Austin Peay HC Scotty Walden makes strong statement about Tennessee after 30-13 loss to Vols
The Austin Peay Governors played the Tennessee Vols tough on Saturday evening in Neyland Stadium. Austin Peay fell 30-13 to the Vols, but they made Tennessee work hard for 60 minutes to grind out the 17-point win. Governors head coach Scotty Walden kept his team energized all night while using some unique formations on the […]
The Austin Peay Governors played the Tennessee Vols tough on Saturday evening in Neyland Stadium.
Austin Peay fell 30-13 to the Vols, but they made Tennessee work hard for 60 minutes to grind out the 17-point win.
Governors head coach Scotty Walden kept his team energized all night while using some unique formations on the offensive side of the ball to create headaches for the Vols.
Walden also tried to disrupt Tennessee's offensive momentum as often as possible by using timeouts early in each half.
After the game, Walden praised his team's effort before calling Tennessee a "no doubt about it" playoff team.
"We got back to playing Austin Peay Governor football, no doubt about it," said Walden after the loss to the Vols. "We played physical. We played fearless. I'm just so proud of this team because we had some hard conversations this week. This was not an easy week for our program."
"We made too many mistakes to beat a really good team," continued Walden. "They're a top-10 team in America. They are a College Football Playoff team, no doubt about it. They have as good of personnel as anyone in the country. I thought we did a lot of things schematically to give ourselves a chance. Kudos to our players, they fought their hearts out. That's Austin Peay Governor football."
Walden told reporters that he wants Austin Peay to be the FCS team that no one wants to play, which is something that's probably quickly becoming the case (Austin Peay played Alabama tough last season in a 34-0 loss).
"I think we frustrated them in a lot of ways," said Walden. "We want to be that FCS team that no Power 5 school wants to play. I know my AD doesn't want to hear that, he probably likes those checks. We want teams to think twice before they schedule the Governors because they won't get a team that is going to lay down. They are going to get a team that's going to fight. It's going to be uncommon, it's going to be cutting-edge. We did a lot of things to disrupt their tempo and disrupt their rhythm. Again, I'm just so proud of the kids. They bought into the game plan. I'll tell you one thing, I thought we did a great job as a coaching staff communicating the game plan because it was uncommon."
Austin Peay has played some tough opponents over the last few years (Ole Miss in Oxford in 2021 and Alabama in Tuscaloosa last season), which means Walden knows a good team when he sees one. And it's clear he thinks Tennessee, despite struggling against Austin Peay, is one of the best teams in the nation. Austin Peay just happened to perform against one of the best teams in the nation as Walden was hoping they would.
Sometimes you just run into a buzzsaw. That's what happened to the Vols on Saturday night. But fortunately for Tennessee, they were talented enough to come out with a 17-point win.
Tennessee is 2-0 and Vols QB Joe Milton already deserves a little more grace from fans
Tennessee is 2-0 and Vols quarterback Joe Milton already deserves a little more grace from UT fans
Featured image via Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
