2018 Austin Peay Governors football team

The 2018 Austin Peay Governors football team represented Austin Peay State University during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Governors, led by third-year head coach Will Healy, played their home games at Fortera Stadium as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 5–6, 3–5 in OVC play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

2018 Austin Peay Governors football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
2018 record	5–6 (3–5 OVC)
Head coach	Will Healy (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Wesley Satterfield (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Brandon Cooper (2nd season)
Home stadium	Fortera Stadium (Capacity: 10,000)

2018 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 10 Jacksonville State $^		7	–	1					8	–	3
No. 15 Southeast Missouri State ^		6	–	2					8	–	3
Eastern Kentucky		5	–	2					7	–	4
Murray State		5	–	3					5	–	6
Tennessee State		3	–	4					4	–	5
Eastern Illinois		3	–	5					3	–	8
Austin Peay		3	–	5					5	–	6
UT Martin		2	–	6					2	–	9
Tennessee Tech		1	–	7					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

On December 5, head coach Will Healy resigned to become the head coach at Charlotte.[1] He finished at Austin Peay with a three-year record of 13–21.

Previous season

The Governors finished the 2017 season 8–4, 7–1 in OVC play to finish in second place.

Preseason

OVC media poll

On July 20, 2018, the media covering the OVC released their preseason poll with the Governors predicted to finish in second place.[2] On July 23, the OVC released their coaches poll with the Governors also predicted to finish in second place.[3]

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Jacksonville State	134 (14)
2	Austin Peay	114 (1)
3	UT Martin	96
4	Tennessee State	91
5	Eastern Illinois	83
6	Eastern Kentucky	64
7	Murray State	39
8	Southeast Missouri State	35
9	Tennessee Tech	19

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Jacksonville State	126 (14)
2	Austin Peay	112 (4)
3	UT Martin	95
4	Eastern Illinois	73
5	Eastern Kentucky	69
6	Tennessee State	64
7	Southeast Missouri State	62
8	Murray State	24
9	Tennessee Tech	23

Preseason All-OVC team

The Governors had five players selected to the preseason all-OVC team.[4]

Offense Jeremiah Oatsvall – QB Ryan Rockensuess– G Kyle Anderton – T

Defense Jaison Williams – DL Gunnar Scholato– DB

Award watch lists

Award	Player	Position	Year
Buck Buchanan Award[5]	Jaison Williams	DE	JR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	2:30 p.m.	at No. 3 (FBS) Georgia*	No. 22	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	ESPN	L 0–45	92,746
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Presbyterian*		Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	ESPN+	W 24–0	5,166
September 15	5:00 p.m.	at Morehead State*		Jayne Stadium Morehead, KY	ESPN+	W 78–40	5,955
September 22	2:00 p.m.	at UT Martin	No. 24	Graham Stadium Martin, TN (Sgt. York Trophy)	ESPN+	L 7–37	1,497
September 29	3:00 p.m.	at No. 8 Jacksonville State		JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL	ESPN3	L 32–48	19,388
October 6	6:00 p.m.	Tennessee State		Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN (Sgt. York Trophy)	ESPN3	W 49-34	12,201
October 13	1:00 p.m.	at Southeast Missouri State		Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	ESPN+	L 27–31	6,467
October 27	4:00 p.m.	Tennessee Tech		Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN (Sgt. York Trophy)	ESPN+	W 41–10	7,236
November 3	4:00 p.m.	Eastern Kentucky		Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	ESPN+	L 13–17	6,094
November 10	1:00 p.m.	at Eastern Illinois		O'Brien Stadium Charleston, IL	ESPN+	L 21–52	2,149
November 17	4:00 p.m.	Murray State		Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	ESPN+	W 48–23	7,113
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

at Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Governors	0	0	0	0	0
No. 3 (FBS) Bulldogs	17	21	7	0	45

Presbyterian

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Hose	0	0	0	0	0
Governors	0	10	7	7	24

at Morehead State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Governors	22	21	14	21	78
Eagles	14	12	14	0	40

at UT Martin

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Governors	7	0	0	0	7
Skyhawks	6	0	17	14	37

at Jacksonville State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Governors	9	3	14	6	32
No. 8 Gamecocks	0	14	14	20	48

Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	7	14	6	7	34
Governors	7	21	14	7	49

at Southeast Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Governors	6	7	0	14	27
Redhawks	3	0	7	21	31

Tennessee Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	0	3	7	0	10
Governors	6	14	21	0	41

Eastern Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonels	3	0	7	7	17
Governors	7	6	0	0	13

at Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Governors	0	7	7	7	21
Panthers	14	21	3	14	52

Murray State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Racers	10	7	0	6	23
Governors	14	7	7	20	48

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	22	RV	RV	24	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Coaches	23	24	23	21	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2018-12-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. http://www.ovcsports.com/news/2018/7/10/media-pollsters-tab-jacksonville-state-as-2018-ovc-football-preseason-favorites.aspx
3. http://www.ovcsports.com/news/2018/7/10/jacksonville-state-picked-as-2018-ohio-valley-conference-football-favorites.aspx?path=football
4. http://www.ovcsports.com/news/2018/7/10/semos-terry-jsus-bridges-named-ovc-preseason-football-players-of-the-year.aspx?path=football
5. "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced". August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.