46.3 F
Clarksville
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeSportsAPSU Governors Football travels to Cookeville to take on Tennessee Tech Golden...

APSU Governors Football travels to Cookeville to take on Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles

Austin Peay vs. Tennessee Tech

Saturday, November 14th, 2015 | 1:30pm CT
Cookeville, TN | Tucker Stadium

Austin Peay State University Governors - APSUClarksville, TN – For the final time in 2015, Austin Peay State University football team takes the field Saturday, traveling to Tennessee Tech for a 1:30pm kickoff at Tucker Stadium.

Austin Peay hopes to end 2015 on a high note against a two-win Tennessee Tech squad that has lost five straight (average deficit: 25.2 points) since a two-game winning streak in late September.

Austin Peay Football plays Tennessee Tech to end the season Saturday.
Austin Peay Football plays Tennessee Tech to end the season Saturday.

But it will be a tall order for APSU to end the nation’s longest road losing streak (36 games)—the Govs have not beaten Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, TN since 2007.

The Governors trailed by six with under a minute to go in the first half of the home finale against Southeast Missouri last week, but a Ryan McCrum field goal as the first-half clock ran out was the first of 23 unanswered points for the visitors in a 44-15 victory.

When starting quarterback Timarious Mitchell was knocked out of the game, Austin Peay’s offense had a hard time moving the football, accruing just 37 total yards after his departure.

As Austin Peay’s defense has improved in recent weeks, Devon Jones‘ role in it has developed as well. A stalwart in the lineup since the Vanderbilt game, Jones has four games with eight or more tackles in his last seven outings, including a career-best 12 tackles (2.5 for loss) and a sack last week against Southeast Missouri.

For the first time in a month, Tennessee Tech finds itself at home, fresh off a bye week, for Homecoming. In that time, the Golden Eagles appear a little healthier—healthy enough, at least, to where wide receiver Brock McCoin won’t have to line up under center again.

With Jared Davis and Colby Brown unavailable due to injury, McCoin stepped up as the quarterback two weeks ago against Southeast Missouri, going 13-for-27 for 192 yards and rushing 27 times for 96 more. He’ll line up out wide against the Govs needing seven catches and 176 receiving yards to break the school single-season record in both categories.

Aside from the lack of experienced quarterback play, three turnovers didn’t help the Golden Eagles in their last outing against Southeast Missouri, October 31st. Tennessee Tech actually outgained the Redhawks (374 yards to 360), but Southeast Missouri enjoyed a 6.3 yards per play advantage and sacked McCoin seven times on the day.

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles

Tennessee Tech Golden EaglesDavis looks to shake off the rust under center—the Manchester, Tennessee native has thrown for 1132 yards in six games this season, but injuries and ineffectiveness limited him to a 9-for-40 showing against UT Martin (October 3rd) and Eastern Illinois (October 24th).

On the other side of the ball, Tra’Darius Goff leads the conference with 106 tackles—the only OVC defender to reach triple digits with two weeks to go in the regular season—while Maleek Hall (1 INT, 14 pass break-ups) leads the OVC with 15 passes defended.

Last Time Out Against Tennessee Tech

Tied at 10 after the first quarter, the Golden Eagles outscored Austin Peay 31-5 over the final three quarters in the Governors 2014 Senior Day contest. Not even a banner day from Wesley Thomas (six catches, 141 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown reception) could offset the damage caused by Darian Stone (15-for-18, 186 yards through the air and 17 carries for 130 on the ground) and Ladarius Vanlier (153 all-purpose yards on 14 touches).

In his final appearance as a Governor, Nii Lartey posted a dozen tackles (3.0 for loss). Roderick Owens broke up two passes in last season’s edition—if he repeats that performance against the Golden Eagles, he would reach double-digits in pass break-ups for the first time in his career.

Keep An Eye On

  • After Logan Birchfield‘s field goal on the opening drive against TSU, the Governors came back the following week with a touchdown drive on their first possession against Southeast Missouri; the last time APSU scored on opening drives of back-to-back games was October 22nd-29th, 2011 against Southeast Missouri and Eastern Illinois.
  • Devon Jones‘ career-day against Southeast Missouri in the home finale doubled as the finest individual defensive performance by a Governor in 2015. The sophomore posted career-highs in tackles (12) and tackles for loss (2.5), both most by an individual Gov in 2015. He’s the only APSU player with multiple double-digit tackling performances in 2015–against the Redhawks and at EKU.
  • Austin Peay has struggled in the last four minutes of the first half, giving up at least one score during that time frame in each of its last six contests. The Govs have been outscored 74-6 during the final four minutes of the half over the last seven games; Logan Birchfield‘s field goal as time expired on the first half clock against Tennessee State was the Governors first points during that stretch.
  • A loss for Austin Peay would be a third straight to the Golden Eagles, and mark the second time in three seasons Austin Peay would finish a season without a victory.
  • The Governors have just two victories in Cookeville in the last 20 seasons–a 30-27 win in 2007 and a 20-17 victory in 1995.
  • After Nicholls State defeated Houston Baptist, 38-17, October 17th, and New Mexico State won against Idaho two Saturday’s ago, Austin Peay’s 15-game losing streak is the longest in the nation, three more than FBS Kansas and one more than FCS Delaware State.
  • With 150 passing yards, Trey Taylor would become the first Governor to reach 1,000 passing yards in a season since Jake Ryan (2,104 yards) in 2012.
  • Jared Beard needs seven catches and 34 yards for a 50-catch, 500-yard season—he would be the first Governor to hit either benchmark since Devin Stark (67 catches, 774 yards) in 2012.

Govs Online

Check back at LetsGoPeay.com and on Austin Peay’s Official Athletics Facebook page often for up-to-date news about all Governor athletics, as well as the Governors football Twitter page (@AustinPeayFB). Live stats will be available during the game at www.LetsGoPeay.com, and all home games and Ohio Valley Conference games can be viewed on www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com

Postgame video interviews and other videos from around APSU Athletics can be found on our YouTube page (www.youtube.com/CultureofExcellence).

RELATED ARTICLES

Latest Articles