BOZEMAN, Mont. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Austin Peay football continues to shake up the Football Championship Subdivision landscape after going on the road and defeating Sacramento State 42-28 to earn a trip to the FCS quarterfinals.

Now the Governors will turn their attention to No. 5 overall seed Montana State in what will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Montana State fell to its Big Sky rival and Austin Peay’s previous opponent Sacramento State 34-21 during the regular season.

Something will have to give on Friday, when Austin Peay’s No. 7 ranked rush defense faces off against Montana State’s No. 8 ranked rushing offense.

Coming off its fourth win over a ranked opponent this season, Austin Peay will look to improve to 3-0 during its first-ever playoff appearance run.

Last Saturday, the Govs poured it on Sacramento State early on, scoring 21 points in the opening quarter.

Senior quarterback JaVaughn Craig added to his magical run of a season against the Hornets, accounting for 368 yards of total offense and three touchdowns.

DeAngelo Wilson also continued his case of being one of the top offensive weapons in the entire country. He brought in eight passes for 132 yards and a touchdown in the win over Sacramento state and currently leads all FCS players with 1,446 yards.

Baniko Harley ripped off a 45-yard touchdown run against Sacramento State in the opening quarter, as he took the snap from the Wildcat formation and bolted thought the middle of the Hornet defense. Don’t be surprised if Governor football coach Mark Hudspeth goes to the same package a time or two against the Bobcats.

After a first-round bye, the Bobcats tore Albany’s defense to shreds 47-21 to extend their winning streak to five games.

Tucker Rovig went 24-of-30 through the air with 279 yards and three touchdowns. Kevin Kassis was a great benefiter of Rovig’s, racking up 11 catches for 131 yards and a score.

MSU’s ground game is nothing to scoff at, as they have rushed for a school record 3,444 yards this season and 42 rushing touchdowns. Even though Logan Jones leads the team with 807 yards and eight touchdowns, six other Bobcats have also eclipsed 200 or more rushing yards on the year.

The Governor offensive line will have its hands full when attempting to keep Buck Buchanan Award finalist Bryce Sterk out of the backfield. Right now he sits at 20.0 TFL’s and 15 sacks on the season.

Two-way player Troy Anderson will likely return after missing the Bobcats’ previous two contests due to injury. The athlete has made his mark on both sides of the ball, gaining 336 yards on the ground and seven touchdowns as a rusher while making 54 tackles as a linebacker.

The Bobcats have reached 10 victories on the season for just the fifth time in school history.

Austin Peay (11-3, 7-1 OVC) heads to take on Montana State (10-3, 6-2 Big Sky) at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13.

PODCAST:
Hear from Brian Rives and Van Stokes, two of the announcers for Austin Peay football. They provide a behind the scenes look at the team this year, Coach Mark Hudspeth, and what fans can expect from the Austin Peay Governors.

https://soundcloud.com/clarksville-conversation/brian-rives-and-van-stokes-the-voices-of-govs-football