For five plays at the Austin Peay goal line late in the first half, the Georgia Bulldogs couldn't find 18 inches to gain the end zone.

Stonewalling ANY offense from a foot-and-a-half for five plays is nigh-impossible. That's just a long time to hold any offense at bay through a combination of impeccable execution and incredible luck when you've got 11 guys who have to move in unison with no margin for error. Now add in the opponent across the line – Georgia, THAT Georgia, not Southern or State or even Tech – but Georgia Classic from the SEC, winners of two national titles in the last four seasons. Their five-star backups have five-star backups. Their disasters are everyone else's fondest dreams. Teams with depth charts more well-stocked with pedigreed prospects than Austin Peay have yielded that 18 inches with far less fuss than the Govs put up Saturday afternoon.

Yield, the Govs did not. And regardless of anything else that happened, the final score between an FCS school and a high-major with title aspirations is supposed to skew toward lopsided, perhaps much more lopsided than Saturday's 28-6 final would suggest; as Don Draper taught us, that's what the money is for – those five plays showed exactly what Austin Peay has defensively this year.

A bunch of absolute maniacs who are not afraid of anybody on the opposite side of the ball.

"Coach [Greg] Jones put us in great positions," Austin Peay head coach Jeff Faris said of his defensive coordinator. "We mixed up early looks because we couldn't make it easy on them, because just standing on the field, you could see the size mismatch. In that situation [on the goal line], when we know what's coming… that fight, that grit, that resolve, that's everything we want to be at Austin Peay. Our guys don't care [about the size difference]; they come together every day and fight and respond, no matter the situation."

The sequence played out like Jones – who called a masterful first half overall and saved his opus for the final seconds before the break – knew what was coming. On first down, a rush straight from Nate Frazier (the second-ranked running back in the Class of 2024 who held offers from every school you've ever heard of) into the meaty paws of Charles Crews III (three-year letterman at Bloomsburg in Pennsylvania whose career-best performance came against Seton Hill in 2024) was snuffed for nothing.

Timeout Govs. Fifteen seconds on the clock. Georgia coach Kirby Smart spitting tacks on the sideline, absolutely apoplectic, face the color of his visor. For that shot alone, this is worth the price of admission. The Govs have made a two-time national title winner absolutely LIVID. Put it on the recruiting materials for next year – all of them, not just football.

Second down, holding in the end zone. No shame and really, no argument. Happens sometimes. Ellis Ellis Jr. will get no shade in these words.

Okay, so first down again. Clock winding down. Gunner Stockton (No. 7 quarterback in the nation in 2022) looks outward to Zachariah Branch (the top receiver recruit in the country in 2023), who drops the ball after Austin Peay defensive back Rishi Rattan (three-star ranking out of Kansas in 2020) nearly made the break to pick it off at the pylon.

Second down again. Stockton drops and attempts to find Sacovie White-Helton in the back of the end zone, only Jalon Williams is stuck to him like glue and breaks up the pass.

Third down. Time in the half for one more play, regardless of what's happening, and Georgia is out of timeouts by this point. There's no real reason to stand on ceremony anymore, no reason to play for the clock should something go wrong. This is the part where SEC talent is supposed to blast FCS grit straight off the ball and pave a path to the end zone.

Right?

Well… no.

Crews is in the backfield at the snap and blows the entire thing sky high. He's in Stockton's face almost immediately and shoestrings Chauncey Bowens for a stop behind the line. The clock runs out on the half. The Govs head into the locker room elated. 

"It goes back to coaching," said Myles Wiley, who forced two Georgia fumbles during the contest. "We expected to be in that situation, and we expected to get those stops, because that's how confident we are. We practice that scenario, and when it comes up, there's no second-guessing. Executing it was a big accomplishment for us."  

The second half? Yeah, they played that too, after a lengthy delay. Georgia put some of those five-star hosses to work and pulled away in the fourth quarter. Whatever. Zero concern about that. The part where Austin Peay held Georgia to a foot of yardage with their backs to the wall across five plays? The part where all those all-galaxy recruits couldn't really put away the feisty upstarts from Stacheville until far later than logic would've otherwise dictated?

That's the part that'll stick long after the whistle. That's the part that's going to leap off the film for every opponent the Govs have to face from now until this season ends, whether that's in November in Stephenville against Tarleton State – and what a matchup THAT is shaping up to be – or in Nashville on January 3. Backed up against the wall against one of the meanest, nastiest offensive lines ever assembled, the Govs refused to surrender 18 inches of real estate.

Doing that anywhere is impressive. Doing it between the hedges against the vaunted Bulldogs? That's the stuff that leaves opponents searching for answers before the questions even get asked on gameday. You never want to put something on tape for future opponents to scheme against. But putting something on film to give them something to worry about – like, say, how you break through against a defense ferocious enough to stonewall Georgia? That's what opposing offensive coordinators' nightmares are made of.