NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University football team closes out non-conference play with a major FBS opponent when the Govs travel to Vanderbilt, Saturday, for a 3 p.m. contest against the Commodores at Dudley Field. The game will be aired on the SEC Network.
The contest will pit a winless Austin Peay squad against a winless Vanderbilt squad, but the Commodores have been fortunate to play each of their first three contests at home; Saturday will be the middle game of a three-game road trip for Austin Peay, set to conclude next weekend at Eastern Kentucky.
The Govs never found consistent offensive momentum last weekend at Southern Miss, with a 44-yard strike from Trey Taylor to Rashaan Coleman representing Austin Peay’s lone tally on the scoreboard in a 52-6 loss. It’s been boom or bust for the Governors offense early in 2015; of Austin Peay’s 433 total offensive yards through two games, 31 percent of that tally has come on five plays: receptions by Wesley Thomas (24 yards), Jared Beard (23 and 22 yards) and Juwan Davis (23 yards) in the opener, and Coleman’s touchdown last week. Austin Peay’s other 127 offensive plays this season have yielded an average of 2.3 yards per play.
Roderick Owens held his own against Southern Miss’ lanky, athletic receivers last week. The junior from Memphis, who led the Govs with three interceptions in 2014, snared his first 2015 pick and added two pass break-ups and four total tackles in defeat.
The Commodores suffered a 31-14 loss to 10th-ranked Georgia last week. Under second-year head coach Derek Mason, Vanderbilt looks to continue a run of recent success, with three bowl appearances in the last four seasons.