 4 Final
Austin Peay 0 0 0 0 0
Tennessee Tech 7 0 13 14 34

 

SCORING SUMMARY APSU -TTU
1st 02:51 TTU BUSH, Stephen 1 yd run (HARRIS, Chris kick)
13 plays, 80 yards, TOP 6:16 0 – 7
3rd 12:57 TTU BUSH, Stephen 42 yd run (HARRIS, Chris kick)
5 plays, 61 yards, TOP 1:53 0 – 14
01:13 TTU BUSH, Stephen 1 yd run (HARRIS, Chris kick failed)
14 plays, 66 yards, TOP 6:15 0 – 20
4th 11:02 TTU STONE,Darian 9 yd run (HARRIS, Chris kick)
6 plays, 79 yards, TOP 2:59 0 – 27
02:56 TTU FORBES, Cody 2 yd run (HARRIS, Chris kick)
11 plays, 71 yards, TOP 6:26 0 – 34

 

 

Kickoff time: 1:32 pm • End of Game: 4:13 pm • Total elapsed time: 2:41Temperature: mid 40s • Wind: 14 mph • Weather: Cloudy, wet, frigid

Team Statistics

Team Totals APSU TTU
FIRST DOWNS 12 21
Rushing 7 14
Passing 5 4
Penalty 0 3
NET YARDS RUSHING 114 284
Rushing Attempts 38 54
Average Per Rush 3.0 5.3
Rushing Touchdowns 0 5
Yards Gained Rushing 146 300
Yards Lost Rushing 32 16
NET YARDS PASSING 72 118
Completions-Attempts-Int 10-22-1 9-15-0
Average Per Attempt 3.3 7.9
Average Per Completion 7.2 13.1
Passing Touchdowns 0 0
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS 186 402
Total offense plays 60 69
Average Gain Per Play 3.1 5.8
Fumbles: Number-Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties: Number-Yards 9-71 8-60
PUNTS-YARDS 6-244 3-138
Average Yards Per Punt 40.7 46.0
Net Yards Per Punt 41.2 46.0
Inside 20 1 2
50+ Yards 1 1
Touchbacks 0 0
Fair catch 1 1
KICKOFFS-YARDS 1-46 6-321
Average Yards Per Kickoff 46.0 53.5
Net Yards Per Kickoff 26.0 38.7
Touchbacks 0 2
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD 0-0-0 1–3-0
Average Per Return 0.0 -3.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 4-39-0 1-20-0
Average Per Return 9.8 20.0
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD 0-0-0 1-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards 0 0
Possession Time 29:29 30:31
1st Quarter 8:07 6:53
2nd Quarter 9:07 5:53
3rd Quarter 6:42 8:18
4th Quarter 5:33 9:27
Third-Down Conversions 4 of 15 9 of 15
Fourth-Down Conversions 2 of 4 1 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances 0-0 4-4
Touchdowns 0-0 4-4
Field goals 0-0 0-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards 1-4 3-17
PAT Kicks 0-0 4-5
Field Goals 0-0 0-0
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