Tennesse State Tigers silence Austin Peay Governors Football in second half to win 34-14

APSU Sports: Austin Peay Football

Nashville, TN – Michael German threw for 203 second-half yards and two touchdowns to lead Tennessee State to a 34-14 season-opening Ohio Conference victory, Saturday afternoon, in the first game played at Hale Stadium since 1998.

The game also was the first of Sergeant York Trophy series-one of only two traveling trophy series in the country. The four Tennessee OVC schools compete for the trophy.

APSU led 14-9 at halftime but it was all TSU in the second half. In fact, the Tigers limited the Governors to just three third-quarter yards and in the process turned around the game’s momentum.

In fact, the Tigers scored on its first possession of the third quarter to take the lead, using a 15-yard penalty to help set up the score.

Penalties, in fact, led to the Govs’ undoing. They were penalized 10 times for 120 yards and the penalties contributed to both the first two second-half scoring drives. The second TD, early in the fourth quarter, allowed the Tigers to gain game’s control.

German finished the game 27 of 36 for 318 yards and three TDs. His favorite target, Travis James, had nine catches for 109 yards and a TD.

As good as James was he took a backseat to APSU senior Devin Stark, who had nine catches for 124 yards and two TDs, both in the first half.

In the first half, the Govs relied on the running of Wesley Kitts, the passing combo of Jake Ryan-to-Stark and a stubborn defensive front that would not allow the Tigers to establish their running game. Kitts got the Govs going early with a 44-yard run.

Although penalties and a sack prevented the Govs from scoring, it allowed APSU to establish field position. After TSU was unable to move the ball a second straight possession, it helped set up APSU’s first TD drive along with a roughing-the-punter against TSU.

The 10-play 63-yard drive was culminated on a spectacular one-handed 20-yard catch in the right corner of the end zone to put APSU up, 7-0, with 5:12 left in the half.

TSU responded by driving 49 yards in 11 plays, settling for a Jamin Godfrey 43-yard field goal.

Later in the quarter, TSU took advantage of a APSU personal foul penalty to set up a Michael German to Travis James 27-yard scoring play to put TSU up 9-7 after Godfrey had his extra point clank off the left upright.

However,  the Govs came right back with their season’s best drive, going 75 yards on 12 plays as they mixed four runs with seven pass completions, three to Stark. The last one was in the end zone to give APSU a 14-9 lead, an advantage it took into intermission.

APSU outgained TSU 204-133 in the opening half, but it was a 301-164 second-half advantage for the Tigers.  The second-half dominance also was reflected in time of possession. After both teams held the ball 15 minutes apiece in the first half, TSU held a 19:25 to 10:35 advantage in the final half.

APSU did not force a turnover during the day while TSU came away with two Ryan interceptions.

APSU Post-Game Notes

• This is Austin Peay’s 40th Ohio Valley Conference season. The Govs are 95-178-2 all-time in OVC play, including 10-30 in OVC openers. The Govs lost their first OVC in three years with Saturday’s loss to Tennessee State.
• APSU saw its three-game winning streak end against Tennessee State.
• In dropping the 34-14 decision, the Govs lost the opener of the 2012 Sergeant York Trophy series.
• This was the Govs first game at Hale Stadium since October 26th, 1996. The Govs remain winless in “The Hole” at 0-5.
• Saturday’s game was the first since Austin Peay rejoined the OVC in 2007 that wasn’t decided by three points or less.
• For a third straight week APSU played a team where opposing head coaches were alums of their respective schools. Rick Christophel played for APSU (1971-74) while Rod Reed (1984-88) played for Tennessee State.
• With a 12-yard first-quarter pass reception, Devin Stark reached the 1,000-career pass reception yard mark in his career. He becomes only the 13th receiver in school history with 1,000 receiving yards.
• Stark followed up his 1,000 receiving yards with a spectacular one-handed 20-yard TD catch in the right corner of the end zone.
• The OVC’s second-leading rusher, TSU’s Trabis Ward, was held to eight yards on seven carries in the first quarter. He finished with 49 yards on 21 carries while the OVC’s fourth-leading rusher, Wesley Kitts ended with 91 yards on 16 carries.
• When TSU’s Travis James caught a 27-yard, second-quarter TD pass against APSU, it was the seventh TD pass allowed by the Govs this season. They allowed two more TD passes in the contest.
• Jake Ryan not only had more passing yards in the first half than he had all last week, those 114 yards were more than he had  combined (73) in the first two games.
• Stark finished the first half with six catches for 92 yards and two TDs-both APSU scores, one a 20-yard score and the other a seven yarder. He ended the game with nine catches for 124 yards, his second 100-yard receiving game of his career.
• The Governors were charged with 75 yards in penalties in the first half. They had more than 100 after three quarters and finished with 120 yards on 10 penalties. The two teams combined for 20 penalties for 216 yards.
• Austin Peay totaled just three yards in the third quarter.
• Attendance of 14, 264 was one of the top 20 crowds in Hale Stadium history.
• After the two teams split 50-50 (15 minutes apiece) on time of possession in the first half, TSU held a commanding 19:25 to 10:35 advantage in the second half.
• APSU now has allowed 906 passing yards in three games.

Box Score

Austin Peay (0-3,0-1) vs. Tennessee State (3-0,1-0)

Date: September 15th, 2012 • Site: Nashville, Tennessee
Stadium: Hale Stadium • Attendance: 14264

Team Statistics

Individual Statistics