GOVS-COLONELS POSTGAME NOTES

Notes following No. 17 Austin Peay's 33-30 United Athletic Conference win over Eastern Kentucky in overtime at Roy Kidd Stadium in Richmond, Kentucky.

FROM THE TOP

• Austin Peay won its seventh straight game, matching the longest winning streak in program history while setting the record for the longest regular-season streak in APSU history. 
• The Governors won in overtime for the second time this season and improved to 3-0 in overtime games under Scotty Walden.  
• Austin Peay improved to 4-0 in United Athletic Conference play, with three wins on the road in conference action. 
• The Governors won their fourth straight road game. 
• The Govs have now won six straight conference games, spanning two conferences, dating back to the 2022 season.
• Kam Thomas led Austin Peay with 204 receiving yards, he is the first Governor to top the 200-yard mark in a game since Drae McCray had 237 yards against Tennessee Tech in 2021.

CAPTAINS/COIN TOSS

• Captains Mike DiLiello, Jevon McIver Jr., Xavier Smith, and Isaiah Wright took the coin toss for the Governors. Jalen Armstrong, Sam Howard, Kam Thomas, and Jau'Von Young served as alternate captains. Jeremiah Collins served as Austin Peay's honorary team captain.
• Austin Peay lost the coin toss and Eastern Kentucky deferred until the second half. Austin Peay elected to receive the opening kickoff.  
• Austin Peay fell to 2-7 at the opening coin toss this season and 15-22 under Scotty Walden.
• The Governors are 5-2 this season and 12-10 under Walden when they lose the opening coin toss.
• Austin Peay improved to 1-1 at the overtime coin toss this season.
• The Governors improved to 1-0 this season and 2-0 under Walden while winning the overtime coin toss.
• Weather in Richmond at kickoff: 68 degrees, fair skies, winds southwest at 10 mph.

SERIES UPDATE            

• Austin Peay improved to 8-47 all-time against Eastern Kentucky and has now won four of the last six meetings.  
• The Govs improved to 4-25 all-time in Richmond, Kentucky, with wins in three of their last four trips to Roy Kidd Stadium.
• The Governors have won back-to-back games against EKU for the first time in program history.
• Austin Peay now has a win over Eastern Kentucky in three different conferences – Ohio Valley, Atlantic Sun, and United Athletic – since 2019.

NOVEMBER AIR

• Scotty Walden improves to 6-1 overall and 6-0 against FCS opponents in the month of November at Austin Peay. 
• The Governors have won 12-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 5-0 this season and 18-3 under Walden when leading at halftime. 
• The Govs improved to 5-0 this season and 19-3 under Walden when leading after three quarters. 

OFFENSIVE SPARKS

• Thomas' 204 receiving yards are the fifth most in Austin Peay history and mark just the fifth 200-yard receiving game in program history. 
• Thomas's 204 receiving yards are the sixth-best single-game total in the FCS this season.
• Thomas also caught touchdowns of 42 and 54 yards for his second multi-score game of the season. 
• Tre Shackelford caught his fourth touchdown of the season; it was a 25-yard walk-off score in overtime. 
• Kenny Odom also hauled in his third touchdown of the season; a 32-yard catch to give APSU the lead with 39 seconds left in regulation. 
• Jevon Jackson rushed for 120 yards on 25 carries, it was his fifth 100-yard outing in the last six games.
• Jackson is now 73 yards shy of becoming Austin Peay's first 1,000-yard rusher since Ryan White in 2011, he would be the 10th 1,000-yard rusher in APSU history. 
• Mike DiLiello threw for 310 yards; it was his fifth 300-yard game of the season and extended his program record of 300-yard passing games to eight.
• DiLiello also fired four touchdown passes, his third-best single-game total of the season to date. 
• With four touchdowns responsible for, DiLiello's 59 career touchdowns responsible for surpass JaVaughn Craig (58) for the Austin Peay record. 
• DiLiello now has 46 passing touchdowns in his Austin Peay career and is two behind Brian Baker for the APSU record.
• DiLiello's 25 touchdown passes this season are also tied with Baker (1999) for the second-best season in APSU history, he is now just three behind Craig (2019) for the single-season record. 
• DiLiello's 2,589 passing yards this season surpass his total from the 2022 season for the fourth-best season in APSU history. 
• DiLiello became the fourth quarterback to pass for 5,000-plus yards in their Austin Peay career and his 5,036 yards rank fourth in program history.  

DEFENSIVE STANDS      

• Austin Peay held Eastern Kentucky to just 60 rushing yards, it is the second straight game the Govs have held their opponent under 100 yards on the ground. 
• Michael Ruttlen Jr. led the Govs with a career-high 12 tackles, it was his first career double-digit tackle game. 
• Kory Chapman also added 10 tackles, it was his first double-digit tackle game of the season and the fourth of his career.
• Sam Howard had a tackle for loss for the eighth-straight game and leads the Govs with 10.5 TFLs this season. 
• Travis Bates had a career-best six tackles to go along with 2.0 tackles for loss, a sack, a pass breakup, and a blocked extra point. 
• J'Vian McCray had two tackles for loss including a sack while KT Owens also added a sack. 

SPECIAL TEAMS SYNOPSIS

• Maddux Trujillo was 2-for-2 with field goals of 38 and 33 yards, he improved to 10-of-11 this season and is now 7-for-8 from 30-plus yards out. 
• With two made field goals, Trujillo has made 35 field goals in his Austin Peay career, which ties Stephen Stansell for the program record.
• Trujillo also went 3-for-3 on PATs and is now just 39 PATs behind Logan Birchfield's APSU career record. 
• Riley Stephens blasted an 83-yard punt in the third quarter, it was the longest punt in APSU history – topping an 81-yard punt by Chip Johnson against Western Kentucky in 1974 – and was the second-longest punt in the FCS this season. 
• Stephens averaged 43.7 yards per kick with four punts downed inside the 20-yard line. 
• Stephens also kicked off six times for a 62.5-yard average and five touchbacks. 
• Kam Thomas returned one kick for 25 yards while Jaden Barnes totaled 40 yards on his lone kick return of the contest.

GOVS-COLONELS POSTGAME QUOTES

Austin Peay head coach Scotty Walden

Opening Statement… "Phenomenal win by our guys, what can I say about this team. This team is special, I love them to death. They played fearless, fast, and physical – our brand of football – and they trust the process. That's not just coach speak, that's something we talk about, process over results. They trusted that process all night and I could not be more proud of them. I thought defensively, we played so much better than last week. We had a great week of practice and a great week of preparation, and it showed today. We played one of the best quarterbacks in the country and I thought we did a great job of limiting explosives."

On overtime… "We approached this overtime way better than we approached Southern Utah. I know we won that game, but the Southern Utah game we were kind of like 'Whoa, we are really going to overtime.' Today, it was like 'Hey we are going to overtime, let's go.' We talk about an anyone, anytime, anywhere mindset, and we have got to live that, and we lived that tonight."

Austin Peay wide receiver Kam Thomas

On the Govs culture and Coach Walden… "This win says a lot. Ever since Coach Walden came, he changed the whole culture of the program. He has done a good job of making everybody believe. He does a great job of getting everybody on the same page, he is the best. Coach Walden and his staff always put us in the right position to make plays."

On when the ball is in his hands… "If you see on returns, I pride myself on making one guy miss, that is my job. The coaches want me to make one guy miss, that is what they recruited me for. They believe in me to do what I am supposed to do."