FCS Week 6 Game of the Week: Tarleton State Texans @ Austin Peay Governors: How to Watch, Preview, Predictions
Date: Saturday, October 10
Time: 7:00 PM (ET)
TV: ESPN+
The Quick Hits
The UAC championship may very well come down to what happens on Saturday evening in Clarksville, Tennessee. #9 Austin Peay hosts #3 Tarleton State in a contest that, although it falls in the middle of the season, is one that will have drastic postseason implications all around when the dust settles. The Govs check in at 5-1 right now with their only loss coming at Vanderbilt last month and have won four straight. The Texans have not yet tasted defeat this year. Something will have to give when these two Top 10 heavyweights come together.
TSU, despite all of its recent success, is still looking to shake the narrative that they cannot role with their top-tier FCS counterparts. A matchup against a really good Austin Peay squad will serve as a perfect opportunity to help buck that notion if they can get it done. The Governors, though, are looking to reverse some fortunes in their own right, namely the fact that they missed the playoffs last year despite having a very talented roster. Someone is 60 minutes away from taking a major step in reaching those goals.
The Coaches
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone more fit for their specific gig that Tarleton State head man Todd Whitten. Whitten has seen the Texans through arguably their most successful stints in program history, having served as the head coach for 17 total seasons. This most recent run began in 2016 toward the end of TSU’s Division II days and now well into their FCS era. In that time Whitten has won 78 games and taken his team to the postseason in each of the last two years, reaching the quarterfinals last fall. It comes on the heels of three straight playoff trips to end their DII time as well.
Jeff Faris is now in his third season heading up Austin Peay and he has the Govs playing perhaps as well as they have at any point in their history also. The Governors are 16-14 since Faris got the job back in 2023 and have showed steady improvement each year of his tenure. Faris is a Duke grad who spent many years as an assistant for the Blue Devils. He also served as UCLA’s tight ends coach from 2022-2023.
Tarleton State Offense vs. Austin Peay Defense
The biggest question that pressed the Tarleton State offense heading into this season is who the quarterback would be. The answer has been Wyoming transfer Kaden Anderson and he’s been a good one. Anderson is one of only a few FCS starters who has not thrown an interception yet this season and on top of that he has 1,346 yards and 12 scores. Anderson delivers the ball well and does not put it in harm’s way hardly at all; something that will serve him well against an Austin Peay defense that has seven takeaways (five interceptions) this season.
The one guy Anderson will especially need to watch out for when throwing is sophomore defensive back Ta’Ron Haile. Haile defends the pass very well and just a few weeks ago took a pick all the way back for a score against UT Martin. Fellow DB Justin Wimpye has done the same and both make for a formidable matchup through the air. Throw in Trevor Hardy with a team-high 36 stops and the Govs’ secondary is very dangerous.
Anderson will throw often and when he does odds are it’s going to receiver Marquis Willis who has 30 catches for 476 yards and four TDs. That being said, the Texans will also want to use the rushing attack to control the game here but they’ve been without their best back for several weeks now in Tylan Hines. Hines went down against McNeese almost a month ago and he is still the leading rusher by a long shot. The rushing attack has certainly sputtered with him out.
Austin Peay will look to guys like Kelton Crisp and Malik Denkins to win in the trenches and get to Anderson. Crisp is the team’s top sack-getter with three and has 20 tackles while Denkins has two sacks. That’s not to mention the productivity of Al Sandifer (two sacks, 14 tackles) and Demoris Jenkins (two sacks, 13 tackles). The Governors D line is among the best in the conference and if they can get off the ball at the rate they have been, Anderson could be running around a lot more than usual.
Austin Peay Offense vs. Tarleton State Defense
One of the best players on the field come Saturday… maybe the best… will be Austin Peay signal caller Chris Parson. A dual-threat operator, Parson is dangerous in both the run and pass game although he has been particularly sharp as a passer so far this year with 13 t0uchdowns and just one interception with a completion percentage of just under 70%. Tarleton State defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix has a tall task this weekend and scheming up Parson is probably one of the toughest endeavors he’ll have all year.
Getting to the quarterback is not something that has necessarily been the Texans’ forte this year. The team only has three sacks on the season and 2.5 of them have come from the linebackers. The defensive line has not been getting the pressure needed to really make in impact on opposing QBs. They will need to step up or it’s going to be a long night. Isaiah Johnson and Xavier Potts are the names to know in the trenches.
Tarleton will lean on its linebackers heavily; a position group they get a ton of production out of. Stephen Woods Jr. is the team’s leading tackler with 34 stops and Chris Robinson is right behind him with 30 along. Robinson also has a forced fumble and fumble return touchdown under his belt. The middle of the defense is extremely active and will play a big role in slowing down Austin Peay’s myriad of weapons. The biggest matchup on this side of the ball, though, could come between the TSU secondary and the Governors receivers.
Austin Peay is as dangerous as any team through the air, partially because of Parson but partially because of their explosive receivers. Marvin Sims is one of the best in the country with 450 yards through his first six games. With an average of over 18 yards per receptions, Mims has home run capabilities any team he gets the ball. He is complimented nicely by both Denver Harper and Jaden Robinson. That duo has put up another 604 receiving yards and eight touchdowns alongside him.
Tarleton State’s defensive backs are really good and they’ll need to be in this one. Avian Rice is a tackling machine and Fredd Adams has eight pass breakups this season. They’ll lead the charge on the back end against the Austin Peay receiving corps.
Prediction
This will come down to how well Tarleton State’s defense can contain Parson and that’s something that not many defenses have success with. The Texans have their work cut out for them in that department (as they did in last year’s narrow 45-44 OT win over the Govs). Parson is playing on another level right now and even if TSU can keep him from doing a lot of damage with his legs, it’s going to be very difficult for the back end to lock down the entire trio of Sims, Harper and Robinson for long enough to be consistently effective. The Texans offense will get their points and be able to keep pace just fine. Homefield advantage paired with a red-hot Governors offense, though, is going to spell just a bit too much trouble and Tarleton State will suffer its first loss of the season in a close one.
Score Prediction: Austin Peay: 33 – Tarleton State: 27
Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.