Austin Peay7-5Austin Peay is the Clarksville program that went 38 years without beating an FBS opponent, then routed Middle Tennessee in 2025 to end the drought and validate a new coaching era.
For most of its history, Austin Peay was the program other Ohio Valley Conference and UAC schools penciled in as a likely win. The chip isn't about a single rival program -- it's about being overlooke…
Approaching
21 days
until kickoff · vs Gardner-Webb · Thu Aug 27 · 23:00 UTC
Austin Peay football is the Clarksville, Tennessee program that spent decades as an Ohio Valley Conference also-ran before a 2019-2023 stretch (two conference titles, two FCS playoff berths) and a stunning 2025 breakthrough: the Governors' first win over an FBS opponent since 1987, ending a 38-year drought and earning head coach Jeff Faris a contract extension through 2030.
The team's significant transfer additions and strong ceiling scenario suggest a competitive season ahead. With 27 incoming transfers and only 5 outgoing, Austin Peay is poised for improvement.
The Governor waits at the rail, watching for the next snap.
Austin Peay · Next-Season Outcome Band
Final-season-aware projection: floor / base / ceiling include conference title and CFP games where the model supports them, so a ceiling can exceed a 12-game regular season.
Recent Form · last 10 games
Three of five. Trending up, not yet hot.
Opens Aug 27
vs Gardner-Webb · at home
No high-engagement r/cfb discussions tracked for this program in the last year.
What moved it — fall camp · last 14 days
~ our readNot enough Austin Peay chatter this week to read the room.
We read 2 Austin Peay posts this week — not enough to call the room. Check back during the season.
Fanbase Health Index · Austin Peay · medium confidence
FBS rankings · 2025 season · all stats vs 136 FBS programs
No player stats logged for this program yet — stats appear once the season is underway.
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 30 | #140 | #141 | +16.5 | @Middle Tennessee | W 34–14 133 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 6 | #137 | #8 | +46.5 | @Georgia | L 6–28 127 | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Sep 13 | #104 | #244 | -25.5 | Morehead State | W 56–7 | 2-1 | 0-0 |
| 4 | Sep 21 | #106 | #123 | -2 | @Abilene Christian | L 31–45 | 2-2 | 0-1 |
| 5 | Sep 27 | #113 | #210 | -14 | Utah Tech | W 42–10 | 3-2 | 0-1 |
| 6 | Oct 4 | #108 | #158 | — | West Georgia | W 44–30 | 4-2 | 1-1 |
| 7 | Oct 11 | #107 | #166 | -10 | @Eastern Kentucky | L 20–34 | 4-3 | 1-2 |
| 9 | Oct 25 | #131 | #223 | -19.5 | North Alabama | W 56–28 | 5-3 | 2-2 |
| 10 | Nov 2 | #112 | #152 | -1.5 | @Southern Utah | L 17–33 | 5-4 | 2-2 |
| 11 | Nov 8 | #127 | #197 | -13.5 | Central Arkansas | W 41–38 | 6-4 | 3-2 |
| 12 | Nov 15 | #133 | #255 | -25.5 | Samford | W 30–16 | 7-4 | 3-2 |
| 13 | Nov 22 | #140 | #67 | +18.5 | @Tarleton State | L 44–45 | 7-5 | 3-3 |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 22 | @Tarleton State | L 44–45 | — | — | — | +0.272 | 49.4% | 129.2% | Defense's roughest night |
| Nov 15 | Samford | W 30–16 | — | — | — | +0.024 | 42.4% | 104.0% | |
| Nov 8 | Central Arkansas | W 41–38 | — | — | — | +0.240 | 44.7% | 125.8% | One-score win |
| Nov 2 | @Southern Utah | L 17–33 | — | — | — | +0.111 | 50.8% | 95.3% | |
| Oct 25 | North Alabama | W 56–28 | — | — | — | +0.625 | 46.7% | 191.5% | Most explosive |
| Oct 11 | @Eastern Kentucky | L 20–34 | — | — | — | +0.108 | 38.9% | 150.0% | |
| Oct 4 | West Georgia | W 44–30 | — | — | — | +0.365 | 39.1% | 171.4% | |
| Sep 27 | Utah Tech | W 42–10 | — | — | — | +0.588 | 55.6% | 141.8% | Blowout win |
| Sep 21 | @Abilene Christian | L 31–45 | — | — | — | +0.254 | 44.4% | 125.2% | |
| Sep 13 | Morehead State | W 56–7 | — | — | — | +0.691 | 61.1% | 143.4% | Season-high EPA/play |
| Sep 6 | @Georgia | L 6–28 | 196 | 1 | 26:51 | -0.177 | 35.3% | 80.7% | Season-low EPA/play |
| Aug 30 | @Middle Tennessee | W 34–14 | 343 | 0 | 38:35 | +0.182 | 40.5% | 119.6% | Best defensive stand |
| Season average (12 games) | 270 | 0.5 | +0.274 | 45.7% | 131.5% | ||||
Standard downs vs. passing downs
56th percentile success on standard downs, 13th on passing downs — a 43-point gap between the two.
| Team | Standard-downs percentile | Passing-downs percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Air Force | 82nd | 69th |
| Akron | 20th | 36th |
| Alabama | 47th | 76th |
| App State | 41st | 80th |
| Arizona | 54th | 54th |
| Arizona State | 40th | 37th |
| Arkansas | 90th | 97th |
| Arkansas State | 51st | 40th |
| Army | 37th | 44th |
| Auburn | 73rd | 24th |
| Austin Peay | 56th | 13th |
| BYU | 91st | 46th |
| Ball State | 5th | 3rd |
| Baylor | 70th | 77th |
| Boise State | 42nd | 63rd |
| Boston College | 56th | 54th |
| Bowling Green | 10th | 17th |
| Bryant | 7th | 2nd |
| Buffalo | 29th | 20th |
| California | 25th | 66th |
| Central Michigan | 57th | 11th |
| Charlotte | 7th | 7th |
| Cincinnati | 89th | 65th |
| Clemson | 49th | 34th |
| Coastal Carolina | 16th | 22nd |
| Colorado | 8th | 48th |
| Colorado State | 29th | 35th |
| Delaware | 66th | 31st |
| Duke | 82nd | 63rd |
| East Carolina | 63rd | 91st |
| Eastern Michigan | 46th | 67th |
| Florida | 52nd | 45th |
| Florida Atlantic | 44th | 61st |
| Florida International | 50th | 26th |
| Florida State | 65th | 90th |
| Fresno State | 22nd | 71st |
| Georgia | 95th | 69th |
| Georgia Southern | 64th | 84th |
| Georgia State | 22nd | 75th |
| Georgia Tech | 92nd | 89th |
| Hawai'i | 33rd | 87th |
| Houston | 61st | 29th |
| Idaho | 30th | 78th |
| Idaho State | 93rd | 14th |
| Illinois | 79th | 95th |
| Indiana | 97th | 98th |
| Iowa | 74th | 19th |
| Iowa State | 80th | 58th |
| Jacksonville State | 59th | 56th |
| James Madison | 77th | 52nd |
| Kansas | 99th | 82nd |
| Kansas State | 37th | 59th |
| Kennesaw State | 44th | 67th |
| Kent State | 15th | 5th |
| Kentucky | 62nd | 29th |
| LSU | 18th | 52nd |
| Lafayette | 0th | 12th |
| Liberty | 65th | 53rd |
| Lindenwood | 4th | 1st |
| Long Island University | 24th | 78th |
| Louisiana | 24th | 23rd |
| Louisiana Tech | 41st | 24th |
| Louisville | 84th | 32nd |
| Maine | 3rd | 18th |
| Marshall | 71st | 62nd |
| Maryland | 11th | 86th |
| Massachusetts | 5th | 9th |
| Memphis | 75th | 68th |
| Merrimack | 1st | 83rd |
| Miami | 80th | 64th |
| Miami (OH) | 33rd | 39th |
| Michigan | 73rd | 74th |
| Michigan State | 48th | 39th |
| Middle Tennessee | 69th | 47th |
| Minnesota | 35th | 33rd |
| Mississippi State | 52nd | 35th |
| Missouri | 76th | 50th |
| Missouri State | 32nd | 50th |
| Murray State | 1st | 6th |
| NC State | 58th | 71st |
| Navy | 95th | 72nd |
| Nebraska | 78th | 51st |
| Nevada | 17th | 16th |
| New Mexico | 38th | 60th |
| New Mexico State | 16th | 33rd |
| North Carolina | 14th | 30th |
| North Texas | 100th | 97th |
| Northern Illinois | 9th | 5th |
| Northwestern | 48th | 88th |
| Notre Dame | 88th | 99th |
| Ohio | 69th | 76th |
| Ohio State | 99th | 99th |
| Oklahoma | 39th | 41st |
| Oklahoma State | 14th | 7th |
| Old Dominion | 72nd | 79th |
| Ole Miss | 83rd | 95th |
| Oregon | 93rd | 55th |
| Oregon State | 54th | 25th |
| Penn State | 76th | 73rd |
| Pittsburgh | 35th | 56th |
| Purdue | 46th | 88th |
| Rice | 20th | 0th |
| Rutgers | 71st | 84th |
| SMU | 50th | 57th |
| Sam Houston | 26th | 4th |
| San Diego State | 84th | 1st |
| San José State | 68th | 70th |
| South Alabama | 53rd | 28th |
| South Carolina | 31st | 8th |
| South Carolina State | 10th | 3rd |
| South Florida | 86th | 46th |
| Southern Miss | 27th | 38th |
| Stanford | 12th | 12th |
| Syracuse | 19th | 10th |
| TCU | 63rd | 82nd |
| Temple | 85th | 22nd |
| Tennessee | 97th | 81st |
| Texas | 27th | 61st |
| Texas A&M | 88th | 59th |
| Texas State | 60th | 93rd |
| Texas Tech | 45th | 65th |
| Toledo | 67th | 42nd |
| Troy | 18th | 27th |
| Tulane | 81st | 86th |
| Tulsa | 43rd | 43rd |
| UAB | 34th | 94th |
| UCF | 39th | 20th |
| UCLA | 28th | 48th |
| UConn | 96th | 37th |
| UL Monroe | 13th | 14th |
| UNLV | 78th | 85th |
| USC | 94th | 90th |
| UT Martin | 2nd | 41st |
| UTEP | 3rd | 10th |
| UTSA | 67th | 92nd |
| Utah | 87th | 96th |
| Utah State | 31st | 49th |
| Vanderbilt | 90th | 100th |
| Virginia | 36th | 73rd |
| Virginia Tech | 59th | 21st |
| Wake Forest | 21st | 31st |
| Washington | 98th | 93rd |
| Washington State | 61st | 44th |
| West Virginia | 12th | 18th |
| Western Kentucky | 55th | 80th |
| Western Michigan | 86th | 16th |
| Wisconsin | 6th | 27th |
| Wyoming | 23rd | 15th |
Halftime identity
1st-half offense ranks 60th percentile in FBS; 2nd-half, 2nd — competitive snaps only, garbage time excluded from both halves.
Schedule mirage
Raw EPA/play through week 21 is 0.27; 84th percentile once opponent strength is stripped out, it's 0.07. The widest gap came in week 5: 0.31 raw vs. 0.10 adjusted.
Most Similar Programs · Austin Peay
Static-attribute similarity across tier, archetype, conference, and voice. Not a prediction — a calibration.
Home-Field Advantage · Austin Peay · 2018-present
70% home win rate vs 44% on the road. margin runs +19.8 better at home. Governors Stadium seats 10,100, averaging 63% full (6,346 attendance, 12 games reported).
71°F average kickoff temp; 24% of games had measurable precipitation; 6 mph average wind.
Based on 29 home games with weather data.
Program Prestige · Austin Peay
All-Time Record
since 1980 · 32 seasons · .350 win rate
Austin Peay went 38 years without beating an FBS team — then routed Middle Tennessee 34-14 in 2025, ending the drought and landing coach Jeff Faris a contract extension through 2030.
For most of its history, Austin Peay was a middle-of-the-pack Ohio Valley Conference program, punctuated by occasional championships (1948 Volunteer State Athletic Conference, 1977 OVC) but little sustained relevance. That changed starting in 2019, when Mark Hudspeth's Governors went 11-4, shared the OVC title with Southeast Missouri State, and won the program's first two FCS playoff games ever before losing to Montana State in the quarterfinals. Scotty Walden took over in 2020 and built on it, sharing the 2022 ASUN title and then winning the 2023 United Athletic Conference title outright at 9-3, riding a nine-game win streak into the UAC's first-ever playoff appearance (a 24-21 First Round loss to Chattanooga). Walden left for UTEP after that season.
Jeff Faris, hired from UCLA's staff in December 2023, delivered the signature moment of modern Austin Peay football in his second season. On August 30, 2025, the Governors routed FBS Middle Tennessee 34-14 — Austin Peay's first win over an FBS opponent since 1987 (when they beat Kansas State) and just the second FBS win in program history. Austin Peay finished 2025 at 7-5, went a perfect 6-0 at Fortera Stadium (the program's first unbeaten home slate since 1949), and quarterback Chris Parson closed the year as a Stats Perform Walter Payton Award finalist, setting Austin Peay single-season records for total offense and rushing production by a quarterback. On November 28, 2025, the university signed Faris to a five-year contract extension through 2030.
Austin Peay plays in Clarksville, Tennessee, next to Fort Campbell and the 101st Airborne Division — a military-town identity that shapes the fanbase as much as any on-field result. The open question for 2026: whether the Middle Tennessee win and the 2019/2022/2023 conference-title stretch add up to a genuine new baseline, or whether 2025 was the ceiling inside a still-middling season.
Austin Peay plays behind dual-threat quarterback production — Chris Parson's 2025 season (3,003 passing yards, 743 rushing yards, 37 total touchdowns) defined the offense. The program's biggest recent wins have come as the underdog, most dramatically in the 2025 upset of FBS Middle Tennessee.
Season Standing · 2025
Season standing settles in once games are played and rankings publish.
UAC Standing · 2025
Austin Peay is 3rd in the UAC at 3-3. 2 teams above — that's the direct path to the title game.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abilene Christian | 6-0 |
| 2 | Tarleton State | 5-1 |
| 3 | Austin Peay | 3-3 |
| 4 | West Georgia | 3-3 |
| 5 | Eastern Kentucky | 2-4 |
| 6 | Central Arkansas | 1-5 |
| 7 | North Alabama | 1-5 |
| 8 | West Florida | 0-0 |
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
since 1970
Austin Peay's signature crowd chant originated with 1970s basketball star James "Fly" Williams, whose catchphrase "The Fly is open, Let's Go Peay!" became a fixture of Governors athletics. The Sporting News once ranked it alongside Kansas's "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" as one of the best chants in college sports. Now used site-wide across Austin Peay athletics, including football at Fortera Stadium.
since 2007
A quadrangular rivalry trophy among the four Tennessee-based OVC/UAC-affiliated programs (Austin Peay, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin), named for World War I hero Sgt. Alvin C. York of nearby Pall Mall, Tennessee. It is only the second traveling trophy in college football shared by more than two teams (after the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy). Austin Peay has claimed or shared it in 2007, 2017, 2018, and 2019.
since 1929
An all-sports rivalry series with Murray State (67 miles away), sponsored over the years by different local banks (Heritage Bank, First Financial Bank). In football specifically, Murray State has long held the historical edge in the all-time series.
Program memory
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
Austin Peay's first-ever win over an FBS opponent, against Kansas State -- the win that stood alone for 38 years until 2025.
Austin Peay goes 9-3 and wins the UAC outright behind a nine-game win streak, representing the conference in its debut FCS playoff appearance before a 24-21 First Round loss to Chattanooga.
Austin Peay routs FBS Middle Tennessee 34-14 on August 30, 2025 -- the program's first win over an FBS opponent since 1987 and just its second ever.
Moment of the Year · Austin Peay · 2025
Week 2 of 2025. The single game that defined the season's arc.
Bowl / Postseason Ledger
Most recent: 2023 — loss 21-24 (home). Last 5 postseason: 0-1.
Austin Peay · Next-Season Outcome Band
Fanbase Health Index · Austin Peay · medium confidence
Most Similar Programs · Austin Peay
Program Prestige · Austin Peay
Season Standing · 2025
Moment of the Year · Austin Peay · 2025
Bowl / Postseason Ledger