Austin Peay football coach Scotty Walden demands better understanding of Govs after playoff snub

Austin Peay football was dealt a tough blow after failing to earn a FCS playoff berth despite a 7-4 record and a share of the ASUN conference championship.

The Govs were considered a bubble team but held out hope it would be one of the 13 at-large bids after Eastern Kentucky secured the ASUN-WAC automatic qualifier Saturday. Coach Scotty Walden said Sunday the Govs were among the last four teams out of the playoffs.

"I'm extremely disappointed in the committee's decision to leave the Governors out of this thing," Walden said.

Govs graduate transfer Ethan Castleberry rose to speak to his teammates shortly after the selection show ended, giving an impassioned speech about using this moment as motivation. Peay loses only 10 seniors and returns nearly 90% of its offense and defense.

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"There's no doubt in my mind we're a playoff team," Walden said. "Our kids know that. When those playoff teams were getting thrown up there, they know that. So there was a lot of disappointment. But what I did was I stood the seniors up and I thanked them."

Peay captured a share of the conference title with the help of EKU and Jacksonville State on Saturday. EKU's 45-38 victory over Kennesaw State and JSU's 40-17 win over Central Arkansas left the Govs (7-4) tied with the Colonels and Bears atop the league standings at 3-2. It was the second conference title in the past three years for Austin Peay who claimed a share of the OVC crown in 2019 and earned the program's first-ever playoff berth, reaching the national quarterfinals.

But it was Eastern Kentucky that finished with the highest power ranking between the two league's top teams that included APSU, Central Arkansas in the ASUN and Abilene Christian and Stephen F. Austin in the WAC. Austin Peay beat EKU, 31-20, in September, rallying from 17-point deficit. Austin Peay was also 7-1 against FCS schools, losing two games to FBS programs (Western Kentucky and Alabama) and one (to Jackonsville State) that is transitioning to FBS.

The ASUN-WAC automatic qualifier was determined by a bracketologist utilizing a measure similar to the NCAA RPI and while the WAC has a tiebreaker system — that Stephen A. Austin used to claim the WAC title over Abilene Christian — to determine its conference champ, the ASUN has no such tiebreakers.

Walden said Austin Peay faces an uphill battle trying to establish a program that historically hasn't registered much national attention. The Govs have six winning seasons since 2000 — and won only one game between 2013-16 — but Walden has guided Peay to three straight winning records, the first time that's happened since 1964-66.

"This program is for real," Walden said. "This program is not what you thought it was 10 years ago. So quit putting us in that cylinder. Labels are comfortable to people. And you want to label Austin Peay as 'Oh, they had a bad era and recently they've been OK. But they're not as powerful, traditionally, as Delaware and those folks'. I just think that's totally unfair to our kids and totally unfair to our fanbase."

The university went on a social media campaign this past week to draw attention to the football program's playoff-worthy resume. Walden and athletics director Gerald Harrison addressed the committee with Twitter videos, and the school got support from Montgomery County mayor Wesley Golden who gave his own pitch to the committee.

Austin Peay was 4-0 against FCS teams at home and hasn't allowed a single point at home against FCS teams while outscoring those opponents 46-9. Teams that made the FCS playoffs with similar 7-4 records include North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Delaware. Gardner-Webb, EKU's first-round opponent, had a 6-5 record.

The Govs were impressive in ASUN play, particularly on defense. They rank No. 1 in tackles for loss, total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense, red zone defense, average points allowed, total yards allowed and passing yards per game. The defense has also held opponents scoreless in 20 quarters this season and ranks ninth nationally in total defense and fifth in third-down defense.

Offensively, Austin Peay is the only ASUN member to have over 2,000 yards rushing (2,023) and passing (2,433).

"A lot of people thought we were bragging," Walden said about the media blitz last week. "There was no bragging. It was facts. Those numbers were facts. We were sending the narrative to the committee to say, 'Hey. We belong'. It's a shame we had to do that."

While Jacksonville State finished unbeaten in the ASUN at 5-0 it's ineligible to win the conference title with about 80 scholarship players. FCS teams are allowed 63 players on scholarship.

"Ethan talked about next year saying, hey lets go win this outright and prove everyone wrong," Walden said. "Lets not leave any doubt for a committee to have to decide it. Lets go win the whole thing and shut everybody up."

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Reach sports writer George Robinson at grobinson@gannett.com or (931) 245-0747 and on Twitter @Cville_Sports.

This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Austin Peay football fails to secure FCS playoff at-large bid