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Austin Peay State University Athletics

Postgame Notes and Quotes: Govs at Alabama A&M

September 17, 2022

By: Casey Crigger, Assistant Director of Athletics Communications

GOVS-BULLDOGS POSTGAME NOTES

Notes following Austin Peay's 28-3 win over Alabama A&M at Louis Crews Stadium in Huntsville, Alabama.

FROM THE TOP

  • Austin Peay has outscored its opponents 128-3 over its last three games, that is the most points in a three-game stretch in program history.
  • The Governors' defense is outscoring its FCS opponents 7-3 this season.
  • Austin Peay has not allowed a touchdown in its last 191:34 of game time.
  • The Govs have not allowed any second-half points against an FCS team this season.
  • Austin Peay has not allowed a point in the third quarter in seven-straight games, dating back to its win against Murray State (10/23/21).

CAPTAINS/COIN TOSS

SERIES UPDATE                                           

  • Austin Peay improved to 1-0 all-time against Alabama A&M.
  • The Governors are now 2-0 all-time against the Southwestern Athletic Conference with wins in back-to-back weeks.

THOSE ARE THE BREAKS

  • Austin Peay improved to 3-0 this season and 11-3 under Walden when leading at halftime.
  • The Govs are 3-0 this season and 11-3 under Walden when leading at the end of the third quarter.

OFFENSIVE SPARKS

  • Mike DiLiello's 172 yards of total offense took him past the 4,000-yard mark in his career. He has 4,017 yards of total offense in his collegiate career.
  • DiLiello's season-best 72-yard rushing performance moved him past 1,00 rushing yards in his college career. He has now run for 1,053 yards between stopes at Florida Tech, Middle Tennessee, and Austin Peay.
  • DiLiello threw two touchdowns and now has multiple passing touchdowns in every game this season. His 13 passing touchdowns are tied for the eighth-most in a single-season in the program's history.
  • DiLiello ran for an 18-yard score, his third rushing touchdown this season.
  • James Burns and Trey Goodman each caught a touchdown pass for the third-straight game.
  • The DiLiello-to-Burns 58-yard touchdown pass was the longest pass by the Govs this season.
  • CJ Evans Jr. led the Govs with 76 rushing yards, it is the first time he has led the Govs on the ground this season.

DEFENSIVE STANDS                   

  • The Governors recorded a season-best five sacks in a game for the first time since a seven-sack outing against Tennessee Tech to start the spring 2021 season.
  • Austin Peay's 12 tackles for loss are the most since a dozen-TFL outing at Southeast Missouri, March 2021.
  • Austin Peay has recorded two interceptions in each of its last two games.  
  • The Govs have forced a turnover in all four games this season.
  • Austin Peay had nine quarterback hurries in the game.
  • Antoine Williams' 60-yard fumble return for a touchdown is the first fumble return for a touchdown by a Governor since Kordell Jackson scored on a fumble recovery at Murray State (11/16/19).
  • Williams' 60-yard fumble return is the longest by a Governor since Kevis Buckley's 64-yard fumble return against Tennessee State (9/15/07).
  • Cedarius Doss recorded career-highs with nine tackles and three tackles for loss – including his first-career sack – and two pass breakups.
  • Doss' three tackles for loss is the best single-game mark by a Governor this season.
  • Josh Rudolph had a career-high ten tackles in the game, that is the second double-digit tackle performance by a Governor this season.
  • Kwame Sutton's strip sack in the fourth quarter was his first-career forced fumble.
  • Shamari Simmons' interception was his second of the season and the sixth of his career.
  • Demetries Ford's interception was his first of the season, his first as a Governor, and the second of his collegiate career.
  • Kam Ruffin recorded a career-best 1.5 tackles for loss.

SPECIAL TEAMS SYNOPSIS

  • Matt Rigney punted a season-high six times for an average of 42.0 yards per kick.
  • Rigney's 57-yard punt in the first quarter was his longest of the season, but resulted in his lone touchback of the game.
  • Kam Thomas racked up a season-best 36 yards on two kick returns.
  • Maddux Trujillo was 4-for-4 on PATs and improved to 21-for-21 on PATs this season.

GOVS-BULLDOGS POSTGAME QUOTES

Austin Peay head coach Scotty Walden

On Mike DiLiello… "I know we didn't really have a rhythm in the passing game, but I thought Mike played the quarterback position like a warrior. He played courageous. That's the way I ask him to play every game. Just play courageous and do whatever it takes to win. As you start getting deep into the season, you can't worry about your stats. You can't worry about all that stuff. You have got to worry about wins. That's the best stat there is and Mike played to win. The passing game wasn't going, so he used his legs. On that third down in the second half, that wasn't a great play call or anything, that's just him making a great play and making two guys miss. He ran physical, played physical. He took some shots today. I thought he stood in there, showed his toughness, and that's why the team respects him so much as a leader. When you see your quarterback standing in the fire and going and doing what it takes to win, running a ball or throwing the ball, but especially in a physical game like this, the team's going to rally."

On the run game… "I think when you start getting deep in your schedule, and this was a game four for us,  you're starting to see some guys banged up a little bit. The nicks are starting to add up and we've got to do a good job during the week of getting those ironed out, so I think that you always find a game where kind you may hit a little lull offensively. Two weeks ago, we ran for over 300 yards. Last week, we would have rushed for over 200 if we eliminate the sacks, but I'm really proud of this running game. At halftime, we really felt like we needed to (get the run game going). We're never going to eliminate our tempo because that's our secret weapon, but we felt like we needed to win in a more conventional way. Let's just slow this down. The runs are there. Let's just run the football. That's the beauty in our system. We believe that we can beat you with the run or the pass. To win championships, we're going to have to be able to run the football. To win big games, you have to be able to run the football, and we did that today. We did it in a physical manner."

On next week's Homecoming game… "We have won three-straight, and we've won pretty convincingly. I was thinking about this at halftime. It was really good for us today to play a tight ball game. Going into ASUN play, we're getting ready to play some elite competition. Not that we haven't played elite competition, but just so happens, the past couple of weeks, we've gotten up on people, and it's just kind of spiraled (out of control), but to be up 7-3 at halftime and to win the game 28-3, that's pretty awesome."

Austin Peay quarterback Mike DiLiello

On the offensive performance… "Having that touchdown early in the game was good, but we just never really found our rhythm in the passing game. They brought a lot of pressure, so give credit to those guys. We had to force some things out early, so the timing really wasn't great for us. But at the end of the day, if we can't throw the ball for 400 yards and score, then we're going to run the ball for however many yards and do it on the ground."

Austin Peay running back CJ Evans Jr.

On getting the running game going in the second half… "Coming out of halftime, Coach Walden told us we're going to have to run the ball. I give all the credit to my offensive line. I give props to my receivers for blocking downfield for me. That just made my job easier. They made it easier for me to hit the holes."

On the defense… "We know our defense is going to go out there and do what they need to do. They have been putting us in a great position to score, and that's all we can ask from them."

Austin Peay linebacker Antoine Williams

On Alabama A&M's first-half field goal to end Austin Peay's defensive scoreless streak … "We understand that we want to stop them, but our mentality as a defense is next play. We have to play the next play. Once they scored three points, there was nothing we could do about it. We wanted to shut them out, but once they scored three, at that point, we're just out there playing ball with each other, having fun."

On scoring a touchdown and outscoring the last three opponents … "We take a lot of pride in getting takeaways. We focus heavily on that. We'll have a whole circuit at practice. We take a lot of pride in getting takeaways. Coach Kappas and Coach Clark really emphasize us trying to get the ball throughout the game. They were telling us to try and punch the ball out. Our DBs did a great job of getting interceptions. (Demetries) Ford got an interception. We just try to play well as a whole unit. We like to focus on getting takeaways because a turnover sucks the life out of our opponent. It affects them tremendously."

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