CARROLLTON, Ga. - It was a tale of two halves on Saturday afternoon as the UWG football Wolves fell 24-10 to the 11th-ranked Austin Peay Governors at RaLin Field at University Stadium.
West Georgia (1-6, 0-2 UAC) jumped out to a 10-0 lead before Austin Peay (6-2, 2-1 UAC) scored 24 unanswered points to earn a hard-fought road victory over UWG.
The Wolves had the advantage in total yards, but West Georgia lost two fumbles, threw an interception and turned it over on downs three times, including once at the one-yard line.
UWG had 341 yards of offense while the Wolves' defense held Austin Peay to their lowest offensive output in terms of points and total yards against FCS opponents. But Austin Peay cashed in on the UWG mistakes and had a huge advantage on the ground, rushing for 186 yards while limiting the Wolves' rushing attack to eight net yards.
The defensive effort was led by a duo of double-digit tacklers with Chidu Bekee recording 12 stops with a half of a sack. Chancellor Bryant finished with 11 tackles in the loss.
Offensively, UWG threw for 333 yards as Colton FitzGerald was 29-of-45 with one touchdown and an interception.
After forcing a three and out on APSU's opening drive, UWG's offense drove into plus territory before the drive stalled, but it still ended with points as Logan Lopez matched a career-long with a 49-yarder to put the Wolves on the board first with 8:20 left in the first.
On Austin Peay's next possession, the UWG defense got another three-and-out and the Wolves then drove 72 yards in six plays for the game's first touchdown. The score came from 55 yards out as FitzGerald hit DK Daniel at the 50 and Daniel did the rest, racking up 50 yards after the catch while extending the Wolves' lead to 10-0 at the 4:02 mark of the period.
A miscue in the special teams gave Austin Peay the ball deep in UWG territory, but the UWG defense got a big turnover as a fumble gave the Wolves the ball back on their own eight. The offense did enough before stalling to flip the field to give the Govs the ball back at their own 16.
Chris Parson then took the Govs' offense all the way down the field, getting on the board with 5:07 left in the half on a seven-yard rush by Parson.
Austin Peay was able to grab a little more momentum at the end of the half as they stuffed a fourth-and-goal attempt from inside the one, denying UWG a late touchdown in the second.
The Govs used that momentum and forced a punt on UWG's first drive of the second half, but the UWG defense returned the favor on the Gov's first offensive possession.
Later in the quarter, UWG had a big play to set them up in the red zone in Austin Peay territory, but the Govs got a strip sack on the very next play, representing the Wolves' second turnover inside the redzone. APSU took advantage, turning it into points after driving 76 yards in eight plays over 3:22. The Govs took their first lead of the game on a QB sneak by Parson, making it 14-10, Austin Peay with 1:21 left in the third.
With 10:15 to go in the game, Austin Peay made it a seven-point game as Hamilton DiBoyan booted through a 34-yard field goal, making it 17-10.
Austin Peay went up 24-10 on a Courtland Simmons touchdown rush from the one with 4:39 left.
Tonight's game will conclude Jayson Martin's tenure as interim head coach as he will return to offensive coordinator duties in week eight against Tarleton State.
Kickoff of next week's Homecoming contest is slated for 2 p.m. from University Field.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Logan Lopez's first field goal of the game made him a perfect 5-for-5 on the year.
- DK Daniel's 55-yard receiving TD was the third of his season and career and gave him the team lead in that category.
- UWG falls to 0-3 all-time against Austin Peay and are now 1-6 all-time against ranked FCS opponents.
- The only team to hold APSU to fewer yards and points thus far in 2026 is Vanderbilt back on September 5.
- Bekee turned in the first 12-tackle performance since Jay Carter against Tarleton State in 2024.
- UWG was credited with just eight yards rushing, but gave up six sacks for 43 yards of loss.
