CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – A season-ending, three-game road trip begins when the Austin Peay State University football team travels to North Alabama for a 4 p.m., Saturday ASUN Conference battle at Braly Stadium in Florence, Alabama. 

Last week Austin Peay dropped its regular-season home finale to Jacksonville State, 40-16. The Governors look to bounce back when they take on a North Alabama team that made a change in leadership of its football program following its 64-29 loss at Central Arkansas. Former associate head coach and offensive coordinator Ryan Held will lead the Lions for the remainder of the season as the interim head coach, replacing Chris Willis. 

The Governors are 1-2 away from Fortera Stadium this season and are still searching for their first ASUN road win. Austin Peay will bring the ASUN's top defense to North Alabama, the Govs rank fourth in the FCS in total defense (279.1 ypg), seventh in rushing defense (91.5 ypg), and 18th in scoring defense (20.1 ppg). The Govs also are one of the top third-down defenses in the country, holding opponents to just a 28.9 percent conversion rate. 

Recently named to the Stats Perform Buck Buchanan Award Watch List, Antoine Williams leads the Governors defense and ranks second in the ASUN with 64 tackles this season. Williams has also racked up a team-leading nine tackles for loss to lead a defense that ranks 14th in the FCS and first in the ASUN with 7.2 tackles for loss per game. 

Offensively, quarterback Mike DiLiello – who was named to the Stats Perform Walter Payton Award Watch List – ranks eighth in the country with 150 points responsible for this season. DiLiello has fired 18 passing touchdowns, good for 18th in the FCS and second in the ASUN, with wide receiver Drae McCray hauling in eight of the scoring tosses, which is good for eighth in the FCS.

DiLiello also leads Austin Peay with seven touchdowns on the ground, which ranks fifth in the ASUN and eighth among FCS signal callers. CJ Evans Jr. leads the Govs and ranks fifth in the conference with 471 yards on the ground, while DiLiello and Jevon Jackson ranks seventh and eighth in the ASUN with 433 and 430 rushing yards, respectively.

Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Benjamin Ray and Bryan Neece on the call. Fans also can tune into the Governors Sports Network on ESPN Clarksville (104.1 FM/540 AM) to hear Brian Rives and Van Stokes call all the action. ESPN Clarksville will kick off its coverage with a re-airing of the Austin Peay Football Coaches Show at 2 p.m., followed by pregame coverage which begins an hour before kickoff.

INSIDE THE FILM ROOM

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NOTABLY

GOOD DIRECTIONS
In the past six seasons, Austin Peay's 39 victories are tied for the 14th most in the FCS and the 34 wins entering the 2022 season were the most in a five-year stretch in program history. There are three other ASUN Conference teams that rank in the top 15 in FCS wins during the past six seasons – Kennesaw State (53, 4th), Jacksonville State (48, 7th), and Central Arkansas (39, t-14th).

THREE FOR THE ROAD
Austin Peay wraps up the regular season with a three-game road trip with stops at North Alabama, Kennesaw State, and Alabama. It is the longest road trip of the Scotty Walden Era and is the Govs' first three-game road stretch since they played at Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, and Eastern Kentucky in 2019.

STATS PERFORM WATCH LIST... TIMES THREE, PART II
Mike DiLiello, Antoine Williams, and Kam Thomas are on the Stats Perform Walter Payton, Buck Buchanan, and Jerry Rice Award Watch Lists, respectively. It is the second time in program history the Govs have had a player on all three lists, after DeAngelo Wilson (Payton), Kordell Jackson (Buchanan)s, and Draylen Ellis (Rice) were finalists for the three awards during the 2020 season. 

END ZONE EMBARGO
Austin Peay's defense is allowing just 20.1 points per game this season – which leads the ASUN and ranks 18th in the FCS – while no other ASUN Conference team is holding its opponents to less than 24 points per game this season. In five home games, the Governors allowed just 15.4 points per game at Fortera Stadium with shutouts against Presbyterian and Mississippi Valley State and second-half shutouts against Eastern Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State. On the road, the Govs also posted a second-half shutout at Alabama A&M.

GROUND GOVS
 Austin Peay already has posted a pair of 300-yard rushing games this season with 322 yards against Eastern Kentucky and 308 yards against Presbyterian. The Govs have not rushed for 300-plus yards multiple times in a season since 2017 when they topped the 400-yard mark twice and the 300-yard mark two more times. Ahmaad Tanner and Kentel Williams led the rushing attack in 2017 with 697 and 674 yards, respectively. This year, CJ Evans Jr. leads the Governors on the ground with 471 yards while Mike DiLiello and Jevon Jackson have rushed for 433 and 430 yards, respectively.

WALDEN; OR, LIFE AT AUSTIN PEAY
After just 25 games at Austin Peay, Scotty Walden already ranks eighth in program history with 15 career wins. Walden is two victories behind Roy Gregory for sixth place and four wins behind Bill Schmitz and Fred D. Brown for fifth place – Gregory, Schmitz, and Brown all needed six seasons to reach their respective win total. With five more wins, Walden would match Rick Christophel – who also coached six seasons -- for the fourth-most wins in program history while becoming just the fifth head coach to win 20 games at Austin Peay.  

PRESEASON PROPAGANDA
In the inaugural ASUN Football Preseason Coaches Poll, Austin Peay received a first-place vote but was tabbed to finish fifth in the league with 15 points. Kennesaw State was picked atop the league with four first-place votes and 34 points, while Central Arkansas -- who received a single first-place vote -- and Eastern Kentucky were tied for second with 25 points. Fourth-place Jacksonville State received 19 points and North Alabama rounded out the poll with 8 points. 

LAST TIME OUT 
Austin Peay fell to Jacksonville State, 40-16, in the home finale at Fortera Stadium. Maddux Trujillo tied the game with a program-record tying 55-yard field goal to end the first half, but JSU outscored the Govs 34-0 in the second half.

SCOUTING NORTH ALABAMA

• This is the 20th meeting between Austin Peay and North Alabama 
• It is the first meeting between the Governors and Lions since 1978 and is the first conference contest in series history.
• In its first season eligible for the FCS Playoffs, North Alabama was tabbed to finish sixth in the 2022 ASUN Preseason Poll. The Lions led the conference with seven players selected to the Preseason All-ASUN team, but are 1-7 with their lone win coming against DII UVA Wise. UNA made a change in leadership prior to this week's game against APSU and former associate head coach and offensive coordinator Ryan Held will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2022 season.
• Four quarterbacks have played for North Alabama this season, but Noah Walters leads the quartet with appearances in all eight games. Walters is 104-for-195 with 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Preseason All-ASUN receiver Takairee Kenebrew leads UNA with 19 receptions for 485 yards and six touchdowns. Demarcus Lacey has added five touchdowns and 304 yards on 18 receptions.
• Preseason All-ASUN defensive back Kyree Fields leads the Lions with 63 total tackles and 41 solo stops this season. Fields also has 2.5 TFL, an interception, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. Preseason All-ASUN linebacker Micah Bland is third on the team with 45 tackles and ranks second with 4.0 TFL. Junior defensive lineman Philip Ossai leads UNA in TFL (6.0) and sacks (2.0).
• The ASUN's leading rusher, ShunDerrick Powell ranks second in the FCS with 15 rushing touchdowns and ranks third with 1,115 rushing yards. Powell averages 139.4 rushing yards per game -- third in the FCS -- and 7.53 yards per carry -- seventh in the FCS. The sophomore running back ranks seventh in the FCS with 1,299 all-purpose yards this season.

UP NEXT

The second leg of a season-closing three-game road trip is a noon, Nov. 12 ASUN contest against Kennesaw State at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia. It is the first-ever meeting between the Governors and Owls.