CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Looking to celebrate Homecoming with its third-straight victory, Austin Peay State University's football team is set to square off with No. 8 Tarleton State in a 3 p.m., United Athletic Conference battle at Fortera Stadium.

Austin Peay returns home after picking up back-to-back wins on the road at West Georgia and Utah Tech to improve to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in UAC play. With five games left in the season, the Governors are in sixth place in the UAC standings, with Tarleton State leading the league with a 3-0 record in conference play.

Saturday's game is the first meeting between Austin Peay and Tarleton State, with the Texans set to be the first team from the State of Texas to play in Fortera Stadium. The Govs are 1-2 at Fortera Stadium this season and are 29-10 at home since the start of the 2017 season. The Texans are 3-1 on the road this season and are 44-31 on the road under 15th-year head coach Todd Whitten.

Picked to finish second in the 2024 UAC Preseason Coaches Poll, the Texans have won five-straight games and are 6-0 against FCS teams this season, with their only loss coming against Baylor, 45-3, in Waco, Texas.

After averaging just 77.7 rushing yards per game in its first three games, Austin Peay has rushed for 257.0 yards per game in its last four outings. Four different Governors have rushed for 230-plus yards this season, while seven have rushed for a touchdown. La'Vell Wright leads the team with 391 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns despite being unavailable for the last two games due to injury.  

The Governors have also controlled the run on defense, limiting their opponents to just 97.0 rushing yards per game over the last four contests. Austin Peay's defense has held two of its last four opponents under 100 rushing yards, with Southern Utah's 151 rushing yards being the most it has surrendered during that stretch.

Entering Saturday's 79th Homecoming game, Austin Peay is 31-46-1 all-time in Homecoming games. The Governors have won their last two Homecoming contests and five of their last seven after beating North Alabama, 49-39, on Homecoming last season.

Austin Peay also will honor its eight Governors Ring of Honor inductees – Connie Caldwell-Rogan (volleyball), Carlton Flatt (football), Chris Fletcher (football), Chelsea Harris Phillips (women's golf), Kordell Jackson (football), Breigh Jones (track & field), Lyle Miller-Green (baseball), and Jamie "Cat" Walker (baseball) – on Maynard Family Field during the third timeout of the second quarter on Saturday.

In addition, Saturday's game is the five-year reunion for Austin Peay's 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Championship team. The 2019 Governors football team broke a 42-yard championship drought and advanced to the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs while winning a program-record 11 games.

Single-game and group tickets are available online at LetsGoPeay.com/BuyTickets, through TicketMaster, or by calling the Austin Peay Athletics ticket office at 931-221-PEAY (7329). Special ticket offers and information on everything happening in and around Fortera Stadium can be found in this week's Fan Experience preview.

Fans can also purchase tickets to the Blazin' VIPeay Zone, presented by Buffalo Wild Wings, available at all home games this season. Buffalo Wild Wings will provide all-you-can-eat food and drinks – including beer in the Blazin' VIPeay Zone, which will be located in the south end zone of Fortera Stadium under the scoreboard and will open one hour prior to kickoff, when the gates open, before closing at the end of halftime.

Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Alex Gould and Ethan Schmidt on the call. Fans also can tune into the Governors Sports Network on ESPN Clarksville (104.1 FM/540 AM) or via the TuneIn app to hear Brian Rives and Van Stokes call all the action. ESPN Clarksville will kick off its coverage by re-airing the Austin Peay Football Coaches Show at 1 p.m., followed by pregame coverage, which begins an hour before kickoff.

NOTABLY

REPEAYT CHAMPS

For the first time in program history, Austin Peay won back-to-back conference championships with the 2023 United Athletic Conference and the 2022 ASUN Conference titles. When you add in the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference championship, the Govs have won three titles – in three conferences – since 2019.

THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'

Dating back to 2017, Austin Peay's 53 victories are tied for the ninth most in the FCS and are tied for seventh-most among current FCS programs. The Govs' 53 wins are the most among UAC members since 2017, with Central Arkansas (52) and Eastern Kentucky (43) in second and third, respectively. The Governors' 53 victories in the past eight seasons are the most in any eight-year stretch in program history and are more than the 51 victories they had in 19 seasons from 1998-2016. The Govs also have five winning seasons since 2017 after posting just eight winning seasons in their first 39 years in the FCS (1978-2016).

MEET THE GOVS

With just 35 returning letterwinners and 11 players that redshirted a season ago, Austin Peay has 59 newcomers on its 2024 roster. The 59 newcomers are made up of 26 true freshmen and 33 transfers, including eight players who have been at the Power 5 level. Austin Peay's 33 transfers are made up of 19 transfers from FBS programs, seven from FCS programs, and seven from Division II programs.

ALL THREE PHASES

Against Alabama A&M, Austin Peay scored an offensive, defensive, and special teams touchdown in the first quarter – possibly for the first time in program history. The last game the Governors scored in all three phases was against ETSU (9/16/23); however, they weren't scored in a single quarter. Going deeper into Austin Peay's digital recording-keeping era indicates the only other occurrence of scoring touchdowns in all three phases was in a 34-27 win against No. 11 Tennessee Tech (10/1/94).

FARIS ERA, YEAR I

A Knoxville, Tennessee native, Jeff Faris was named Austin Peay's 22nd head football coach in December 2023. In his first season at the helm of the Governors football program, Faris looks to join Dave Aaron (5-4, 1946), James "Boots" Donnelly (8-3, 1977), Watson Brown (7-4, 1979), Rick Christophel (7-4, 2007), Mark Hudspeth (11-4, 2019), and Scotty Walden (4-2, 2020-21) as the seventh head coach in program history to post a winning record in their first season. A winning season for the Govs would mark the third-straight Austin Peay head coach to have a winning record in their debut season.

SCOUTING THE TEXANS

• Saturday is the first meeting between Austin Peay and Tarleton State.
• The Governors are 1-0 all-time against teams from Texas; however, the Texans are the first team from Texas that the Govs have ever hosted in Fortera Stadium.
• In its first season eligible for the FCS playoffs after completing its Division I reclassification, Tarleton State is 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the UAC. The Texans received three first-place votes and were picked to finish second in the UAC Preseason Coaches Poll after going 8-3 overall and 4-2 in the UAC in 2023.
• Averaging 222.9 rushing yards per game, Tarleton State ranks ninth in the FCS and second in the UAC in rushing offense this season. The Texans rank 32nd nationally in scoring offense (29.7) and 37th in total offense (386.0), they rank third and fourth in the UAC, respectively, in those categories. Quarterback Victor Gabalis has completed 60 passes for 879 yards and six touchdowns and is tied for second in the league with a 146.7 passing efficiency rating. Preseason All-UAC wide receiver Darius Cooper leads the Texans with 33 catches for 546 yards and four touchdowns.
• Tarleton State's defense ranks fifth in the FCS and leads the UAC with 16 turnovers gained. The Texans rank fifth in the FCS in interceptions (10) and 12th in fumbles recovered (6) while leading the UAC in both categories. Seven Texans have an interception this season, with Blake Smith (3) and Ty Rawls (2) being the only ones with multiple picks. In addition, five Texans have forced a fumble and four have recovered a fumble, led by Kasyus Kurns, who has two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
• The 2023 UAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, running back Kayvon Britten has more rushing attempts (158) this season than the Texans have passing attempts (152) as a team. Britten ran for 1,150 yards and 16 TDs in 2023 and has already totaled 1,160 yards and 12 TDs this season. Britten leads the FCS in rushing yards and rushing yards per game (165.7); he also ranks second in the FCS in all-purpose yards per game (168.43), fifth in yards per carry (7.34), and fifth in scoring (10.3).

UP NEXT

Austin Peay hits the road for the final time in the 2024 regular season when it takes on North Alabama in a 4 p.m. UAC contest, Nov. 2, at Braley Stadium in Florence, Alabama. The Week 10 contest between the Governors and Lions will be streamed on ESPN+.

For news and updates throughout the 2024 season, follow Govs football on X (@GovsFB) and Instagram (@GovsFootball) or stay tuned here at LetsGoPeay.com.