GOVS-BUCCANEERS POSTGAME NOTES

Notes following Austin Peay's 63-3 victory in its 2023 home opener against East Tennessee State University at Fortera Stadium in Clarksville, Tennessee.

FROM THE TOP

• Mike DiLiello set the Austin Peay single-game passing record with 441 yards. His 37 completions and five touchdown passes also are tied for the second-most in program history.
• Austin Peay earned its seventh-straight home-opening victory. It has combined to outscore its opponents 346-81 during that span, including 126-3 the last two seasons.
• Scotty Walden recorded his 18th win at Austin Peay, breaking a tie with Roy Gregory for seventh all-time. His next win will tie him for fifth in program history, and make him one win away from being the fifth coach to record 20 wins.
• Austin Peay has won eight-straight games against FCS opponents in Fortera Stadium.
• Austin Peay won its first game under Scotty Walden when wearing white helmets, red jerseys, and white pants.

CAPTAINS/COIN TOSS

• Captains Jalen Armstrong, Mike DiLiello, Sam Howard, Kam Thomas, took the coin toss for the Governors. Jevon Jackson, Gardy Paul, Jau'Von Young served as alternate captains. Jeremiah Collins served as Austin Peay's honorary team captain. 
• ETSU won the opening coin toss and deferred until the second half. Austin Peay elected to receive the opening kickoff. 
• Austin Peay is 0-3 at the opening coin toss this season. 
• The Govs improve to 1-2 when losing the coin toss.
• Weather in Clarksville at kickoff: 76 degrees, overcast, winds northeast at three miles per hour.

SERIES UPDATE                                           

• Austin Peay improved to 13-15-2 all-time against ETSU in a series dating back to 1951.
• The Govs improved to 9-6-1 all-time against the Buccaneers in Clarksville and have won five-straight on their home field dating back to 1971.
• The Govs' 63 points are the most by either team in the series' history. The 66 combined points also are the most in the series' history.

THOSE ARE THE BREAKS

• The Governors improved to 1-0 this season when leading at the half.
• APSU also improved to 1-0 when leading after three quarters.

OFFENSIVE SPARKS

• Mike DiLiello's 441 passing yards broke Brian Baker's previous record of 438 yards, set against Virginia-Wise in 1999.
• DiLiello's 37 completions are the most by an Austin Peay signal caller since Brian Baker had 40 completions against Jacksonville State, Nov. 2012.
• DiLiello went 37-of-46 passing for an 80.4 completion percentage, the fourth-best mark in program history. It also is the first time the Govs have completed 80 percent of its passes since Oct. 2014 against Murray State.
• Austin Peay's 612 total yards of offense are the ninth-most in program history and the most since the Govs' 614 yards against Tennessee Tech in 2019.
• Austin Peay's 63 points are tied for the sixth-most in program history and the most since scoring 63 in last season's Presbyterian matchup. The Govs have scored at least 48 points six times in four years under head coach Scotty Walden.
• Austin Peay scored on its first drive for the second-straight game when Mike DiLiello found Trey Goodman from 30 yards out on the Governors' third play from scrimmage.
• On his 30-yard touchdown pass to Goodman, DiLiello surpassed 5,000-career passing yards throughout his career at Austin Peay, Middle Tennessee, and Florida Tech.
• Austin Peay also scored on its first five drives of the game. It is the first time the Govs have found paydirt five times to begin a game since scoring on seven-straight drives against Mississippi Valley State, Sept. 10, 2022.
• DiLiello's one-yard rushing touchdown extended Austin Peay's lead to 14-0 6:11 into the first quarter. It was his first rushing touchdown of the season and ninth as a Gov.
• Khatib Lyles caught his first touchdown as a Gov on a three-yard reception with 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
• Austin Peay's 28 first-quarter points are its most in any quarter since scoring 28 against in the third quarter against Furman in the 2019 FCS Playoffs.
• Jordan Goco caught his first touchdown as a Gov on a five-yard reception in the third quarter.
• Jaden Barnes finished with a team-best 121 receiving yards, he is the first APSU freshman with 100 receiving yards since Drae McCray had two 100-plus-yard receiving performances in 2021.
• With his 102 yards on the ground, CJ Evans Jr. is the first Gov to surpass 100 rushing yards since DiLiello had 181 against Eastern Kentucky last season.
• Shackelford also caught his first touchdown as a Gov on a six-yard reception with 4:05 remaining in the first quarter.
• In total, four of the Govs' five receiving touchdowns were first-career marks.
• Eleven different receivers have caught multiple passes in a game for the Govs this season.
• Five different receivers have 100-plus receiving yards this season.
• Six Govs have caught a touchdown pass in 20223.

DEFENSIVE STANDS                   

• Garrett Hawkins scored the final touchdown of the night with a five-yard fumble recovery touchdown with 9:01 remaining in the fourth quarter. Hawkins' scoop-and-score was the first by a Gov since Antoine Williams' 60-yard fumble recovery touchdown against Alabama A&M, Sept. 2022. Austin Peay has received a fumble in all three games this season
• Jevon McIver Jr. intercepted his first-career pass in the third quarter. The pick also was the Govs' first interception of the season.
• Austin Peay's three points allowed are its fewest since shutting out MVSU last season.
• It is the 27th time an FCS opponent has been held to under 200 rushing yards under head coach Scotty Walden.
• In 31 games under Scotty Walden, APSU has 59 turnovers gained with 40 interceptions and 19 fumbles gained. The Govs have a turnover gained in 28-of-31 games under Walden.
• Austin Peay improved to 15-6 when recording an interception and leveled their record to 7-7 when recovering a fumble.

SPECIAL TEAMS SYNOPSIS

• Kam Thomas returned a punt 89 yards for the Governors' first touchdown of the second half. The return was the second-longest in program history, trailing only his own 92-yard punt return at Central Arkansas last season.
• Maddux Trujillo's nine PATs are tied for the most in his career, matching a mark set last season at Presbyterian.
• Mike DiLiello was the only Gov to record a punt in the win. The 34-yard punt was the first of his career and the first punt by a non-punter since Sheldon Layman had a 28-yard kick against Murray State last season.

GOVS- BUCCANEERS POSTGAME QUOTES

Austin Peay head coach Scotty Walden

Opening Statement… " "I'm just really proud of our football team. The word of this week was consistency talking about building on what we did last week at Tennessee and I think that there was a lot of great  film from that game I know we didn't win that game but a lot of film to reemphasize how good we can be and I think the kids saw glimpses of that and this week by far was out most consistent week of practice I felt like the first two weeks of practice leading up to those first two games the effort is always there, this group comes to work, just the ebbs and flows of execution were off and I feel like this week we settled into an in season rhythm and had a consistent week of practice, so couldn't have come out and have scripted it better, came out fired on all cylinders and it is awesome to see a complete team victory you know to allow three points in a game and to allow a special team offensive touchdown in addition to all the defensive fireworks was awesome to see very proud of our football team. every week if you look at us you know we have just built, built, built and that's what this deal is about. I talked to them today abouts it's a marathon not a sprint you know. Its about every single day, just gradual progression. And I am very, very proud of them buying into that every week, trying to be 1-0 each and every single day. And its not a cliché, its in our locker room right before you walk out every day and I think we got back to the basics of living by that. And very proud of our team" 

On Mike DiLiello… "I just can't say enough about him brother. To see him have a night like this is just so gratifying. Just because I am with him every day, and you know we spend a lot of time together. And he puts in so much work behind the scenes that people don't even see. He's the toughest and best leader I've ever coached quarterback. I am very proud of his performance tonight. He was dialed in. I thought he really executed the game plan at an elite level. Everything we talked about all week long was what we saw, and he went and executed. When he is on, we're pretty lethal. I thought he ran the ball effectively, I thought he threw the ball effectively. You know just could not be prouder of his preparation level. When you have a week of preparation like he had, there is no surprise he is going to play like that. You know he is our alpha, he is our leader, he's a senior leader at quarterback. He did what was expected of him tonight from a leadership standpoint as well. Just very, very proud of him." 

On the importance of the win… ""I think it has been building and we felt more want to. Man, we wanted to win so bad. I mean our kids I think talked all week about how we're hungry for a victory, we were 0-2 and hungry for a win. Let's get back in that win column and we really felt like we're making the right strides. I know it is hard for the outside world to see some time, but you know we see how we're meeting. We see how we're practicing. And you know there's a lot of good things going on and so it was really good for the kids to see that success come after a rough two weeks. But at the end of the day, we have got to keep getting better every single dday, and we can't worry about the past. This was a hard week dealing with distractions. You know everybody, social media, everybody in town, we had to deal with that, just talking about how great we played against Tennessee. I have never gotten so much praise for a loss in my life. I mean it was like Hey man you would have thought we won that game, and I know we played really well. You know we have high standards but at the same time we have to move on. The past is the past, after tomorrow we have put this one behind us and get ready for a really good Stephen F. Austin team. But man, I am so proud of our guys, like last week, and I'm so proud of the growth and showing each and every single day and we have to capitalize on the momentum. The momentum has been building ever since game one, building in Tennessee, and then we had momentum built tonight, we have to carry that momentum over in the conference opener and it is a big-time test on the road." 

Austin Peay quarterback Mike DiLiello

On breaking the single-game passing record… "I could not have done it without the guys up front and the receivers, but honestly I had no idea I was about to break the record. To go back into the game and break the record and have all those guys cheering me on and supporting me was a surreal experience and I am extremely grateful."

Austin Peay defensive back Jevon McIver Jr. 

On the defensive performance… "We focus on being a unity. Everything is better when we perform as a unity. This week, we focused on just being better – we worked all week and watched a lot of film The mood at practice was that we were not satisfied with how we performed and just wanted to be better every day."