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HomeSportsAPSU Governors Football loses 41-15 to Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Saturday

APSU Governors Football loses 41-15 to Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Saturday

Austin Peay Sports Information

Austin Peay State University Governors - APSUClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University football team hung tough with Tennessee Tech for 30 minutes, but the visitors pulled away in the second half of a 41-15 season-ending loss, Saturday, at Governors Stadium.

Austin Peay Football closes 2014 season with 41-15 loss to Tennessee Tech at Governors Stadium. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Football closes 2014 season with 41-15 loss to Tennessee Tech at Governors Stadium. (APSU Sports Information)

Despite strong showings from a pair of freshmen – Otis Gerron finished with 114 yards on 24 carries for his third career 100-yard game and Wesley Thomas broke the 100-yard mark for the first time in his career with a six-catch, 141-yard performance – Austin Peay was done in by allowing more than 500 yards offense to the Golden Eagles and leaving the red zone twice with no points.

The Govs fell into an early 10-0 hole after allowing Tennessee Tech to march quickly down the field on the opening drive, culminating in a 5-yard double-reverse pass play from Brock McCoin to quarterback Darian Stone, who slipped behind the Govs secondary to cap a nine-play, 68-yard drive.

APSU's Otis GerronAfter a quick three-and-out, the Golden Eagles marched 74 yards in six plays to add a 20-yard field goal from John Arnold to make it a two-score game.

Fortune favored the Govs after Ladarius Vanlier muffed a punt that was recovered by David Wall on the Tennessee Tech 16. Freshman Dakota Vincil kicked a 28-yard field goal four plays later to put the Govs on the board.

A Tennessee Tech fumble on the next Golden Eagle possession was recovered by senior Johnathan Shuler, and the Govs went up top on the next play, with junior Trey Taylor finding freshman Wesley Thomas behind the defense for 80 yards and the equalizing score. It was the Govs longest pass play since 2011 and knotted the game at 10.

APSU's Trey TaylorThe Golden Eagles pulled back in front after Isaiah McKinney rumbled in on a nine-yard touchdown run to cap an eight-play, 75-yard drive. Vincil ended the first-half scoring with a 20-yard field goal to close the gap to 17-13.

Cody Matthews scored twice in the third quarter to widen the deficit. Jared Davis hit him for 15 yards at the 6:47 mark and from Stone for 16 yards on the next possession. He finished with 10 catches for 171 yards and two scores.

Arnold hit another 24-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it a three-score game. After the Govs were stonewalled on fourth-and-goal after a 10-play, 65-yard drive, senior Nii Lartey took down Willie Davis in the end zone for a safety – the first safety earned by the Govs defense since 2012.

In his final game, Lartey was a monster for the Govs. The Loganville, GA, native finished with 12 tackles (seven solo) and three tackles for loss – all career highs – in his Senior Day swan song.

“We were getting pressure, but not fast enough,” he said. “This program is in great hands with Coach Cannon and the staff. It feels good to know I was part of the rebuilding stage.”

APSU's Ben CampbellVanlier capped the scoring with an 84-yard run mid-way through the fourth quarter. Notably, senior punter Ben Campbell made a piece of OVC history, equaling the OVC single-season record with his 94th punt of 2014.

Putting a bow on 2014, Cannon was optimistic for the future.

“This program is in good shape right now,” he said. “Our freshman class is full of OVC-level players. We’ve got a disciplined team that gives great effort in everything they do. Now we’ve got to get to the next step, where performance and production becomes the next goal.”

Box Score

Austin Peay (1-11 , 1-7) vs. Tennessee Tech (5-7 , 4-4)

1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Tennessee Tech 10 7 14 10 41
Austin Peay 10 3 0 2 15

 

 

Qtr Time Scoring Play TTU APSU
1st 11:26 TTU – STONE, Darian 5 yd pass from McCOIN, Brock (ARNOLD, John kick ) 9 plays, 68 yards, TOP 3:34
7
0
1st 08:42 TTU – ARNOLD, John 20 yd field goal 6 plays, 74 yards, TOP 1:22
10
0
1st 06:08 APSU – VINCIL, Dakota 28 yd field goal 4 plays, 4 yards, TOP 1:19
10
3
1st 02:03 APSU – THOMAS, Wesley 80 yd pass from TAYLOR, Trey (VINCIL, Dakota kick ) 1 plays, 80 yards, TOP 0:11
10
10
2nd 14:11 TTU – McKINNEY, Isaia 9 yd run (ARNOLD, John kick ), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:47
17
10
2nd 00:42 APSU – VINCIL, Dakota 20 yd field goal 9 plays, 92 yards, TOP 2:55
17
13
3rd 06:47 TTU – MATTHEWS, Cody 15 yd pass from DAVIS, Jared (ARNOLD, John kick ) 6 plays, 52 yards, TOP 3:28
24
13
3rd 02:52 TTU – MATTHEWS, Cody 16 yd pass from STONE, Darian (ARNOLD, John kick ) 5 plays, 44 yards, TOP 2:44
31
13
4th 14:55 TTU – ARNOLD, John 24 yd field goal 5 plays, 24 yards, TOP 1:44
34
13
4th 09:42 APSU – LARTEY, Nii 1 yd safety
34
15
4th 06:21 TTU – VANLIER, Ladari 84 yd run (ARNOLD, John kick ), 2 plays, 80 yards, TOP 0:50
41
15

 

 

TTU APSU
FIRST DOWNS 23 20
Rushing 8 10
Passing 13 9
Penalty 2 1
NET YARDS RUSHING 284 174
Rushing Attempts 39 42
Average Per Rush 7.3 4.1
Rushing Touchdowns 2 0
Yards Gained Rushing 303 191
Yards Lost Rushing 19 17
NET YARDS PASSING 258 257
Completions-Attempts-Int 21-24-0 19-37-0
Average Per Attempt 10.8 6.9
Average Per Completion 12.3 13.5
Passing Touchdowns 3 1
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS 542 431
Total offense plays 63 79
Average Gain Per Play 8.6 5.5
Fumbles: Number-Lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties: Number-Yards 7-46 4-33
PUNTS-YARDS 3-130 7-221
Average Yards Per Punt 43.3 31.6
Inside 20 2 1
50+ Yards 0 0
Touchbacks 0 0
Fair catch 2 2
KICKOFFS-YARDS 9 – 539 4 – 220
Average Yards Per Kickoff 59.9 55.0
Touchbacks 3 0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD 3-1-0 1-5-0
Average Per Return 0.3 5.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 4-69-0 5-101-0
Average Per Return 17.3 20.2
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD 0-0-0 0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards 0 0
Possession Time 29:23 30:37
Third-Down Conversions 6 of 11 6 of 18
Fourth-Down Conversions 0 of 0 0 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances 6-7 2-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards 1 – 10 0 – 0
PAT Kicks 5-5 1-1
Field Goals 2-2 2-2
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