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Austin Peay to play Vanderbilt in football for the first time in 2013

APSU Governors LogoAustin Peay State University’s football team will play Vanderbilt for the first time, Aug. 31, 2013, when the Governors travel to Nashville to face the Commodores in Vanderbilt Stadium for the season opener.

It also will be the first time Austin Peay will play a Southeastern Conference opponent in football. 

“It is an exciting time for Austin Peay to play an SEC team and to play one in Vanderbilt that is so close to us,” APSU coach Rick Christophel said. “We appreciate the administration and coaching staff at Vanderbilt for providing us the opportunity. It creates great local and regional interest, hopefully, for fans of both teams. I know this will provide excitement to our fan base and would think we will travel well. I know it is still a few years down the road but it is definitely something to look forward to.”

It will be a homecoming of sorts for Christophel, who served as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach from 1986-90 under Watson Brown at Vanderbilt.

Rick Christophel - Photo Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information
Rick Christophel - Photo Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information

“Vanderbilt was a great place for us,” he said. “It is located in a great city. We spent a lot of good hours at Vanderbilt. It is very well-known place. They do a great job there. Coach (Bobby) Johnson does it the right way. They do everything they can to win football games and they do an excellent job of recruiting, not only developing kids that go on to play professionally but are successful in life.

“That was the difference when we were coaching there—seeing them succeed as football players but also seeing so many go on to other things and being successful in doing those things.”

Over the years, Austin Peay and Vanderbilt have competed against each other in multiple sports, in particular basketball and baseball.  But this will be first time on the gridiron. 

This is the second time in the last eight months Austin Peay has announced it will be playing a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) opponent.  In fact, last October it was announced APSU would play its first BCS opponent in history this fall when the Governors face Big 10-power Wisconsin, Sept. 25, in Madison, Wis.

In addition, to the BCS conference schools, the Governors also are to play longtime rival Middle Tennessee during the season’s second week (Sept. 11) in Murfreesboro. APSU has not played a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team since the Governors lost at Troy, 41-3, in the 2002 season. APSU has not played a FBS program as a scholarship program since it lost to Arkansas State in 1996.

The Governors also are set to play Memphis, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 17, 2011, and will travel to Ohio in 2013. APSU is working to play other guarantee games against FBS opponents in the future but is excited it has been able to schedule some of those guarantee games against regional teams.

“We have been fortunate to work out games with some of the schools in the region that should help generate interest among our fans,” Christophel said, “and allow the families of our players to go see the games at a relatively low cost.  But it also helps our situation where we can go with relative ease, with not a lot of travel expenses.

“It also helps us to play teams in the area and the region from a recruiting standpoint. We recruit kids from those areas and they can see what this program is about, what we are building here.”

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