Chase Dunlap's 34-yard field goal was his first since Oct. 19 against Murray State.
The Govs did not complete a pass until a 16-yarder from Timarious Mitchell to Rashaan Coleman with 12:31 remaining in the second quarter. It was Austin Peay's only first-half completion.
Austin Peay's defense garnered three tackles for loss in a row to snuff out a second-quarter Jacksonville State drive. Sophomore Adam Noble dropped Troymaine Pope for a two-yard loss on first down, senior EnRiques Perry tackled Pope for a one-yard loss on second down and senior Craig Salley drug down Kyle West for a three-yard loss to force the three-and-out.
With sophomore RB Omar Williams' career-high 179 yards, he is the first Governor to rush for 100 yards in consecutive games (122 against UTM) since Wes Kitts in 2012 against Western Kentucky (109) and Virginia Tech (125).
Williams carried the ball 35 times against the Gamecocks, the first Gov since Ryan White against Tennessee Tech, Nov. 19, 2011, to carry the ball at least 30 times in a game.
Williams outgained Jacksonville State, the second-leading rushing squad in the conference, by himself (179 yards to 175 yards).
Freshman linebacker Antonio Turner's 13 tackles was a season-high by a Governor.
Wright Watch: Ben Campbell punted 10 times against Jacksonville State. He's punted 71 times in 2013, 11 behind Grad Wright's 1990 record of 82.
Jacksonville State's second quarter 95-yard interception return was the first interception returned for a touchdown against the Governors since Sept. 14 against Chattanooga.
Today's loss drops the Governors to 0-9 for the first time since 1997.
Kirby Cannon on the loss to JSU:
“We came out and we wanted to be aggressive early.”
“We had a couple of critical mistakes.”
“We don't beat man coverage very well so anytime we get that it is just difficult for us to get somebody off our back.”
ADDRESSING THE INCONSISTENTCY OF THE QB
“We've suffered from that since spring ball. Just the inability to consistently throw the ball accurately on a route.”
“We weren't inventing any plays out there. All those things had been in practice. We have had inaccuracy issues in practice but you have to throw the ball.”
“It starts with the quarterback play on offense and until you gain a certain level of consistency in that, you are not going to consistently move the ball.”
PHYSICALITY OF THE BALLGAME
“It was a physical ballgame. We put a few of theirs down too. I think this time of year kids start to get a timing and a rhythm to striking and a lot of times you'll see physical ballgames as the year goes on.”
“Antonio Turner had several nice contact plays, one of them right on the numbers, and he really showed some nice speed.”
“You want to be physical but you want to make some tackles too, and sometimes we forget that sometimes just hitting hard does a lot towards slowing backs down and getting wide receivers to think twice before they make that great catch.”
YOUNGER PLAYERS ON THE DEFENSIVE SIDE MATURING THROUGH THE COURSE OF THE SEASON
“I think Turner is an outstanding player. He was heavily recruited initially. I'm glad we got him because he's got a great future and still has a lot to learn, but physically he's a special young man.”
“I think from the defensive side we've got a couple defensive backs, Roderick Owens, Damien Whitfield, and Jalen Miller who are freshmen that have good moments and they have some not so good moments. We put them out there today with a lot of man coverage and responsibility, but I think they held their own.”
“We really controlled the d-line today. We made some mistakes in the defensive line that opened up some runs late in the second half.”
“We are trying not to become a gimmicked team on either side of the ball. We want to try to instill sound fundamental schemes that have a chance to run those each week.”
