The Austin Peay Governors football program is the intercollegiate

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team for

Austin Peay State University Austin Peay State University (APSU) () is a public university in Clarksville, Tennessee, United States. Standing on a site occupied by a succession of educational institutions since 1845, the precursor of the university was established in 1927 ...

(Peay or APSU), located in the U.S. state of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. The team competes in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (F ...

(FCS) and played the most recent 2022 season as members of the

ASUN Conference The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. ...

. For the 2023 season and beyond, Peay will play in the

United Athletic Conference The United Athletic Conference (UAC), also known as The United, is an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) intercollegiate athletic conference. The conference is a merger of the existing football leagues of the Atlantic Sun Con ...

, created shortly after the 2022 season by the merger of the football leagues of the ASUN and

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

. The school's first football team was fielded in 1930. They were previously a member of the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

(1963–1996, 2007–2021) and the

Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I Fo ...

(2001–2005). Austin Peay Governors football plays its home games at the 10,000 seat

Fortera Stadium Fortera Stadium is a stadium located on the campus of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. It opened in 1946 and is the home venue for the Austin Peay Governors football team. History Clarksville Municipal Stadium, as it wa ...

History

Classifications

*1957–1972: NCAA College Division *1973–1977: NCAA Division II *1978–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS

Conference memberships

*1930–1946: Independent *1947–1962:

Volunteer State Athletic Conference The Volunteer State Athletic Conference (VSAC) was a college athletic conference which was predominantly for smaller colleges in the U.S. state of Tennessee.Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

*1997–2000: NCAA Division I–AA Independent *2001–2005:

*2006: NCAA Division I FCS Independent *2007–2021:

*2022:

*2023–present:

Though not competing in OVC football from 1997 to 2006, Peay remained a full OVC member during this period.

Rivalries

Sgt. York Trophy

The trophy goes to the team in Tennessee that has the best record against the other three teams. Austin Peay has won the trophy three times, in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Battle of the Border

The battle of the border is a trophy awarded to the team with the most points based on wins between all the sporting events between Austin Peay and Murray State. Murray State leads the series 36–16.

Notable former players

Notable alumni include: *

Jeff Gooch Jeffrey Lance Gooch (born October 31, 1974) is a linebacker who played for 10 seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions in the National Football League. Gooch played at John Overton High School in Nashville, Tennessee and finished h ...

* Michael Swift * Kirk Pointer * Kyran Moore * Bonnie Sloan, first deaf player in

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

history * Percy Howard (whose only NFL TD catch came in

Super Bowl X Super Bowl X was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for t ...

, as a member of the Dallas Cowboys) * Lewis Lastik, featured actor in ''

Remember the Titans ''Remember the Titans'' is a 2000 American biographical sports drama film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. The screenplay by Gregory Allen Howard is loosely based on the true story of coach Herman Boone, portrayed b ...

'', offensive lineman. (Also member of the APSU track and field teams, shot put, and javelin.)

Retired numbers

Honored jerseys

Numbers honored, but not retired and available for any player:

Conference championships

Austin Peay has won five conference championships, three outright, and two shared with Southeast Missouri State in the OVC,

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state ...

and

Eastern Kentucky Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

in the ASUN

Postseason

FCS playoffs

The Governors have made two appearances in the FCS Playoffs, their first being in 2019; their record is 2–2.

Future non-conference opponents

Future non-conference opponents announced as of August 10, 2024.

References

External links

* American football teams established in 1930 1930 establishments in Tennessee {{Tennessee-sport-team-stub