GOVS-THUNDERBIRDS POSTGAME NOTES

Notes following Austin Peay's 48-45 double-overtime against Southern Utah, Saturday, at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City, Utah.

FROM THE TOP

• Trailing by as many as 21 points early in the third quarter, the Governors scored 28 consecutive points in the third and fourth quarters to force overtime before coming away with their fifth-straight win of the season and third-straight on the road.
• The 21-point comeback is the largest comeback in the digital record keeping era of Governors football.
• The Govs' also earned their first double-overtime victory since a 49-42 win at Southeast Missouri (3/14/21) – APSU is now 2-0 in overtime under Scotty Walden. 

CAPTAINS/COIN TOSS

• Captains Mike DiLiello, Brady Odom, Hosea Knifeley Jr., and Kam Thomas took the coin toss for the Governors. Jau'Von Young, Sam Howard, and Jalen Armstrong served as alternate captains. Jeremiah Collins served as Austin Peay's honorary team captain.
• Austin Peay lost the opening coin toss and Southern Utah deferred its option until the second half. Austin Peay elected to receive the opening kickoff. 
• Austin Peay is 1-6 at the opening coin toss this season.
• The Govs are 4-2 this season and 11-10 under head coach Scotty Walden when losing the opening coin toss.
• Austin Peay lost the overtime coin toss and Southern Utah elected to play defense first.
• Austin Peay is 0-1 at the overtime coin toss this season and 1-1 during the Walden Era. 
• The Govs improved to 1-0 under Walden when losing the OT coin toss.
• The weather at kickoff was 74 degrees, clear skies, with winds out of the southwest at 10 miles per hour. 

SERIES UPDATE                                           

• Austin Peay improved to 1-0 all-time both in the state of Utah and against Southern Utah.

THOSE ARE THE BREAKS

• The Govs' five-straight victories marks the longest winning streak under Scotty Walden and is the longest streak by the program since winning seven straight during the 2019 season. 
• Austin Peay improves to 2-0 against first-time opponents this season and 6-2 under Walden
• The Governors' 5-2 start marks just the seventh time in program history the Govs have won five of their first seven games to start a season.
• The Govs improved to 2-2 this season and 4-7 under Walden when trailing at halftime. 
• The Governors also improved to 2-2 this season and 4-10 under Walden when trailing a the end of the third quarter. 

OFFENSIVE SPARKS

• Jevon Jackson found paydirt for the fifth-straight game on the Governors' first touchdown of the evening with 5:08 remaining in the first quarter.
• Jackson tallied his second-career multiple-touchdown performance with his four-yard rushing score with 3:09 remaining in the third quarter. He is the only Govs' rusher to have at least two multi-touchdown performances this season.
• Tre Shackelford became the first Austin Peay wide receiver to eclipse 100 receiving yards in back-to-back games since Drae McCray last season against Presbyterian and Mississippi Valley State.
• Mike DiLiello's two rushing scores are his most since recording three against Eastern Kentucky (9/24/22).
• Jevon Jackson and Mike DiLiello are the first Austin Peay duo to rush for multiple scores in a game since Ahmaad Tanner and Brian Snead at Murray State, (10/23/21).
• With his 54-yard strike to Tre Shackelford on the Govs' first drive of the fourth quarter, Trey Goodman became the first non-quarterback to throw a touchdown since Baniko Harley threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to DeAngelo Wilson against North Carolina Central (8/29/19).
• The 54-yard touchdown pass was the first scoring toss of Goodman's career on his eighth collegiate pass attempt.
• It also is the first time a non-quarterback has completed a pass since Goodman's 39-yard completion at Western Kentucky,  (9/27/22).

DEFENSIVE STANDS                   

• Tyler Long's 17 tackles are tied with his own 17-tackle performance against Southern Illinois in the season opener for the most by a Governor this season. His 15 solo stops also match his, and the team's best mark of 2023.
• With his sack in the third quarter, Hosea Knifeley Jr. now has recorded at least 1.0 sacks in three straight games and leads the Govs with 4.0 sacks this season. 
• Knifeley Jr. also totaled a career-best 12 tackles for his first-career double-digit tackle performance. 
• Sam Howard recorded 1.5 tackles for loss and now leads the Govs with 7.5 TFLs this season. 
• The Govs recorded 10 pass breakups, with seven total Govs breaking up a pass and Knifeley Jr., Jevon McIver Jr., and Cedarius Doss each breaking up two passes.
• Austin Peay won its first game of the season in which the defense did not intercept a pass.

SPECIAL TEAMS SYNOPSIS

• With his 82-yard punt return touchdown in the first quarter, Kam Thomas became the fourth player in program history – and the first since Don Derrick in 1976 – to return multiple punts to the endzone in the same season.
• Thomas' three-career punt return touchdowns also tie him with Derrick for the most in program history.
• Thomas' score also was the third-longest punt return touchdown in program history, trailing only his own marks of 92 and 89 yards.
• Riley Stephens punted five times for a career-best 247 yards and 49.4 yards per kick.
• Also the Govs' kickoff specialist, Stephens kicked off seven times and recorded six touchbacks, matching his career high. Stephens has recorded a touchback on 30-of-45 kickoffs this season.

GOVS-THUNDERBIRDS POSTGAME QUOTES

Austin Peay head coach Scotty Walden

Opening Statement… "Kind of like Vegas, right? What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room. Let me tell you this, this is college football, man. It is so hard to win a college football game, especially in conference, so give credit, first off, to Southern Utah. They are just a well-coached team, you know, I said it to everybody, and I think I said it at the coaches show, when you turn the tape on, you can look at their losses, but all their losses are to FBS teams or ranked FCS teams. In my three years here at Austin Peay, this team plays harder than any we have gone against, and we prepared our guys all week, we talked about it going to be a four-quarter war, and by gosh it was."

On situational football… "The players joke with me, and the coaches make fun of me, I am so paranoid about situational football. This is why in fall camp, we do overtime in scrimmage one and I will never forget, that overtime period… it went to like eight or 10 overtimes and became a two-point shootout. Thank God we did that, it pays off. I am so proud of this team. I can't describe it, I am on cloud nine right now."

On halftime adjustments… "I told them at halftime, don't try to get it all back at once. We can sit there and be in the mopey dopes, or we are going to find out who our real leaders are. We are going to find out what team we are, and let's go win one play at a time in the third quarter. And, man, we just never quit. We just kept battling, kept fighting, and what an amazing victory. I can't give our players enough credit, I am so proud of their fight and their never-quit attitude."