JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Redshirt freshman receiver and kick returner Denver Harper, of the Austin Peay State University football team, has been named Stats Perform FCS National Specialist of the Week, as well as United Athletic Conference Specialist of the Week and Freshman of the Week for the week of Oct. 5, 2026.

In his typically efficient fashion, Harper needed just six touches to have a massive impact in Austin Peay's 42-17 Homecoming victory against New Haven, Saturday. He opened the scoring for the Govs with a 10-yard first quarter touchdown reception to put the Govs up early against the Charger, catching two of his three passes on the day during the opening drive. 

The final four minutes of the second quarter will go down as one of the greatest stretches of play by Austin Peay special teams in the history of the program, and Harper was one of the driving catalysts. On a punt, Harper fielded it off the bounce and began breaking tackles and dancing through defenders; he took it 82 yards for his second punt return touchdown of the season to stake Austin Peay to a 28-10 lead. 

Two minutes later, the Chargers trotted out for a long field goal attempt which came up well short. Harper, back deep for just such an occasion, took the ball out of the end zone, built up a head of steam and raced through the New Haven field goal unit for a kick-six of 109 yards (officially 100 thanks to NCAA stat-keeping software), becoming both the first player in program history with multiple special teams touchdowns in one game and the first Gov ever to return a missed field goal for a score. 

Harper piled up 227 all-purpose yards and has reached a staggering level of efficiency with his touches this season; he's amassed 685 yards in 2026 (304 receiving, 233 punt return, 100 missed field goal return, 48 rushing) and scored nine touchdowns and needed just 26 touches to do so – an average of 26.3 yards per touch, and a current rate of 2.89 touches per score. 

Translation: if Denver Harper gets the ball so much as three times in a game, he's likely scoring a touchdown and getting you nearly 80 yards in some fashion. 

Harper is the first player in program history to earn multiple Stats National Player of the Week honors in the same season; he was the National Freshman of the Week for the week of Sept. 12. He's the first player in UAC history to earn multiple weekly honors in the same week, and the first Gov to earn multiple conference awards in the same week since Drae McCray was named Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week for the week of November 21, 2021. 

Harper and the Govs are back in action Saturday for a top-10 showdown with Tarleton State at Fortera Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.