JACKSONVILLE, Ala.?Austin Peay's football team, after finally gaining its season's first win a week ago, now will try to make it two straight. At the same time, the Governors will attempt to record their first road verdict when it travels to Jacksonville, Ala., 2 p.m., Saturday, to face Jacksonville State.
This will be Austin Peay's first-ever trip to Paul Snow Memorial Stadium. And the Govs will be facing a team picked to win the Ohio Valley Conference in preseason polling.
However, the Gamecocks enter the contest 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the OVC, suffering a disappointing 31-30 road loss at UT Martin. JSU rallied late to score to make it a 31-30 contest. However, the OVC's best kicker, Gavin Hallford, missed an extra point.
Talk about Jacksonville State begins with quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, the former LSU quarterback who was the SEC Championship game's most valuable player last fall. He has completed 134 of 215 passes for 1676 yards and 15 TDs while rushing for another 243 yards. He is the OVC's most dynamic player.
His favorite receiver is Maurice Dupree (38 catches, 17.1 ypc, 9 TDs), who also is game-changing kickoff returner.
Defensively, junior linebacker Alexander Henderson has made a huge impact of late, putting together consecutive 21-tackle performances against UT Martin and Murray State.
The Govs, meanwhile, hope Trent Caffee, the one-time third-string quarterback, can continue his strong play. He was named OVC Offensive Player of the Week after completing 14 of 21 passes for 217 yards and four TDs against Tennessee Tech in APSU's 31-28 victory. Three of those TD passes went to Darryl Miller, who got APSU going with a 75-yard catch and run.
In addition, APSU, 1-7 overall and 1-4 in the OVC, again will need a strong performance from redshirt freshman running back Ryan White, who came off the bench to run 22 times for 185 yards against Tennessee Tech. It was good enough to earn OVC Newcomer of the Week honors. White apparently will get the bulk of this week's carries as well as junior running back Theo Townsend, who recently had taken over the No. 1 tailback duties, is uncertain with a knee injury.
Defensively, junior linebacker Daniel Becker had his season's fourth double-digit tackling performance against the Golden Eagles. He (75 tackles) and Jason Vanatta (68) help anchor the unit along with cornerback Kevis Buckley, who is second in the nation with six interceptions.
-AP-
