TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? The Indiana State Sycamores lead after the first four and half minutes on the first collegiate field goal by kicker Corey Varnadore, but that would be the only lead the Sycamores would hold on the evening in falling to Ohio Valley Conference foe Austin Peay by a score of 32-17 in front of 2,037 rain-soaked fans at Memorial Stadium.
The game was delayed for 25 minutes at the onset while the teams waited for a severe thunderstorm to pass through the area before beginning warmups.
After the delay, the Sycamores received the opening kickoff and were forced to punt following a three-and-out stop by the Governors. After the ensuing punt return was muffed by Terrence Holt, Shonda Faulkner fell on the ball to set up ISU at the APSU 22-yard line.
The Sycamores moved as close as the five-yard line, but quarterback Reilly Murphy was stopped on third-and-three to bring on Varnadore. He booted the 25-yard attempt right down the middle for the quick 3-0 advantage with 10:34 left in the first period.
Austin Peay answered right back with a touchdown of their own to spot themselves a 7-3 advantage. Peay scored on a five-yard scamper by Chris Fletcher, as he recorded the first of his three touchdowns on the evening with 6:52 showing on the clock.
Fletcher's second score of the day with 3:16 left before halftime put the Governors in front 14-3 at the break. Fletcher scored from two yards out on the TD run.
APSU stretched its lead to 20-3 on a seven-yard pass from Mark Cunningham to Lanis Fredrick with 9:50 left in third quarter before Issac Zilokowski missed the PAT.
With 4:30 left in the third quarter, sophomore tailback Robert Barcliff started the Sycamore push with a one-yard TD run to cut the lead down to 20-10. The scoring drive covered nine plays and 64-yards as the Sycamores looked to creep back from behind as the game began to wind down.
Following a defensive stop, APSU punter Ryan Key perfectly placed a kick just inside the Sycamore one-yard line and three players later, Murphy lost his footing and fell in the end zone for a safety. The score put the Governors ahead 22-10.
Ziolkowski drilled a 22-yard field goal with 7:26 left in the game for the 25-10 lead which set up a near comeback for ISU in the final half of the game's last stanza.
Murphy hurled his first touchdown pass of the game to Brian Jackson with 6:12 showing on the clock to cut the APSU lead down to 25-17. Murphy's toss to Jackson covered 38 yards as the drive took seven plays and chewed up 76 yards in just over one minute.
Facing a fourth-and-three deep in its own territory on the next offensive drive for APSU, Fletcher broke past the stacked Sycamore defense and went in for his third and final score of the game for the 32-17 advantage.
Murphy tossed his second interception of the game on Indiana State's next possession which sealed the victory for Austin Peay.
Murphy finished the day by hitting 13-of-25 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown. Murphy also was the Sycamores' leading rusher, gaining 43 yards on 12 attempts. Jackson led the Sycamore receiving corps with five passes for 70 yards and the TD while eight other Indiana State receivers each caught one pass.
Defensively, Jayden Everett paced the Sycamores with 12 total tackles and a forced fumble while Darius Middlebrooks also posted 12 tackles. Faulkner, Quinton Scott and Kyle Monroe each recovered a fumble as the Sycamores forced three Governor turnovers on the day.
Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, September 15 when they travel to Southeast Missouri State for its second of three tries against a member of the OVC. Kick-off is set for 6:00 p.m. (ET) and can heard locally on The Crock 92.7 FM.
