2022 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview: No. 12 Austin Peay
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To give an idea of how unpredictable things are with the Austin Peay football program, consider that Scotty Walden has been the head football coach for two seasons already, and he recently held his first spring practices with the Governors.
After arriving in in November 2020, Walden had just under four months to prepare his team for the spring 2021 football season, which had been moved from the fall due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The team then turned around and played a traditional fall 2021 season.
So yes, Austin Peay is the Crimson Tide's sacrificial lamb on the 2022 schedule, as the Football Championship Subdivision team will receive $600,000 to make the trip to Tuscaloosa the week before Alabama hosts Auburn for the Iron Bowl on Thanksgiving weekend.
But that's one of the few certainties about this year's Governors, who are led by the former offensive coordinator (and head coach for four games) at Southern Miss. At East Texas Baptist in 2016, when Walden was the youngest football head coach at any NCAA school at the age of 26, it led Division III in scoring offense (49.9 points per game) and finished second in total offense (564.3 yards).
Walden's now the "ripe old" age of 32 (yes, that's sarcasm), and will turn 33 four days before facing Alabama on Nov. 19. Happy birthday.
Meanwhile, the Governors will play in a new conference this season.
Last September, the ASUN Conference announced that Austin Peay would join the league for the 2022-23 academic year, expanding the league to 13 schools in seven states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia).
However, this will be the first time that the Governors will face the Crimson Tide in football.
Last year it visited Ole Miss and lost 54-17, contributing to a 2-4 start before winning four of its last five games. Most of the key players from that team are no longer on the roster, though.
Offense
Walden's teams are known for their passing, however his best playmaker has to be replaced. Starting quarterback Draylen Ellis was suspended indefinitely in January for violating team rules along defensive tackle Terrell Allen, and both have since transferred elsewhere.
The 6-foot, 175-pound Ellis threw for 2,626 yards, with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions last season. He led the OVC in total offense (299 yards per game), total passing yards, and passing yards per game.
Two of his favorite targets, wide receivers Baniko Harley and Eugene Minter, have also moved on, along with tackle Bucky Williams from the offense that was No. 18 at the FCS level. Even leading rusher Ahmaad Tanner is gone.
Austin Peay had six quarterbacks on the roster during the spring, including Sheldon Layman, who made two starts last fall, and local standout Bryce Robinson, who is a redshirt junior.
Regardless of who's taking snaps, the Governors will try to throw — a lot.
Defense
Austin Peay has a similar problem on the other side of the ball following numerous departures.
Among them, safety Koby Perry was the first Austin Peay player to be named the OVC Defensive Player of the Year in 43 seasons. He led the team in tackles with 85.
Also gone from the secondary are two All-OVC selections, cornerback Johnathon Edwards, who made seven picks in 2021, and nickel defensive back Kordell Jackson. Both, like Perry, were graduate students.
Looking to step up in the secondary will be junior Shamari Simmons, and sophomore Kory Chapman, a junior from Hoover High School in Alabama.
Linebacker Jack McDonald and Allen, who had a team-high five sacks, were second-team OVC picks. McDonald was a graduate student, along with linebacker Troy Henderson, and they tied for second in team tackles with 71.
That's a lot of holes to fill.
Schedule
The season opener against Western Kentucky will give Alabama fans a taste for the talent contrast.
The Governors open their home schedule against Presbyterian, Sept. 3, and begin the first-ever ASUN Conference football season when they welcome Eastern Kentucky, Sept. 24, to Fortera Stadium.
The game in Tuscaloosa will close Austin Peay's regular season, and chances are it will already know its fate regarding the FCS playoffs. Consequently, either the Governors will be using the finale as a sort of an enjoyable cap to the season, or they'll be fine-tuning things for the postseason.
Odds are it'll be the former as Austin Peay isn't projected to be an FCS Top 25 team.
Outlook
The size differential aside (there are five 300-pound players on the entire roster), Austin Peay has a ton of question marks coming into the fall and looks like it could be a middle-of-the-pack team in the new ASUN. Although it held its spring game at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and gave free admission to anyone on the Fort Campbell Army base, it's been a pretty rocky offseason for a program that was already in need of some stability. As a result, some growing pains are expected, and the look of the team could be very different by the time the Governors get to Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Austin Peay at Alabama
The Game
The Team
Henry Taylor / The Leaf-Chronicle USA Today Sports Network
The School
Henry Taylor/The Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle
The Program
Henry Taylor / The Leaf-Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK
Schedule
Henry Taylor / The Leaf-Chronicle
Did You Know?
Henry Taylor/The Leaf-Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK
This is the first story in a series previewing Alabama's 2022 opponents.
