CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - 373 days. That was how many days since Austin Peay State University's last football victory entering Saturday night.

That all changed when the Governors, using three Jake Ryan-to-Devin Stark touchdown passes, defeated Eastern Kentucky, 23-17, to snap an 10-game losing streak along with a seven-game Ohio Valley Conference losing streak.

The victory pushed the Govs to 1-2 overall while Eastern Kentucky fell to 1-3. It was the OVC opener for both clubs-Eastern Kentucky was picked third in the OVC preseason poll while the Governors were picked ninth. 

The Governors snapped a 22-game losing streak to Eastern Kentucky two years ago when the Colonels visited Governors Stadium. Saturday's victory represented not only the first time in APSU history they defeated EKU two straight times at home, but it was as well their first home OVC win since defeating Tennessee State, Nov. 14, 2009.

And it was the spectacular play of junior wide receiver Stark, who became the first Govs receiver since Darryl Miller against Tennessee Tech in 2008 to have three TD grabs. And they weren't just any catches.

The first came with 7:11 left in the first quarter with a diving finger tip snare in the end zone.  That gave Austin Peay its first lead of the season, 7-0.

The second came just prior to halftime to return the momentum Govs just minutes before when EKU took a 10-9 lead on a T.J. Prior pass to Tyrone Goard. Stark leaped into the right corner of the end zone over All-OVC defensive back Jeremy Caldwell to allow the Governors to take a 16-10 halftime lead-their first advantage at intermission this season.

The third scoring reception proved to be the game winner, that occurring in the third quarter on their first possession. The 11-play, 76-yard drive concluded with the Govs, facing a third-and-four from the EKU 11, saw Stark turn around cornerback Justin Bell in the left corner of the end zone with Ryan dropping the pass into the 6-4 receiver's hands.

Although Stark was key to the Govs victory so was the running of senior tailback Ryan White, who finished with 132 yards rushing on 27 carries. The Nashville native was instrumental in the second half when his runs help not only grind up crucial yardage from a field-advantage standpoint but precious seconds as well.

In addition, the Governors much-maligned defense entering the game picked off its season's first two passes (Steven Ragin and Antwaun Majors), but also had four quarterback sacks-their first four of the season. In total the Govs had eight tackles for losses, four more than the vaunted EKU defense that entered the contest as the nation's leader in tackles-for-loss per game (12.0).

Austin Peay held Eastern Kentucky to 133 rushing yards in 41 attempts, compared to 201 yards rushing for the Govs, who got 51 more yards from junior Wesley Kitts.

Majors led the defensive effort with 11 tackles while sophomore linebacker Josh Carroll had nine, including 1.5 tackles for loss. Fellow linebacker Darrick Dillard had a pair of tackles for loss.

Junior quarterback T.J. Pryor threw for 231 yards, including a pair of TD strikes (52, 12) to Tyrone Goard but also was picked off twice and sacked a trio of times.

The Governors will play at home for a second straight week when they welcome Tennessee State, 6 p.m., Saturday to Governors Stadium.

-AP-