CHARLESTON, ILL. – Fresh off a bye week, the Austin Peay State University football team returns to action with its first Ohio Valley Conference road trip of the season at No. 16/18 Eastern Illinois, 1 p.m. Saturday, at O'Brien Field.
Saturday's game marks the 16th meeting between the two programs with a series history dating back to 1958. EIU holds the advantage in the series 13-3 including a 1-9 mark in OVC play. On the road, the Govs are 2-5 against Panthers.
APSU enters the game at 0-2 on the season after a pair of early loses. The Govs dropped their season opener 57-17 on the road at FBS and Sun Belt Conference opponent Troy.
EIU comes into play at 2-1 on the season while riding a two-game winning streak with wins over FBS Miami (Ohio) and then ranked No. 5 Illinois State.
The Opening Drive
In game two, APSU played in the second earliest meeting between Tennessee Tech on record. The two squads played in front of an announced crowd of 7,507 in Fortera Stadium, all-time best attendance mark, to their 2016 home and Ohio Valley Conference slate. APSU dropped the game 41-7 to fall to 0-2 on the season.
Through two games, former walk-on linebacker Gunnar Scholato is seventh in the NCAA and the leader in the OVC in tackles per game with 12.5 tackles per game.
After a pair of touchdown catches in the season opener against Troy, James Coleman is one of just four OVC players with one multiple touchdown receptions in a game.
Coleman finds himself 31st in the NCAA in touchdown receptions and fourth in the OVC.
APSU is one of 27 teams tied with a perfect red zone offense. The Govs have converted all of their trips to the red zone into scores -- two touchdowns and a field goal.
The Govs also rank as the eighth best team in the NCAA and the best in the OVC averaging 15.8 yards per completion.
Quarterback Tommy Hays leads the Govs in rushing, averaging 34.5 yards per game. Hays has 69 yards on 22 attempts for a 3.1 yards per carry. Hays has completed 52.6 percent of his passes (10-for-19) while throwing for 76.5 yards per game. He also leads the team with two TD passes.
QB Timarious Mitchell follows averaging 23.5 yards per game with 47 yards on 10 carries.
WR Jared Beard leads the Govs with 59.5 receiving yards per game. Beard has 119 yards on eight catches.
RB Marvin Franklin broke loose on a swing pass for 72 yards and a score against TTU marking the longest play from scrimmage since 2015.
Fans can also follow all the action from the 2016-17 season on www.LetsGoPeay.com, on Twitter @LetsGoPeay & @AustinPeayFB and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LetsGoPeay.
