GOVS-GOLDEN EAGLES POSTGAME NOTES

Notes following Austin Peay's 48-20 win over Tennessee Tech, Saturday, at Fortera Stadium in its final game in the Ohio Valley Conference.

FROM THE TOP

• Freshman wide receiver Drae McCray recorded 237 receiving yards, the second-best single-game mark by an Austin Peay receiver ever, trailing only APSU Hall of Famer Harold "Red" Robert's 252 yards against Murray State in 1969.
• Austin Peay finished the season on a three-game winning streak and won their 34th game in the past five seasons – the most wins in a five-year stretch in program history.
• For the second time in program history, Austin Peay picks up a win on its way out of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Governors beat UT Martin, 55-24, in 1996 before becoming an FCS Independent.
• Austin Peay secured its third winning season since 2017 and its third-straight winning season in OVC play – the Govs have had four winning OVC seasons since 2017.
• The Govs 34 wins and 25 conference wins since 2017 both set the record for the most wins in a five-year span in program history.

CAPTAINS/COIN TOSS

• Captains Armond Carter Jr., Johnathon Edwards, Jack McDonald, and Colby McKee took the coin toss for Austin Peay, with the entire senior class serving as alternate captains.
• Austin Peay lost the toss for the ninth time this season and Tennessee Tech deferred until the second half; the Governors elected to receive the opening kickoff.
• The Govs are 5-4 this season and 7-4 under head coach Scotty Walden when losing the opening coin toss.
• Weather in Clarksville at kickoff: 60, Fair, Winds southwest at 6 mph.

SERIES UPDATE                                           

• Austin Peay improves to 22-32 all-time against Tennessee Tech.
• The Govs are now 10-16 all-time against the Golden Eagles in Clarksville.
• The Governors have won four out of the last five meetings with Tennessee Tech and have won back-to-back meetings at Fortera Stadium.

THOSE ARE THE BREAKS

• Austin Peay improves to 6-2 this season and 8-3 under Walden when leading at halftime.
• The Governors improve to 6-1 this season and 8-4 under Walden when leading at the end of the third quarter.

OFFENSIVE SPARKS

• McCray's 73-yard touchdown is tied for the ninth-longest receiving touchdown in program history and is the first 70-yard touchdown grab by a Governor since Jay Parker's 71-yard touchdown reception at Southeast Missouri (3/4/21).
• McCray is the first Austin Peay receiver with 200-plus yards in a single game since Michael Farrell recorded 210 yards against Campbellsville (8/30/01), he is the fourth Gov to record 200 receiving yards in a single game in program history.
• McCray's four touchdown catches matches the Austin Peay single-game record, he is the fourth Governor to reach this mark, joining Baniko Harley, Ron Blair, and APSU Hall of Famer Harold "Red" Roberts (who did it twice).
• McCray's 237 receiving yards is tied for the third-best single-game mark in the FCS this season and is the best performance by an FCS freshman.
• McCray's four-touchdown performance is tied for the second-best single game mark in the FCS this season and is tied for the most receiving grabs by a freshman in the FCS this season.
• McCray finishes his freshman season with eight receiving touchdowns, that is tied for the seventh-best season in program history.
• Draylen Ellis throw the 30th, 31st, 32nd, and 33rd touchdowns of his Austin Peay career, passing Jeremiah Oatsvall (30) for the fourth-most touchdown tosses in program history.
• Ellis' 19 touchdown passes this season is the fourth-best single season mark in program history.
• Ellis finished the season with 2,626 passing yards this season, that is the third-best single-season total in Austin Peay history – it is just the sixth 2,000-yard passing season by a Gov ever.
• With 3,896 career passing yards this season, Ellis passed Oatsvall for the fifth-most in program history and is just 558 yards away from matching JaVaughn Craig for the fourth-most passing yards in program history.
• Ahmaad Tanner rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns in his final game, his 11 rushing touchdowns this season is tied with Kentel Williams (2019) as the sixth-best season in program history.
• With 29 career touchdowns, Tanner passed Hall of Famer John Ogles and tied Hall of Famer Terrence Holt for the fifth-most touchdowns scored in program history.
• Tanner's 2,425 career rushing yards is the seventh-most in Austin Peay history, he is one of just nine Govs to rush for 2,000-yards in a career.

DEFENSIVE STANDS                   

• The Austin Peay defense has recorded an interception in six-straight games for the first time since the 2018 season, when they also had a pick in six-straight contests. The Govs had seven interceptions during the six-game streak in 2018 that began on Sept. 8 against Presbyterian and ended on Oct. 13 against Southeast Missouri… the Governors had 15 interceptions in this season's six-game stretch.
• The Govs defense held Tennessee Tech to 149 rushing yards and have still not allowed an FCS team to run for 200 yards during the 16 games of the Walden-Chris Kappas era.
• The Austin Peay defense finishes the season with 19 interceptions, that is the fourth-best single-season mark in program history.
• Shamari Simmons recorded his 3rd and 4th interceptions of the season and Austin Peay's 18th and 19th picks of the season in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
• Simmons added five tackles, with four solo stops, to his two interceptions.
• Koby Perry led the Govs with 11 tackles, he also racked up a career-high two tackles for loss and broke up a pass.
• Kory Chapman recorded career-highs with 10 tackles and two tackles for loss with a pass breakup.
• Troy Henderson recorded nine tackles and shared a tackle for loss in his final game as a Gov.

SPECIAL TEAMS SPRINTS

• With 14 made field goals this season, freshman Maddux Trujillo ties Tom McMillan (1987) for the best single-season mark in Austin Peay history.
• With his 2-for-2 perfromance, Trujillo finishes the season with a 77.8 field-goal percentage, breaking a record stood longer than he has been alive (David Young, 71.4 percent in 1994).
• Trujillo's 36 made PATs this season is the fourth-best single-season mark in program history.
• Trujillo's 78 points scored this season is tied with Hall of Famer John Ogles for the eighth-best season in program history and is the second-best season by a kicker, trailing Logan Birchfield, who scored 103 points during the Govs 15-game 2019 season.
• Trujillo has made a field goal in eight-consecutive games (every game of his career) where he has attempted a kick, extending his own program record.
• Matt Rigney averaged 40.2 yards on his four punts attempts.
• Riley Stephens averaged 62.4 yards on nine kickoff attempts, with four touchbacks.

McCray's 299 all-purpose yards (237 receiving, 61 kick return, and 1 rushing) is the fourth-best single-game total in the FCS this season and is the sixth-best single-game mark in Austin Peay history.

GOVS-GOLDEN EAGLES POSTGAME QUOTES

Austin Peay head coach Scotty Walden

Opening Statement… "This was our Super Bowl. I am so proud of these seniors and this football program. When we were going through our three-straight losses, we have every right that. If any of our guys or coaches had an average mindset, they would have just turned it in. There are different ways to be a champion. Being a champion is not just always having a ring on your finger. You can be a champion defined by your character and your actions. I am not just saying that because we don't have a ring on our fingers, it is 100 percent what I believe in and what this program believes in. At the end of the day, we had a choice to make after the UT Martin loss to either turn it in or to respond. I am so proud of the way that we came to work every day. We never wavered in any meeting or practice. In both the losses and wins, our kids played hard. I am forever thankful for this senior class and their leadership. I am also thankful for this coaching staff we have, their motivation, and the leadership that they provide, but most of all, I am so proud of these players for battling back

On Drae McCray… "We have been saying all year that Drae McCray, who is a true freshman… you expect him to go make those plays that he made today. He has just gotten better every week. He has honed his craft and Coach (Austin) Silvoy has done an amazing job in developing him. We moved him around a lot today… he is a diverse player that can literally play all over the field. I know that he is going to be a staple for Austin Peay State University for years to come. Fans better get used to hearing his name because he is a special young man and player."

On the defense … "The thing I loved about our defense is that those guys had a hard time settling in early. The big key to victory in this game was that we were going to have to get Tennessee Tech off the field and our offense was going to have to take advantage of their possessions because [TTU] does a good job of milking the clock and owning the time of possession. Today, we were going to take advantage of our possessions and we did that. We struggled a little against the run… It wasn't a massive problem, but we aren't used to giving up four yards per carry. That is not our standard on defense. They were getting that and the hitting a quick passing game and what I loved is that our defensive staff went into halftime and Coach Kappas made great adjustments for the second half. I also loved that our players overcame that and did not get rattled because the takeaways weren't coming. They kept swinging away and had the belief that it was going to come then Shamari Simmons had his interceptions. The one in the endzone was huge and so was the Dimitri Scott sack at the end.

Austin Peay wide receiver Drae McCray

On his big game… "In the moment of the game, I had no idea. I was just playing and trying to make plays. Whenever I did find out, I just had to go in the team room, get away from everyone, sit down and just soak it all in."

On bouncing back from adversity … "Any time you lose three-straight games like that, there is always going to be adversity. We were just preaching to keep plugging away and that eventually we were going to come away with some wins. For me personally, I just wanted to be consistent in everything even when it wasn't looking too good on our side."

On being the Governors' leading receiver... "I don't try to think of the future. I only think about the now and the process. I would not have been able to do it without the older guys that took me in whenever I got here and taught me all of the little things. Even throughout the game today in the middle of the game, Baniko was teaching me techniques to get around defenders. That is all part of the process, and I would not be able to do it without those guys."