2020 Austin Peay Governors football team

The 2020 Austin Peay Governors football team represents Austin Peay State University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Governors are led by Scotty Walden and play their home games at Fortera Stadium. They are competing as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.

2020 Austin Peay Governors football
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 13
2020 record	0–3 (0–0 OVC)
Head coach	Marquase Lovings (interim; fall season) Scotty Walden (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Scotty Walden, Josh Cochran, Austin Silvoy (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Chris Kappas (1st season)
Home stadium	Fortera Stadium (Capacity: 10,000)

2020 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Jacksonville State			–						3	–	1
Eastern Illinois			–							–
Murray State			–							–
Tennessee State			–							–
Tennessee Tech			–							–
UT Martin			–							–
Southeast Missouri State			–						0	–	1
Austin Peay			–						0	–	3
As of January 19, 2021; Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Governors finished the 2019 season ranked No. 8 in the FCS standings and went 11–4, 7–1 in OVC play to finish in a tie for first place.

Though they were co-champions with Southeast Missouri State, the Governors received the Ohio Valley Conference’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. They advanced to the Quarterfinals after beating Furman and Sacramento State before they lost 24–10 to Montana State.

Schedule

Due to COVID-19, the OVC made the decision to postpone conference games to Spring 2021, allowing all member schools to play 3 non-conference games in the fall. However, OVC games were moved to Spring 2021

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 29	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 11 Central Arkansas*	No. 13	Cramton Bowl Montgomery, AL (FCS Kickoff)	ESPN	L 17–24	2,000	[1]
September 12	3:00 p.m.	at Pittsburgh*		Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ACC Network	L 0–55
September 19	11:00 a.m.	at No. 13 (FBS) Cincinnati*		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	ESPN+	L 20–55
February 21	1:00 p.m.	at Tennessee Tech		Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN	OVC on ESPN+
February 28	2:00 p.m.	Tennessee State		Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	OVC on ESPN+
March 14	2:00 p.m.	at Southeast Missouri		Houck Stadium Cape Girardeau, MO	OVC on ESPN+
March 21	2:00 p.m.	UT-Martin		Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	OVC on ESPN+
March 28	2:00 p.m.	at Jacksonville State		JSU Stadium Jacksonville, AL	OVC on ESPN+
April 3	2:00 p.m.	Murray State		Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	OVC on ESPN+
April 11	1:00 p.m.	at Eastern Illinois		O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	OVC on ESPN+
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

[2]

Game summaries

vs. Central Arkansas

Game One – No. 13 Austin Peay Governors vs. No. 11 Central Arkansas Bears (Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Governors	7	3	0	7	17
No. 11 Bears	0	6	7	11	24

at Crampton Bowl • Montgomery, Alabama

• Date: Saturday, August 29, 2020
• Game time: 8:00 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: Cloudy • Temperature: 81 °F (27 °C) • Wind: NE 3 mph
• Game attendance: 2,000
• Referee: Bob Johnson
• TV announcers (ESPN): Matt Barrie (play-by-play), Mike Golic Jr. (analyst), Lauren Sisler (sideline)
• Pregame line: Central Arkansas by 5 • Odds to win: Central Arkansas 57.4% • Game summary: ESPN NCAA

Game information

First quarter (14:44) APSU – CJ Evans Jr. 75 yard rush, Grant Paulette kick (Drive: 1 play, 75 yards, 0:16; Austin Peay 7–0) Second quarter (11:38) APSU – Grant Paulette 28 yard field goal (Drive: 6 plays, 42 yards, 3:09; Austin Peay 10–0) (7:37) UCA – Hayden Ray 30 yard field goal (Drive: 12 plays, 63 yards, 4:01; Austin Peay 10–3) (3:51) UCA – Hayden Ray 27 yard field goal (Drive: 4 plays, 2 yards, 1:25; Austin Peay 10–6) Third quarter (14:00) UCA – Kierre Crossley 34 yard rush, Hayden Ray kick (Drive: 3 plays, 56 yards, 1:00; Central Arkansas 13–10) Fourth quarter (7:44) UCA – Hayden Ray 32 yard field goal (Drive: 6 plays, 36 yards, 1:13; Central Arkansas 16–10) (1:40) APSU – Jeremiah Oatsvall 1 yard rush, Grant Paulette kick (Drive: 7 plays, 60 yards, 2:36; Austin Peay 17–16) (0:34) UCA – LuJuan Winningham 10 yard pass from Breylin Smith, 2-point pass good (Drive: 6 plays, 78 yards, 1:06; Central Arkansas 24–17)

Statistics	APSU	UCA
First downs	16	23
Plays–yards	70–333	80–458
Rushes–yards	38–152	31–175
Passing yards	181	283
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	14–33–1	26–49–2
Time of possession	32:06	27:54

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Austin Peay	Passing	Jeremiah Oatsvall	14/31, 181 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	CJ Evans Jr.	10 carries, 98 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Jay Parker	3 receptions, 55 yards
Central Arkansas	Passing	Breylin Smith	26/49, 283 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Kierre Crossley	12 carries, 110 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Tyler Hudson	5 receptions, 82 yards

at Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Governors	0	0	0	0	0
Panthers	21	21	0	13	55

at Cincinnati

	1	2	3	4	Total
Governors	3	0	3	14	20
No. 13 (FBS) Bearcats	14	14	14	13	55

References

1. "Central Arkansas tops Austin Peay 24-17 in first game". ESPN.com. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
2. "2020 Austin Peay Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved April 16, 2020.