HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – In a return to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Alabama A&M (0-3, 0-0 SWAC) faced a team in Austin Peay (3-1, 0-0 ASUN) that had scored over 100 points in their last two games and dropped only a 28-3 decision in an NCAA Division I football game on Saturday, September 17.
 
THE STATS - ALABAMA A&M
Junior quarterback Xavier Lankford (Pelham, Ala.) led the way for the Bulldogs, going 15-of-23 for 187 yards with a pick and a long of 40-yards and graduate running back Gary Quarles (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) pounded out 83 yards on 23 carries. Senior wide receiver Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim (Miramar, Fla.), in his first action on the season, led the receiving corps with five catches for 74 yards, hauling in that 40-yard bomb.
 
Defensively, sophomore defensive tackle Malik Pertee (Ocala, Fla.) notched a sack and forced fumble while senior safety Saaed Holt (Pittsburg, Pa.) registered nine tackles, six solo. He was joined by sophomore safety Charles Bell VI (Germantown, Md.) with nine tackles and senior linebacker Farrell Hester II (Las Vegas, Nev.) with six stops. Junior defensive tackle Malcolm Williams (Miami, Fla.) added a pair of tackles for loss to round out the top defensive outings.
 
THE GAME
The Bulldogs would strike first in what would be a war of attrition as they drove 66 yards, largely on the strength of a 30-yard bomb to graduate wide receiver Brian Jenkins, Jr. (Daytona Beach, Fla.) on a 2^nd and 16 by Lankford. Three plays and negative-four yards later, sophomore kicker Victor Barbosa (Hialeah Gardens, Fla.) would bang through a 30-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
 
Following fruitless drives by both clubs APSU would deliver a lightning quick, three-play, 63-yard drive in a span of 1:03. The main damage came from a 58-yard strike from Mike Diliello to James Burns to go up 7-3 by the 2:16 mark of the first quarter.
 
From there neither team would be able to get anything going as the clubs could not sustain a drive beyond six plays and 28 yards until the final five and a half minutes of the half. The two previous drives would both end in turnovers as redshirt-sophomore quarterback Quincy Casey (Memphis, Tenn.) was intercepted by Demetries Ford and Diliello coughed up the ball on a strip by Pertee.
 
The ensuing drive would go nine plays but cover only 24 yards and the Governors next possession was no better at seven plays, 17 yards to take the clubs to the half with that four-point margin.
 
That would change on the third drive of the second half as Austin Peay leaned on CJ Evans with seven straight carries for 41 of their 59 yards. The final 18 would come from the feet of Diliello, who scampered for a touchdown to make it 14-3 by the 9:38 mark. Outside of a missed 44-yard field goal attempt by the Bulldogs, the teams would not have another solid scoring opportunity as they headed to the fourth quarter.
 
Over the first three series of that frame that trend would continue until APSU's second drive of the fourth. Taking over at the 10:32 mark, they grinded out an 11-play, 39-yard drive that spanned 4:58 and was capped off by a 13-yard TD pass by Diliello to Trey Goodman on a 3^rd and 7.
 
Up 21-3, the Governors would waste no time in finally finding their offense – from their defense. On A&M's next possession Kwame Sutton strip sacked Lankford and Antoi Williams ran it back 60-yards for a scoop-and-score touchdown to reach what would be the eventual final margin of 28-3.
 
THE STATS – AUSTIN PEAY
Diliello anchored the offense with a pair of touchdown throws, going just 7-of-22 for 100 yards, but added 11 carries for 72 yards and a score on the ground. He was joined in the backfield by Evans with 18 totes for 76 yards and Burns (72 yards) and Goodman (19 yards) each had a pair of scores through the air.
 
On the defensive side of the ball they were dominant with four sacks, a forced fumble, two picks and a return for touchdown. Leading the way was Sutton with eight stops, 1.5 sacks and the forced fumble while Williams had nine tackles and the 60-yard run back.
 
Cedarius Doss was in the backfield almost as much as the running backs, registering a sack among his three stops behind the line of scrimmage as part of his nine total tackles. Shamar Simmons and Ford would then round things would with an interception apiece.
 
UP NEXT
After the brief return home to Louis Crews Stadium the Bulldogs hit the road to open Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play at Florida A&M. Game time is set for 5 p.m. (CST) on Saturday, September 24.
 
NOTES
Entering the game, APSU had outscored their last two opponents 104-0, defeating Presbyterian 63-0 and Mississippi Valley State 41-0.

FULL GAME VIDEO