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Austin Peay State University Athletics

Postgame Notes and Quotes: #12 Govs vs. #20 Central Arkansas

November 18, 2023

By: Casey Crigger, Director of Athletics Communications

GOVS-BEARS POSTGAME NOTES

Notes following No. 12 Austin Peay's 14-12 United Athletic Conference win over No. 20 Central Arkansas to clinch the outright UAC title and the league's spot in the FCS Playoffs in the 2023 regular-season finale at Fortera Stadium in Clarksville, Tennessee.

FROM THE TOP

  • Austin Peay extended its program-record winning streak to nine games.
  • Austin Peay clinches the outright United Athletic Conference Championship, the second outright conference title in program history, joining the 1977 Ohio Valley Conference title.
  • Austin Peay earns its second trip to the FCS Playoffs, joining the 2019 team, with the inaugural UAC title.
  • Austin Peay goes undefeated in conference play for the first time in program history.
  • Austin Peay won nine games in the regular season for the second time in program history, tying the 2019 team for the program's regular-season wins record.
  • Austin Peay won its fifth straight game at Fortera Stadium and the 11th straight game at home against FCS opponents.

NAME THE CONFERENCE

  • In the past five seasons, the Governors have won conference championships in the Ohio Valley Conference (2019), Atlantic Sun Conference (2022), and United Athletic Conference.
  • Austin Peay won its eighth consecutive conference game dating back to last season.

CAPTAINS/COIN TOSS

SERIES UPDATE            

  • Austin Peay picked up its first-ever win against Central Arkansas, improving to 1-4 in the series.
  • The Govs are now 1-2 against UCA in Fortera Stadium.

WALDEN; OR, LIFE AT AUSTIN PEAY          

  • Scotty Walden improved to 26-13 as the head coach at Austin Peay.
  • Walden has the fourth most wins by a head coach in program history and is just four wins away from becoming the fourth APSU coach to win 30 games.
  • Walden is also seven wins away from matching Emory Hale for the third most wins by a head coach in program history.

DEFEND THE FORT          

  • Austin Peay improves to 5-0 at Fortera Stadium this season.
  • The Govs have won 11 straight games against FCS opponents at Fortera Stadium.

NOVEMBER AIR

  • Scotty Walden improves to 8-1 overall and 8-0 against FCS opponents in the month of November at Austin Peay. 
  • The Governors have won 13-straight FCS games in November – with six wins on the road – and last dropped a game in the month when they fell to Eastern Illinois in 2018.

THOSE ARE THE BREAKS

  • Austin Peay improved to 7-0 this season and 20-3 under Scotty Walden when leading at halftime.
  • The Governors improved to 7-0 this season and 21-3 under Walden when leading after three quarters.

OFFENSIVE SPARKS

  • Austin Peay's 14 points were its second-fewest points scored in a win during the Scotty Walden Era, behind only a 13-point day in a 13-10 win at Jacksonville State during the spring 2021 season.
  • Austin Peay rushed for a pair of touchdowns, with Jevon Jackson finding the endzone on the ground for the eighth time this season and Kenny Odom scoring his first rushing touchdown.
  • Jackson totaled 71 yards on the ground and finished the regular season with 1,190 yards, good for the fourth best season in APSU history.
  • Odom rushed for his first touchdown of the season and was the fifth Gov to run for a touchdown this season.
  • Mike DiLiello completed 19 passes for 189 yards, finishing the regular season with 3,057 yards – the second-best single-season mark in program history.
  • DiLiello is the second quarterback in program history to pass for 3,000-plus yards in program history, joining JaVaughn Craig, who threw for 3,208 yards in 2019.
  • With 5,504 passing yards in his APSU career, DiLiello ranks second in program history and trails Brain Braker's program-record 5,587 yards by 83 passing yards.
  • With 175 yards of total offense, DiLiello has recorded 6,149 yards of total offense in his APSU career and is just 71 yards behind Craig's program record of 6,220 yards of total offense.
  • Kenny Odom matched his career high with five receptions while posting a career-best 77 receiving yards.

DEFENSIVE STANDS      

  • Austin Peay's defense held Central Arkansas to just 83 yards on the ground, marking the fourth straight game the Govs have held their opponents under 100 yards on the ground.
  • UCA's 83 rushing yards were their fewest this season. It is the first time they have been held under 100 yards on the ground this season.
  • Central Arkansas' 12 points are the fewest they have scored in a game this season and the fewest since they were held to three points at Ole Miss during the 2022 season.
  • The last time Central Arkansas was held to less than 100 yards by an FCS foe was when the Govs held them to just 44 yards on the ground last season.
  • Sam Howard led the defense by matching his career-high with 13 tackles; he also added 1.5 tackles for loss.
  • Xavier Smith also added career-highs of 12 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
  • Smith also added a pass breakup in the contest.
  • Cedarius Doss recorded his third interception of the season and the fourth of his career.
  • Jevon McIver totaled six tackles and a career-best three pass breakups.
  • Travis Bates added his third sack of the season to help the Govs finish the day with four TFLs.

SPECIAL TEAMS SYNOPSIS

  • Jaden Barnes totaled a career-best 102 combined kick return yards with a career-best 76 kick return yards while matching his career-high with 26 punt return yards.
  • Barnes had a 35-yard kick return, his second-longest of the season.
  • Riley Stephens punted eight times for a 41.5-yard average, with two kicks downed inside the 20-yard line and a long of 54 yards.
  • Stephens kicked off three times for a 65-yard average with one touchback.
  •  Maddux Trujillo connected on a pair of PATs and is now 31 points away from Chris Fletcher's APSU scoring record of 270 points.
  • Trujillo also is just 34 PATs away from Logan Birchfield's APSU record of 159 career PATs.

GOVS-BEARS POSTGAME QUOTES

Austin Peay head coach Scotty Walden

Opening Statement… "As long as the scoreboard shows more points than the other guys, it could've been 3-2 for all I care. I am so thankful for our fans and for getting the second-highest attendance in Fortera Stadium History. Our guys trusted our training and culture, and it reflected in a big-time way.  It's the leadership we have on this team, we haven't cut corners and we've put the work in. We knew we had something special, and our coaching staff has poured in to these guys and I could not be more proud of them."

On missing the playoffs last season… "It was on our minds all season long, that's where the 'Break the Stone' mindset came from. We are tired of being left out, we're tired of being almost. We want to leave no doubt and not leave it up to a committee."

On nine-straight wins… "There ain't a day that goes by that I don't thank SIU for that butt whoopin, it was the biggest wake up call we could've had and put the focus on being the best version of ourselves every week. We play better when we're the underdogs, with a chip on our shoulder, when you are the hunted, that don't mean you stop hunting. This is the most mentally tough team I've ever coached; you can throw anything at them and they say ok let's go. We all have a choice of making excuses or making a way, and this team makes a way and overcomes adversity. It's really gratifying as a head coach, this game is all about hard work and culture, and this group has the best resiliency of anyone you can think of."

Austin Peay quarterback Mike DiLiello

On the season… "Facing SIU early, we had to look at ourselves and look at truths, it'd be different if we found issues and let it keep happening, but we learned from our mistakes. We've just progressively been getting better and better. It's hard to put into words, it's something that we've been preaching, leave no doubt. We took care of our business and left no doubt. We're a very hard team to stop when all three phases are clicking. We're a very tight-knit group as it is and when the going gets tough, to be able to look at the guys and know what we're going to do is very helpful."

Austin Peay linebacker Sam Howard

On making the FCS Playoffs… " First off I want to give glory to god. Missing the playoffs last year, it definitely affected us, and we wanted to leave no doubt.  When somebody else controls your destiny, we don't want that, we went to meetings and trained in the offseason with that in mind."

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