Chattanooga – 34 carries, 81 yards

Middle Tennessee – 22 carries, 44 yards

Georgia – 40 carries, 190 yards**

Morehead State – 19 carries, 6 yards

Abilene Christian – 29 carries, 92 yards

Utah Tech – 33 carries, 94 yards

** – Included here because Georgia is a juggernaut that just put 227 rushing yards on by-golly Alabama last Saturday, and that 190 number represents the Bulldogs' lowest output on the ground through four games in 2025. Also, this happened, and Kirby Smart is still mad about it.

These last six games, dating back to last season, have been among the best six-game stretches defending the run game for Austin Peay football in a good few years.

The totals? 177 carries, 507 yards (2.9 per carry, 84.5 per game), no 100-yard rushers, no single run longer than 34 yards. Last time the Govs held opponents below an average of 100 yards a game for six-straight was 2022, a stretch that did NOT include two FBS teams.

Utah Tech entered Saturday ranked 65th nationally in rushing; today, they're 76th. Abilene Christian was 53rd nationally before meeting the Govs, and 78th after. Morehead State? A quality 45th in yards per game on the ground through two games, then they met the Govs at Fortera Stadium on Sept. 13; when the dust settled, the Eagles had tumbled to 93rd in the nation on the ground.

"We're very different schematically," said Austin Peay head coach Jeff Faris. "[Defensive coordinator Greg] Jones has done an unbelievable job. We've played some real opponents, and to do that against those opponents speaks volumes about our scheme and the buy-in from our players."

It's pretty good right now in the trenches, is what I'm saying. Across both lines, the Govs are moving people – at some point, we will have to have a discussion about how much improvement we've seen along the offensive line as well, because my goodness, have they come a long way – and the defense is handling business in particularly dominant fashion. 

Schematically, the Govs are doing some great things, and credit must go to not only Jones but defensive line coach DeOn'Tae Pannell and linebackers coach Brandon Williams for knowing which buttons to push and where to apply pressure to maximize Austin Peay's performance along the first two levels of the Governor defense. The exotic stunts, shifts, blitzes, and delayed blitzes are more than just eye candy – they're a foundational part of the scheme and something that has caused opposing offenses fits. This has been a problem for opponents all season, and we're five games in at this point – that can no longer, even to the most jaded observers, be considered a fluke.

But that's only half the point. A good scheme is great; a great scheme is better. But if your players aren't as good as the ones on the other side of the ball, then all those fiddly bells and whistles, all that intricate game-planning, will be heaved into the fifth row sometime during another gashing run through the second level.

Fortunately, that's not happening for the Govs. Not with the stable of hosses developed by Jones, Pannell, Williams, and head coach Jeff Faris to man the first two levels of the Austin Peay defense. The Govs are two and three deep with talent and tenacity across the front, and [leans in close] that makes life so much easier for a football team in 2025.

Don't share with anyone else; that secret stays just between us.

"We're moving around more," said senior defensive lineman Davion Hood, who enters Week 6 tied for the team lead in tackles for loss (5.0) and sacks (2.0). "It's hard for teams to know where we're going to be at, what gaps we'll be in. We've got more bodies to plug into the game, so we have fresher legs throughout the game. But more importantly, culture has definitely changed. The guys who have come in have changed the culture, been more intentional about playing together."

The intentionality doesn't just stop on the field. Faris and his staff sought difference makers, and they found a whole depth chart full of them to step into the trenches each week.

"We don't play guys just to play them," Faris said. "We play guys who give us a chance to win, because it's not about what we know, it's what they can execute. And those guys make us right a lot. It's a fun group to coach."

This makes Saturday's matchup with West Georgia a fascinating "styles make fights" scenario. The Govs run defense, we've covered; West Georgia, though, technically not "ranked" in the FCS stat rankings because they're transitioning up from Division II, are averaging 214.0 yards per game on the ground, which would be a top-10 mark nationally and sandwiched between North Alabama and Tarleton State among United Athletic Conference schools. The irresistible force and the immovable object, set to do battle once more this weekend at Fortera Stadium.