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Austin Peay took a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Tarleton State then scored 23 unanswered points, and Kaden Anderson threw two of the three touchdowns. The Governors spent the rest of a rainy night in Clarksville trying to climb out of that hole.
Tarleton State, No. 3 in our FCS Top 25, beat No. 9 Austin Peay 40-32 at Fortera Stadium on Saturday in the first top-10 matchup in UAC history. The Texans are 6-0 and 1-0 in the league. The Governors fell to 5-2 and 1-1, and their program-record 10-game home winning streak ended in front of 8,167.
Austin Peay led first, 3-0, on Hamilton DiBoyan's 23-yard field goal. Tarleton fumbled the kickoff that followed into its own end zone, and officials ruled it a touchback instead of a safety. SI's Zach McKinnell called it "a massive break" for the Texans.
Tarleton went 75 yards in seven plays from there, and Kaden Anderson found Tanner Schmidt up the seam for a 34-yard touchdown.
It got worse for the Govs. Chris Parson fumbled on a sack on the next series, and Austin Peay recovered, but Kam Robinson blocked the punt that followed and Alejandro De La Poza kicked a field goal. Drew Ross muffed the next kickoff, and Kenyan Kelly recovered. A pass interference flag on third-and-16 kept that drive alive, and Anderson hit Kyle Thompson for a 6-yard score. A roughing-the-kicker penalty extended the one after that, and Miequle Brock took a direct snap 16 yards for a touchdown on fourth-and-1. It was 23-3.
"The punt block was a relatively normal, vanilla look and we just kind of didn't do our job," Austin Peay coach Jeff Faris told Calvin White of Main Street Clarksville. "That's on me, I take the blame."
The Govs got some of it back before halftime. Parson scored on a 3-yard run late in the second quarter, and Tywan Royal intercepted Anderson at the Austin Peay 4 with 24 seconds left. It was Anderson's first interception of the season.
Parson was 4 of 13 for 62 yards in the first half. He went 12 of 20 for 165 after it and finished with a career-high 26 carries for 102 yards and two touchdowns. The second, a 1-yarder at the end of a 13-play, 75-yard drive in the third quarter, was his 20th career rushing touchdown, the most by a quarterback in program history. Austin Peay went 4-for-4 on fourth down.
Tarleton had an answer every time. Backup quarterback Matthew Wilson scored on fourth-and-goal from the 1 after Parson's helmet came off, and Parson ran in the two-point conversion to make it 33-25 with 9:43 left. The Texans needed four plays and 1:42 to push it back out. Anderson hit Schmidt for 29 yards and Marquis Willis for 46, and James Paige threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Markellus Bass out of the Wildcat.
Parson found Denver Harper for an 11-yard touchdown on fourth-and-3 with 3:47 left. Harper finished with a career-high five catches for 106 yards.
Tarleton then ran nine plays for 11 yards and took three kneel-downs before punting, which left Austin Peay at its own 31 with nine seconds to go. McKinnell posted afterward that he had "zero idea what Tarleton State was doing on their final drive with clock management." It nearly cost the Texans. Parson's last heave reached the end zone and slipped through Chance Fitzgerald's hands.
Anderson completed 22 of 34 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns. Schmidt, back from injury, caught eight passes for 121 yards and a score. Willis added four catches for 97 yards and a touchdown, and Brock ran for 106 yards on 16 carries. Tarleton outgained Austin Peay 481-386 and has scored at least 40 points in three straight games. McKinnell called the offense "extremely dangerous."
Faris saw something to build on. "We played more characteristic of who we are," he said. "We have five conference games guaranteed, and I think we're far from playing our best football."
Tarleton now owns the best win in the UAC and is one of four unbeaten teams left in the FCS. The Texans are 17-1 in regular-season games since the start of 2025 and are averaging 39.5 points a game this fall, which puts them in the running for a top-eight seed and a first-round bye. Abilene Christian (2-0) and North Alabama (1-0) are also unbeaten in league play, so the race is far from settled.
Austin Peay's two losses are to Vanderbilt and a top-three team, and that résumé can still hold up for an at-large bid. But the Governors now trail Tarleton on the head-to-head tiebreaker for the league title.
"There'll be a lot of lessons to be learned from this film," Parson said. "It's a great opportunity for us to respond."
Tarleton hosts Central Arkansas for homecoming on Oct. 17. Austin Peay goes to West Georgia.
STILL IN IT! CP3 to Harper on 4th down to make it a one-score game! 🖥️ | tinyurl.com/4pma6erf
Tarleton State just got a massive break there... The Texans fumbled the kickoff into the end zone, but the officials called it a touchback instead of a safety 😬 Not sure what the reasoning was on that play, but now the Texans are driving into Austin Peay territory
FINAL: Tarleton State 40, Austin Peay 32 Chris Parson's final heave into the end zone slips through Chance Fitzgerald's hands. Austin Peay outscored the Texans 22-17 in the second half but its first half mistakes were too much to overcome.
Long ball to perfection! 👌 Anderson ➡️ Schmidt for the game’s first TD!
