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Austin Peay circled this one the morning after it lost it.
The Governors were 4 seconds from beating Tarleton State in Stephenville last Nov. 22 before Corbin Poston's 41-yard field goal forced overtime. Victor Gabalis hit Cody Jackson for a 27-yard touchdown on the Texans' second snap of OT, Chris Parson answered with a 25-yard run, and Parson's two-point throw sailed. Tarleton State 45, Austin Peay 44. The win clinched a share of the UAC title for the Texans, who went on to the FCS quarterfinals.
Saturday's rematch is bigger. No. 3 Tarleton State (5-0) visits No. 9 Austin Peay (5-1) at 6 p.m. CT at Fortera Stadium in Clarksville, Tenn., on ESPN+. It is the first top-10 matchup in UAC history, and Stats Perform made it its FCS Game of the Week. According to WSMV's Chris Harris, it is also the first top-10 game Austin Peay has ever hosted.
Austin Peay has won 10 straight at home, the longest home winning streak in program history and tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the FCS. The Govs went 6-0 at Fortera in the 2025 regular season and are 4-0 there this fall, beating Gardner-Webb 35-17, Morehead State 63-7, UT Martin 35-12 and New Haven 42-17.
The margins are what stand out. Austin Peay has won those 10 games by an average of 26.3 points, and only one, a 41-38 win over Central Arkansas last season, was decided by fewer than two scores. Nobody has rushed for 200 yards in Clarksville during the run.
The lone loss this season came at Vanderbilt, 28-9, on Sept. 5. Since then, Austin Peay has outscored FCS and Division II opponents by a combined 178-52. For the season, the Govs have outscored opponents 222-97, and no offense has reached 400 yards against them.
Tarleton State hasn't been stopped by anybody yet. The Texans lead the country at 516.2 yards per game, with 290.6 through the air and 225.6 on the ground. They've turned the ball over once all season, a lost fumble in a 20-13 win at FBS Bowling Green on Sept. 5, and they're one of four FCS teams without an interception.
Quarterback Kaden Anderson has 12 touchdown passes and no picks. He leads the UAC at 281 yards of total offense per game and already has a 400-yard passing game. Senior receiver Marquis Willis leads the league with 6.0 catches per game and is second at 95.0 receiving yards per game.
The schedule is worth a look, though. Outside the Bowling Green win, Tarleton beat McNeese 27-24 on the road and handled Prairie View A&M (49-30), Merrimack (45-20) and Chicago State (56-21) at home. Austin Peay is the Texans' first ranked opponent of 2026, and this is their UAC opener.
The other number worth circling: Tarleton averages 0.4 sacks per game, 123rd of 124 FCS teams. The Texans make up for some of it with 6.0 tackles for loss per game and a UAC-best five fumble recoveries.
That pass-rush stat matters because of who Tarleton has to corral. Parson accounted for six touchdowns in last year's loss, passing for 293 yards and rushing for 194. This fall, he leads the UAC in completion percentage (69.2), passing efficiency (198.8), passing yards (1,396) and yards per attempt (11.93). His efficiency and yards per attempt rank second in the FCS. He has 11 touchdown passes and four more on the ground.
Then there's redshirt freshman Denver Harper. Against New Haven, Harper returned a punt 82 yards and took a missed field goal back 100 yards for the first kick-six in program history. He leads the UAC with nine touchdowns. Coach Jeff Faris picked Harper to wear the No. 0 jersey this week, which honors the late Will Hardrick, making him the first player to wear it twice.
The UAC champion gets an automatic bid to the 24-team FCS Playoffs, and the bracket comes out Nov. 22. Tarleton State and Abilene Christian were co-favorites in the preseason poll.
Austin Peay (1-0 UAC after a 38-16 win at West Florida) can take control with a win here. Its remaining league schedule goes at West Georgia, at North Alabama, Eastern Kentucky, Abilene Christian and at Central Arkansas. Tarleton still has Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky and Abilene Christian at home after this trip.
The loser isn't finished. A top-10 team with one conference loss stays firmly in the at-large conversation. But the winner gets the inside lane for the UAC's automatic bid and a top-eight seed. Austin Peay hasn't lost at Fortera Stadium since the 2024 season. Tarleton, meanwhile, has already shown it can take this team's best punch and still win.
