CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The 2026 football season kicks off in Stacheville, Thursday night, when Austin Peay State University's football team hosts Gardner-Webb in a 6 p.m. kickoff at Fortera Stadium to begin the third season of head coach Jeff Faris' tenure.
The Governors enter Year Three under Faris with elevated expectations. Ranked in the top-20 in both the Stats Perform and AFCA Preseason polls and picked to finish third in the United Athletic Conference, Austin Peay returns the preseason UAC Offensive Player of the Year under center in redshirt junior quarterback Chris Parson, Preseason All-American offensive lineman Joshua Sales Jr. and a pair of preseason all-UAC pass-catchers in tight end Jackson Head and wide receiver Jaden Robinson.
The Governors return 78.6% of their total rushing yards, including 70.2% of their running back rushing yards from 2025. Additionally, APSU also returns 20-of-27 rushing touchdowns from a season ago. Parson led the Govs' rushing attack with 168 carries for 743 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground in 2025. The Govs return four of their top five running backs from last season in Courtland Simmons, Kaden Williams, Corey Richardson, and Isaiah Groves – all of whom totaled at least 30 carries, 190 yards, and one rushing touchdown in the previous campaign.
Austin Peay returns four defensive starters in Antori Hamilton, Jake Stonebraker, Kendyle Ball, and Trevor Hardy. The quartet combined for 131 tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and five pass breakups. Hardy, the Governors leading returning tackler with 49, is shifting from last season's role at strong safety to free safety entering his senior season.
Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Barry Gresham 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's coverage begins with a live pregame show at 5 p.m.
NOTABLY
Defend the Fort
Austin Peay finished the regular season with a 6-0 record at home, posting the fourth undefeated season at home in program history. The Govs went 4-0 at home in 1940, 6-0 in 1949, and 5-0 in 1964. The Govs posted the second undefeated regular season in Fortera Stadium (renamed in 2016) history, joining the 2023 UAC Championship team that went 5-0 at The Fort in the regular season, before falling to Chattanooga at home in the first round of the FCS Playoffs. The Govs' six wins at home also matched the 1949 and 2019 OVC Championship teams for the most wins at home in a season in program history. A win at The Fort against Gardner-Webb would be Austin Peay's seventh-straight at home, the longest home winning streak for the Govs since 1964-65.
Leap Year
Head coach Jeff Faris looks to keep the momentum from his second-year improvement at Austin Peay, which saw a three-win improvement from Year One (4-8) to Year Two (7-5)—tied for the fifth-largest leap by a second-year head coach in FCS in 2025, alongside former Gardner-Webb head coach Cris Reisert, who left after the season to become the offensive coordinator at Toledo. Eight-or-more victories in 2026 would make Faris just the second head coach (out of 22) in the 90-year history of Austin Peay to improve their win total each of their first three seasons.
New Faces
The Govs welcome their share of newcomers into the ranks each year, with 58 newcomers to the 2026 roster. Of these, 26 made the opening-week two-deep, including 2025 OVC-Big South All-Conference defensive lineman David Portu, FBS transfer linebackers Eli Jones (Western Kentucky) and Canaan Williams (Kent State) and defensive back Tywan Royal, who spent the last two seasons at ETSU after beginning his career at Gardner-Webb in 2023.
PREVIEWING THE RUNNIN' BULLDOGS
The Series
In their first win in three tries against Gardner-Webb, the Govs rode a standout day from quarterback Mike Dillielo, who finished 31-of-41 passing for 372 yards and a pair of scores in a 41-14 win at Fortera Stadium on October 14, 2023. Tre Shackelford (8 receptions, 126 yards) and Trey Goodman (5 catches, 101 yards) both eclipsed the century mark in receiving and the Govs scored 28 second-half points en route to the victory.
Preseason Outlook
After going 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the OVC/Big South Football Association last season, Gardner-Webb was picked to finish fourth in the OVC under first-year head coach Kris McCullough. Runnin' Bulldogs running back Carson Gresock was one of 30 players nationally to appear on the Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List and is one of two All-OVC players returning to the Gardern-Webb roster.
Offensive Options
Cole Pennington, son of former New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington, returns under center after making 10 appearances in 2025, passing for 1,601 yards and seven touchdowns alongside five interceptions. The Runnin' Bulldogs have a lot to replace in the passing game after losing their top five receivers a year ago; Hampton transfer Tae'Shaun Johnson (35 catches, 403 yards, 2 touchdowns in 2025) will lead a new-look receivers room for Gardner-Webb.
Defensive Definition
One of the sorest spots for Gardner-Webb a year ago was red-zone defense; the Runnin' Bulldogs finished 124th nationally in red zone defense, surrendering scores on 93.0 percent of opponent red zone visits; the Governors were among the nation's leaders in red-zone scoring, finding points on 95.1 percent of their red zone visits in 2025. Leading tackler Cahari Haynes (78 tackles, 11.0 TFL) and all-league defensive back Josiah Harris (57 tackles, 5 interceptions) return to offset the losses of all-conference linemen Robert Holtz and Antonio O'Berry, who combined for 27.0 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks in 2025.
Up Next for the Govs
In the "official" Week One of the 2026 college football season, Austin Peay will make the trek down I-24 to take on Vanderbilt at FirstBank Stadium. The contest kicks at 6 p.m. and is scheduled to air on SEC Network+.
Season and single-game tickets are on sale now by calling 931-221-PEAY. For news, updates, and future ticket information, follow Govs football on X (@GovsFB), Instagram (@GovsFootball), and Facebook, or stay tuned here at LetsGoPeay.com.
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