Clarksville, TN – On Saturday, September 7th, 2019, the Austin Peay State University (APSU) football team will look to capitalize on last week’s win against North Carolina Central when 18th ranked Central Arkansas visits Fortera Stadium for a 2:00pm matchup.
With a win, the Govs would move to 2-0 for the first time since 2007.
However, they’ll need to go through a Central Arkansas squad that roared back from 21 points down to defeat FBS foe Western Kentucky and vault up in the national rankings.
Saturday is Employee Appreciation Day and is presented by NorthCrest Health. The first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive mini-footballs.
About the Central Arkansas Bears
The Bears return plenty to control the point of attack, with senior running back Carlos Blackman and offensive linemen Hunter Watts and Toby Sanderson, all preseason all-conference; yet, it was the passing of Breylin Smith (20-of-28, 324 yards, 3 TDs) that keyed the Bears attack against Western Kentucky.
Of UCA’s four preseason All-Southland choices on the defensive side of the ball, three are in the secondary; the fourth, Chris Terrell, was dismissed from the team prior to the season. One, Robert Rochell, recorded seven tackles, two pass break-ups and an interception in the opener against Western Kentucky, with his pick leading to the Bears first score and kicking off the comeback.
Last Time Out Against Central Arkansas
The only previous meeting between the two programs came in the opening week of 1975, when the Bears visited Clarksville and escaped with a 14-13 win.
Notably
Central Arkansas is the fourth ranked opponent to visit Fortera Stadium since 2014.
With one more yard on the ground, Jeremiah Oatsvall will become the third quarterback in program history with 1,000 career rushing yards and the first with 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing. He needs 225 passing yards to pass Mark Cunningham (2004-07) for fifth all-time and one rushing score to equal Sonny Defilippis’ career record for Austin Peay State University quarterbacks.
Through one week, the Govs rank fifth in total defense (192.0 ypg) and 10th in total offense (563.0 ypg). Three other programs came out of Week 1 in the national FCS top-10 in both total offense and total defense: consensus No. 1 North Dakota State (against Butler), No. 6 Maine (against Sacred Heart) and a Lamar program which hosted NAIA foe Bethel (Tennessee) in its opener and was an FCS playoff team in 2018.
Trent Taylor needs one more pass break-up to tie Ron Shegog (1984-85) for sixth all-time with 24.
The Govs held the Eagles to 6-for-20 on third down in the opener, including no conversions on their first 10 attempts. North Carolina Central faced third-and-long (more than six yards) on 14 third-down chances, with an average distance of 9.3 yards on third-down opportunities.
Over the last six games, Kentel Williams is averaging 7.1 yards per carry and 8.4 ypc since the start of the 2018 season.
Senior Logan Birchfield has now made four straight kicks dating back to last season and is one PAT away from tying Stephen Stansell for second all-time.
Follow APSU Football Online
Be sure to follow all the Austin Peay football action at LetsGoPeay.com and the official Facebook page of Austin Peay Athletics. In addition, live play-by-play coverage can be found on Twitter (@GovsFB) and PeayStats.com. Live coverage from this weekend will be provided via streaming (ESPN+).
