GOVS-EAGLES POSTGAME NOTES

Notes following Austin Peay's 63-7 win against Morehead State, Saturday, at Fortera Stadium.

FROM THE TOP

• With its win, Austin Peay extended its home winning streak to eight games, tied for the longest in program history, and matching a streak that spanned from 1964-65. The Governors are outscoring opponents by an average of 26.9 points per game at home during that stretch.
• Austin Peay's 693 yards of total offense are the fourth-most in program history and its most since totaling 700 yards in last season's meeting against the Eagles (9/13/25).
• Austin Peay threw and rushed for 300 yards against the Eagles (317 passing, 376 rushing), it is the APSU's first time with 300 yards both on the ground and through the air since it had 301 passing yards and 308 rushing yards against Presbyterian (9/3/22).
• Austin Peay's 49 first-half points, 35 second-quarter points, and 11.1 yards per carry all are program records.

CAPTAINS/COIN TOSS

• Captains David Portu, Jackson Head, Chris Parson, Markell Redding, and Courtland Simmons took the coin toss for the Governors.
• Morehead State won the coin toss and has elected to receive the opening kickoff.
• Austin Peay is 2-0 when losing the opening coin toss and 9-6 under head coach Jeff Faris.
• Weather in Clarksville at kickoff: 91 degrees, fair skies, winds west at 10 miles per hour.

SERIES UPDATE            

• Austin Peay improved to 22-27 all-time against Morehead State and 14-9 against the Eagles in Clarksville.
• The Governors improved to 6-5 against Morehead State in nonconference games.
• The Govs won their seventh-straight game against Morehead State dating back to 2006.

THOSE ARE THE BREAKS

• Austin Peay improved to 2-0 when leading at halftime and 12-4 under head coach Jeff Faris.
• The Governors improved to 2-0 this season and 11-3 under Faris when leading through three quarters.

RANKED GOVS

• The Governors improved to 24-19 all-time when nationally ranked.
• The Governors improved to 16-3 all-time at home when nationally ranked.
• APSU now is 6-4 under Faris when ranked.

OFFENSIVE SPARKS

• In his one half of play, Chris Parson finished the game 12-of-15 with 260 yards through the air and a touchdown. He now ranks seventh all-time in both career passing yards (3,687) and touchdowns (28).
• Kaden Williams and Matthew Wilson rushed for 120 and 103 yards, respectively. They are the first Austin Peay duo to rush for 100 yards apiece since La'Vell Wright (142 yards) and Corey Richardson (102) against Alabama A&M (9/21/24).
• Williams is the first APSU running back to rush for 100-plus yards since La'Vell Wright had 140 against Southern Utah (9/28/24).
• Wilson – in just his fourth-career appearance and third as a Gov – is the first APSU quarterback to rush for 100 yards since Parson rushed for 194 yards against Tarleton State last season (11/22/25).
• Williams, Richardson, Kelvin Perkins III, and Isaiah Groves all scored touchdowns on the ground. It is the first time a quartet of Govs have tallied rushing scores since last season's meeting against the Eagles when since Govs accounting for rushing touchdowns.
• Austin Peay scored a touchdown on its first offensive play of the day on a 75-yard throw and catch from Chris Parson to Denver Harper. It is the first time Austin Peay has scored on its first offensive play of a game since CJ Evans' 75-yard rushing score against Central Arkansas (8/29/20) at the Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff.
• Harper's 72-yard reception is the longest by a Gov since Shemar Kirk's 79-yard reception against North Alabama last season (10/25/25)
• Denver Harper became the first Austin Peay wide receiver with a touchdown in three-straight games since Jaden Barnes scored a touchdown in four-straight games (11/2-23/24) to end the 2024 season.
• Harper's 196 yards of total offense is the most by a Gov since Jaden Barnes' 241 all-purpose yards against North Alabama (11/2/24).
• Kaden Williams' 80-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter was APSU's longest play of the season and the longest rush by a Gov since Javious Bond's 84-yard rushing score in last season's meeting against Morehead State (9/13/25).  

DEFENSIVE STANDS

• Austin Peay had a season-high 11 tackles for loss, tied for its most since having 12 tackles for loss against Murray State (10/15/22).
• Al Sandifer and RJ Jackson led the Govs with 1.5 tackles for loss.
• Kendyle Ball, Kendal Howard, Jefferson Bretanys Desca, Antori Hamilton, and Kingston Johnson also had one tackle for loss.
• Bretanys Desca led the Govs with one sack.
• Tywan Royal and Bretanys Desca also forced a fumble.
• APSU forced an Eagles' turnover on downs in the third quarter. The Govs now have forced a turnover on downs in six-straight games dating back to last season's game against Central Arkansas (11/8/25).
• Morehead State went 75 yards in 11 plays on its opening drive of the game. After that drive, the Govs held the Eagles to 131 total yards and 2.5 yards per play.

SPECIAL TEAMS SYNOPSIS

• With his 67-yard punt-return touchdown late in the first half, Denver Harper became the first Governor to return a punt for a score since Romon Copeland Jr.'s 82-yard touchdown against Alabama A&M (9/21/24).
• Hamilton DiBoyan kicked off nine times for 562 yards and 62.4-yard average. Morehead State averaged 18.6 yards per kick return. Throughout the season, when APSU kept opponents from reaching the 25-yard line, it forced a trio of three and outs.

GOVS-EAGLESPOSTGAME QUOTES

Austin Peay head coach Jeff Faris 

Opening statement… "I'm proud of our guys. I thought we were able to make plays offensively, protect the quarterback, and really grow from last week. Our challenge was to be the most improved team in the country from Week 2 to Week 3. I think we showed that in all three areas to hold that offense to only seven points. With all the points that they've scored, it says a lot about our defense as well. And then the punt return touchdown, I like where we're headed. We're not where we need to be yet. We've got a lot of work to do. We got a good group that wants to represent our university in the right way and play really, really hard."

On rebounding from last week… "I think you want to always hammer home the process. Where did our process fall short against Vanderbilt? We believe we should have won the game, but we didn't, and they beat us. We have to give them all the credit. What we showed were examples in our process that probably cost us in that game. We tried to fix those this week, and there are going to be some things that we continue to fix. We're going to look in the mirror every week, because I think we can. We have a special group, and that starts with the players, and we have a great assistant coaching staff, and we're capable of more than I've seen since I've been here. We have to be willing to be different. We had Nick Lavery come talk to the team on Friday. It was an unbelievable message. And that's going to be the kind of message for the rest of the year. The best of the best, they're different. And their actions reflect that. We got some room to grow, but we got the right guys."

On seeing looks from other players… "Yeah, I think it's important to get those guys reps because we think this league is the best in FCS football. It's the next man up mentality. So those guys got game reps tonight, did some really good things, made some mistakes, but we'll learn from it. But I think there should have been a lot of gained confidence and earned confidence from those quarterbacks with their reps. I think it's great to keep Chris healthy going into this first conference game. He should be feeling awesome, and then to get those guys reps for when they're needed because they will be."

Austin Peay quarterback Chris Parson

On climbing the record book… "I'm just focused on being the best quarterback I can be for this program, and just doing my job at a high level. The coaches do a great job of coaching me throughout the week. They do a great job of holding me to a high standard, and they've surrounded me with great players. And so, my main focus is going out there and executing at a high level. And we didn't play a perfect game today, but we still have room for improvement. It was great to get a win, and it was great to see some guys get opportunities today to make some plays."

On staying positive… "We knew that we needed to respond in a positive way. The coaches were very tough on us this week, just pushing us, making sure we were getting on track with everything, and squaring out the issues we did have and learning from last week's film. So, it was great to come out here and have some success, and so we've got to find a way to keep going. There will be things that we need to clean up this week, but we're just on the climb. Coach Faris always talks about us and our process. So, we have to find out ways to keep improving our process, changing our limits so that we can continue to keep winning games."

Austin Peay wide receiver Denver Harper

On his continued success through Week 3… "Honestly, I'm just doing my job. That's just my teammates. Every pass I caught today, I was just wide open because of my teammates. The O-line blocking, receivers blocking downfield, they're just creating that space for me to just show my speed and go score."

On taking a shot at the big play… "I'm just happy we're moving the ball. The more we move the ball, the more we put points on the board, the more we score, the more we win."