There are no contenders for which play was the best for Austin Peay in Saturday's 13-7 win against Utah Tech – that honor goes to Romon Copeland's 52-yard house call that was the only touchdown of the game for the Govs. But the most impactful might have gone wholly unnoticed and unremarked upon outside a line in the box score.

It's early in the fourth quarter. Trailing by three points, the Trailblazers have mounted a drive. A third-and-six goes for seven. On third and one to start the period, Utah Tech quarterback Bronson Barben broke out the tush push for two to convert.

First-and-10 from the Trailblazers' 38-yard-line. Shamar Garrett lines up in the slot for Utah Tech. Over him, freshman Stephen Ellison II.

A word on Garrett – he's been around college football for a minute. He was a Freshman All-American kick returner at San Jose State, posting the second-best single-season kickoff return average (31.0 yards) in program history. In St. George, he's featured less in the ground game and more in the slot, where his elusiveness provides an intriguing element in space. Tl;dr: Buddy can scoot.

Ellison is playing about seven yards off, respecting the speed. A canny move by the young man from Murfreesboro who's starting to carve out his own reputation. The snaps have become more frequent, and the production has risen commensurately. Saturday, he posted a career-high seven tackles in his third career start from Austin Peay's striker position, a hybrid linebacker/defensive back role that moves Ellison all over the formation.

"You watch him in practice, and you'd be shocked he's a freshman," said Austin Peay head coach Jeff Faris. "The things he's able to take in and comprehend, the way he's able to play fast and anticipate, that's a credit to Coach [Kevin] Creasy and the Oakland program he came from. He works his tail off; he's great for the culture and the DB room. It's no surprise that he played as well as he did today."

A man in motion for Utah Tech trips out left for the host near the Austin Peay sideline. That's No. 22 for Utah Tech, Josh Rillos. Snap. Fake. Garrett goes up the seam. Rillos heads toward the sideline on an out, and Ellison moves with him.

At this point, right here, Ellison is out of the play. Once he steps toward Rillos, he and Garrett have drawn even at the Utah Tech 45-yard line and are heading in opposite directions. Barben goes through his progressions, leaving Rillos as his check-down option. Garrett hits the 50 and goes into his break toward the Austin Peay sideline and finds what he – and Barben – think is a soft spot in the coverage around the Austin Peay 46. Easily past the sticks, nice gain, another first down, and the Trailblazers are in Governor territory for the second consecutive drive and just the fourth time in the game.

Except.

After selling his intentions to follow Rillos with that step, Ellison pivots and begins dropping about the time Barben cocks his right arm back, and Garrett begins his cut. No way, right? He's completely reversing momentum, needs to cover at least nine yards and has to the count of maybe two-Mississippi to do it.

Barben fires. It's not a bullet – he has to get it over a lurking Garrett Hawkins dropped into coverage for the Govs, but it has plenty of zip on it, a level of juice that should be more than sufficient to pick up 15 and the first. But Ellison keeps closing. And closing.

And closing.

Ellison dives. His hands meet the ball a split-second before it would have hit Garrett square on the four of his uniform. First-and-10 in Austin Peay territory becomes second-and-10 inside the Utah Tech 40.

"Just trying to execute the game plan," was Ellison's modest explanation after the game. "I was just trying to read the quarterback and force him into a bad decision. Luckily, I was able to do it."

Two plays and four yards later, the Trailblazers were forced to punt; in five subsequent fourth-quarter drives, the closest Utah Tech would get to midfield would be when Eni Falayi caught the final pass of the game at the Trailblazer 31 and began the elaborate, and ultimately ill-fated, game of laterals that ended with a declined Utah Tech illegal forward pass penalty and a second-straight road win for Austin Peay – both against United Athletic Conference foes. It goes down simply as "broken up by Ellison II, Stephen" in the play-by-play, the first breakup in his career on Ellison's personal stat line, but snuffing out that drive goes down as the most important play to date in Ellison's still-blossoming Austin Peay career and low-key one of the most pivotal plays of Austin Peay's season to this point.

It's those little things – quality moments that elicit high-fives and head taps but not something with an opportunity to lead SportsCenter – that wind up lasting as you build a program. Winning those games are a total unit effort, which was not lost on Faris after the game.

"Just an unbelievable effort by our defense," he said. "We knew it wouldn't be a pretty one, but we've done a great job of getting better every week." 

Plays like Ellison's pass breakup, while not flashy, are the building blocks of a team's identity. They demonstrate the grit, awareness, and execution that coaches preach and players strive to embody. As the Govs prepare for Homecoming this week, they'll look to carry forward the defensive tenacity and opportunistic playmaking that helped secure wins the last two road weeks. A freshman making a game-changing play that barely registers in the box score serves as a reminder of the potential this team has moving forward.