CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Nine Governors will don the pads one final time at Governors Stadium as Austin Peay State University football team hosts Southeast Missouri, 4 p.m., Saturday, in the 2015 home finale.
The Governors will be closing out the second season at their refurbished home with a visit from Southeast Missouri—the last Ohio Valley Conference foe to grace the rebuilt digs. Austin Peay (0-9, 0-6 OVC) hopes to snap an eight-game home losing streak against the Redhawks (3-5, 2-2 OVC). The Govs last home win against Southeast Missouri came in the first meeting between the two as OVC opponents, in 1991.
Austin Peay’s defense—led by Roderick Owens’ team-leading third interception—held the Tigers to 76 yards passing and 241 yards total last week, both lows against a Division I foe since meetings against Southeast Missouri in 2012 (36 yards passing) and 2011 (295 total yards). Over the last six quarters—dating back to the second half against top-ranked Jacksonville State—Austin Peay has allowed 338 total yards and 20 total points.
But in that same span, Austin Peay’s offense has notched just one touchdown and 13 total points. While Kendall Morris bounced back from a pair of limited outings with an 18-carry, 76-yard performance on a mud-strewn field at Tennessee State, a still-youthful offense (66 percent of Austin Peay’s offensive starters through nine games have been freshmen or sophomores) has struggled to find its way through the air, breaking the century mark in passing yards just twice in the last six games.
Southeast Missouri has its share of passing struggles—the Redhawks rank eighth in the OVC with 156.1 passing yards per game—but can always target Paul McRoberts when things look dire. The 6-3, 197-pound senior from St. Louis is fifth in the conference in both receptions (6.0) and receiving yards (82.4) per game.
McRoberts branched out last weekend with a 69-yard punt return for touchdown against Tennessee Tech, one of two touchdowns secured by the Redhawks special teams unit. And junior transfer Tremane McCullough brought home OVC Newcomer of the Week honors after running roughshod to the tune of 138 yards against the Golden Eagles.
Scouting the Redhawks
Freshman Dante Vandeven’s numbers aren’t eye-popping (942 yards, six touchdowns), but don’t let that fool you; the quarterback from Jackson, Missouri, has found plenty of ways to help the Redhawks this season, throwing for 221 yards and adding another 46 on the ground in last month’s win against Murray State and earning STATS FCS Freshman of the Week for the week of Sept. 21 after leading three fourth-quarter touchdown drives in Southeast Missouri’s near-upset of 23rd-ranked Indiana State.
The Redhawks have playmakers all over the defense, including linebackers Roper Garrett (8.6 tackles/game) and Chad Meredith (1.25 TFL/game) and a pair of ballhawks in the secondary—Mike Ford (four interceptions) leads the OVC in picks, closely followed by teammate Eriq Moore with three. Moore intercepted a Trey Taylor pass in last season’s meeting between the two squads.
Last Time Out against Southeast Missouri
Damien Whitfield’s pick-six provided the only bright spot for Austin Peay in a 42-7 loss at Cape Girardeau in 2014. McRoberts had six catches for 117 yards and two scores for Southeast Missouri, while Justin Roberson’s 65 yard-rushing performance paced the Governors offense.
Southeast Missouri rolled to 531 yards total offense, limiting the Governors to 284 yards—the eighth and final time in 2014 that the Govs failed to crack 300 yards total offense.