As play begins in the United Athletic Conference, the Wildcats will take on the Austin Peay State University Governors in a battle between the two previous UAC conference champions.
In 2023, the Governors won the conference with a 9-4 overall record while going a perfect 6-0 in UAC play. Last year, the Wildcats won the conference with a 9-4 overall record while going 7-1 in UAC play, only losing to the University of North Alabama.
While the Wildcats and Governors did not meet in 2023, the Wildcats bested Austin Peay 35-34 on the road in 2024.
The Wildcats sit at 1-2, and Head Coach Keith Patterson acknowledges the talent across the lines, while knowing his team is more than capable of success week in and week out.
“They’ve come out every single day over the last month, month and a half and gotten better,” Patterson said. “This week will be no different. We just keep getting better.”
The team, coming off a 42-21 road loss to TCU, was able to generate offense late as Stone Earle, senior quarterback from Fort Worth, threw a pair of touchdown passes en route to a career high 276 passing yards.
For Patterson and the Wildcats, the game will be about the same things as usual: controlling the ball, red zone scoring and winning third downs on both offense and defense.
“It’s going to come down to those three things,” Patterson said. “We need to force three takeaways like we did in week two. If we do that, we’ll position ourselves to win.”
The Governors enter 2-1, with the team’s loss coming in Athens, Georgia, against the University of Georgia Bulldogs by a score of 28-6. Both wins for Austin Peay came in blowout fashion, a 56-7 victory over Morehead State University last week, and a week one 34-14 victory over Middle Tennessee State University, in which the team entered as 15.5 point underdogs.
“They’re very athletic and they have good size up front defensively,” Patterson said. “They do a good job spreading the football around, and they’re athletic on defense.”
The week four matchup will be the third consecutive game played at Wildcat Stadium between two top 25-ranked FCS teams, dating back to last season, with the Wildcats’ 24-0 victory over the University of Northern Arizona in the FCS playoffs.
