As you've likely heard, we don't have any live-action contests to cover at LetsGoPeay.com right now. What we do have is free time; oodles and oodles of free time. Enough free time to swap oodles of emails with various people who would know to create a snapshot of the 10 best players in Austin Peay football history. Up next is the guy who tossed a lot of football's to our previous entry as part of 2019's record-setting offense.
The man who orchestrated the greatest single season in Austin Peay football history was always going to find a place on this list. But don't let 2019 be the only memory you have of JaVaughn Craig—the Chattanooga native did plenty to distinguish himself during his Austin Peay career, finishing fourth all-time in passing yards, fourth in completions, second in touchdown passes, with career quarterback rushing records for yards (1,766) and touchdown runs (19).
As a freshman, he needed just five games under center to make his mark, piling up nearly 1,000 yards total offense after a program-record 466 yards just against Tennessee State, with a freshman-record five touchdown passes against the Tigers. The next year, he scampered for six of Austin Peay's 32 rushing touchdowns and was an integral part of the remarkable 8-4 turnaround season that holds a special place in Austin Peay lore as he shared snaps with Jeremiah Oatsvall in a dynamic 1-2 punch.
Much of Craig's junior campaign was lost to injury, and he entered his senior season expecting to back up Oatsvall and stay ready.
When Oatsvall was forced out for the season, Craig responded with monster numbers, throwing for a program-record 3,208 yards and 28 touchdowns with a 57.6 pass completion percentage, and rushing for 714 yards on 135 carries and nine TDs as a complementary threat out of the backfield. His 140.36 pass efficiency rating led the conference and ranked 30th in the NCAA, while his 14.8 points responsible for per game ranked 25th among FCS athletes. He also averaged 13.71 yards per completion, 18th in the FCS and first in the league. All that earned him All-American honors from STATS FCS (third-team All-Purpose) and HERO Sports (first-team Athlete). Pretty decent for the alleged back-up.
At every step, as the Govs made historic gains into the top-25, earned a conference title for the first time in any active players lifetime and made a formerly unthinkable run deep into the FCS playoffs, there was the unflappable Craig leading the way.
