FLORENCE, Ala. (November 2, 2024) – The final home game for North Alabama's seniors saw the Lions spot Austin Peay a 21-point lead before mounting a furious second-half rally, only to fall short in a 31-17 United Athletic Conference loss on Saturday at Braly Stadium.
UNA (3-7, 3-3 UAC) fought back from a 24-3 deficit as its defense limited the Govs to just 85 total yards after intermission. Redshirt senior quarterback
TJ Smith engineered a third-quarter comeback by rushing for a touchdown and throwing another to
Ben Harris, before the Governors tacked on their only second-half points with 7:21 remaining and building a cushion that was too large for the Lions to overcome.
The elder statesman of the Lions' senior class, seventh-year wide receiver
Takairee Kenebrew from Childersburg, Ala., moved past four Lions greats into fifth place on UNA's career receptions list with five catches against the Governors.
Kenebrew has 135 career receptions and will need 17 in his final two games to surpass UNA Hall of Famers Ricky Lindsey (1966-68) and Michael Edwards (1993-96) and become the Lions' second-leading all-time receiver. Dre Hall (2014-17) holds the career receptions record with 201.
Austin Peay quarterback Austin Smith completed his first 19 passes as the Governors (4-5, 3-3) raced to a 24-3 halftime lead. Austin Peay had a field goal and three touchdowns on its first four possessions, with Smith's first non-completed pass coming on an interception by UNA linebacker
Ashaad Williams with two seconds left in the first half.
Austin Peay had 321 yards in the first half.
"It took coming into half and evaluating ourselves, and we came out and did a great job in the third quarter," said UNA head coach
Brent Dearmon. "We won the third quarter, and that's what the whole game should have looked like. Offensively, there's big plays out there to be made, and we're not doing a good job of making them. For three weeks we were."
Smith completed 25-of-39 passes for 278 yards – all career highs – with one touchdown and one interception. Senior receiver
Dakota Warfield led the Lions with seven receptions for a team-high 84 yards.
Ike Rowell was UNA's leading tackler with nine. Sophomore
Seth Hampton helped replace injured linebacker
Jackson Bratton and had a career-high eight tackles.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
Austin Peay 3, North Alabama 0: Carson Smith staked the Governors to an early lead with a 37-yard field goal after their opening drive stalled at UNA's 19. The Lions' defense appeared to have scored a touchdown on a 79-yard fumble return by
Edwin White Schultz, but the runner was ruled down prior to the ball being knocked loose by
Kaleb Brown and Austin Peay settled for the early field goal.
Austin Peay 10, North Alabama 0: Following a missed UNA field goal attempt, the Govs drove 80 yards in seven plays with quarterback Austin Smith throwing a 57-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Barnes at the 3:56 mark.
SECOND QUARTER
Austin Peay 17, North Alabama 0: Austin Smith connected with Barnes again, this time on a 31-yard touchdown that finished off a seven-play, 78-yard Govs scoring drive.
Austin Peay 17, North Alabama 3: The Lions got on the scoreboard at the 8:17 mark when
Scott Payne kicked a 42-yard field goal after UNA's drive ended at the Govs 25.
TJ Smith had three completions on the scoring drive to set up Payne's kick.
Austin Peay 24, North Alabama 3: Austin Smith completed seven straight passes as the Govs went 75 yards in 12 plays. His final completion was a 14-yard TD to Romon Copeland Jr., who hauled in a short pass and shook away from two Lion defenders to get into the end zone with 1:16 left before halftime.
THIRD QUARTER
Austin Peay 24, North Alabama 10: The Lions caught the Govs off-guard to start the second half when
Sam Contorno's onside kick was successfully recovered by
Rush Lansdell. UNA wasted no time cutting into Austin Peay's lead as Smith completed passes to
Kobe Warden and Kenebrew to the Govs 14. Smith finished off the drive himself by sprinting left for a 14-yard touchdown run – his fifth of the year on the ground – and Payne tacked on the PAT with less than two minutes elapsed.
Austin Peay 24, North Alabama 17: UNA turned to trickery to pull within a touchdown after Austin Peay missed a 44-yard field goal try. Facing third-and-14 at the Govs 19, the Lions lined up
Ben Harris at quarterback with Smith flanked out wide. Smith took a handoff from
Logan Collier, then rifled a pass across the field back to Harris, who caught the throw five yards behind the line of scrimmage and shed Austin Peay defenders for his first career touchdown reception.
FOURTH QUARTER
Austin Peay 31, North Alabama 17: Austin Smith's
third touchdown throw to Jaden Barnes covered 49 yards and capped off a three-play, 71-yard Govs drive. Carson Smith's extra point with 7:21 remaining marked the final score of the game. UNA had a long drive near the 2:00 mark end with an interception in the end zone.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
COMING UP NEXT
Next Saturday, Nov. 9, the Lions embark on their longest road trip (1,708 miles) since traveling to Montana in 2019, when they visit Cedar City, Utah to face Southern Utah (4-5, 3-2). UNA defeated the Thunderbirds 34-30 in 2018 in the only previous meeting between the schools.
Kickoff at 8,500-seat Eccles Coliseum is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT with television coverage on ESPN+.
