CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (October 24, 2025) – Fresh off a thrilling win over Eastern Kentucky last week, the University of North Alabama football team looks to even its record United Athletic Conference play with a road game at nationally-ranked Austin Peay on Saturday in Clarksville, Tenn.
Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at Fortera Stadium.
For a list of "things to know" for Saturday's game,
click here.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
North Alabama vs. No. 23/25 Austin Peay
Date: Saturday, October 25
Time: 3 p.m. CT
Location: Clarksville, Tennessee
Stadium: Fortera Stadium
Capacity: 10,000
TV: ESPN+ (Barry Gresham, Ethan Schmidt, Kendra Sheehan)
Radio: Roar Lions Productions ("Voice of the Lions"
Benjamin Ray, Bryan Neece,
Chase Glover)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Click Here
Social Media:
@UNAFootball
UNA Game Notes |
Opponent Game Notes |
UAC Notes
NOTABLES
ABOUT THE LIONS: North Alabama owns a 2-5 overall record with a 1-2 record in UAC games. After starting with losses to No. 19 Abilene Christian and Central Arkansas, the Lions got off the mat and sent a message with a dominant 35-14 win over EKU. UNA's bread and butter has been the ground game, rushing for 198.4 yards per game to rank second behind Tarleton State in the UAC. The Lions are also allowing 167.4 yards on the ground.
ABOUT THE GOVS: Austin Peay has a 4-3 overall record and an even 2-2 record in UAC play. The Govs started the season with a statement, defeating FBS Middle Tennessee on the road with a decisive 34-14 win. Conference play opened for Austin Peay with a loss to No. 14 ACU and wins over Utah Tech and No. 16 West Georgia at home. The Govs lost at Eastern Kentucky two weeks ago and are coming off a bye week. APSU is ranked top 15 in FCS for both total offense and total defense with 444.4 yards per game and just 305.0 allowed per game. The Govs lead the UAC in defense and also lead in rushing defense with just 105.9 yards per game allowed.
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday will mark the 23rd all-time game against Austin Peay. UNA leads the series with a 13-9 record. The Govs have won all three meetings since joining UNA in the ASUN in 2022 and in the UAC the last two seasons. The Lions will hunt for their first win over Austin Peay since 1978 — a 10-6 victory in Clarksville.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: UNA won two weekly awards on Monday with redshirt senior running back
Jayvian Allen named the UAC Offensive Player of the Week and
Noah Gregg winning UAC Freshman of the Week. The pair were instrumental in a 35-14 win over EKU as Allen rushed 13 times for 98 yards and three touchdowns — a career-high — while Gregg caught three passes for 28 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown late in the first half.
FRESHLY SQUEEZED: Jayvian "Juice" Allen leads UNA with 78 rushes for 471 yards and seven touchdowns this season. In two of the last three games, Allen has recorded 102 rushing yards against ACU and 98 yards against EKU. Allen will look to become the sixth Lion to rush over 100 yards in the all-time series with Austin Peay. The last was ShunDerrick Powell in 2022 with 214 yards against the Govs. This season, Austin Peay gives up just 105.9 rushing yards per game to rank 12th in FCS.
QUARTERBACK MATCHUP: The projected starting quarterbacks in Saturday's game are
Destin Wade for North Alabama and Chris Parson for Austin Peay. This will not be the first meeting between those two players, as Wade and Parson both played high school in Tennessee and faced each other in a key regional matchup. Wade led Summit High School to two wins over Parson and Ravenwood High School.
FIVE SACK PERFORMANCE: UNA had five different defensive linemen record sacks against Eastern Kentucky last week, including individual stops from
Kaleb Brown,
Fred Vili,
Avery Howard,
Walter Goggins and
Christian Burkhalter. This is believed to be the first time five different defensive linemen recorded a sack in the same game since 2014 when the Lions had nine sacks against Western Oregon from the front four.
NO FLY ZONE: Senior defensive back
Jermaine Ray Jr. had five pass breakups against No. 4 Illinois State prior to the bye week, marking a new career-high. As of this week, Ray is one of just two players in FCS football this season to record five breakups in the same game.
TACKLE TANDEM: The Lions are led in tackles by both starting linebackers — senior
Demarcious Robinson and junior captain
Seth Hampton. Robinson, a transfer from Georgia Southern, has 57 tackles over seven games and leads with 6.5 tackles for loss. He also has a forced fumble, two recoveries, a QB hurry and an interception. Hampton has 45 tackles with 1.5 for loss and a sack. Robinson also has 31 solo stops.
WATCH OUT FOR WATFORD: Junior punter
Adam Watford leads the UAC with 45.7 punt yards per game. This currently ranks 10th in FCS football. He has 11 punts that have sailed over 50 yards, including a 74 yard punt against Central Arkansas that ranks as the second-longest in school history. He also has 10 punts inside the 20 yard line.
BAND OF BROTHERS: Christian Burkhalter and
Bishop Burkhalter are one of the few sibling sets in FCS football. Against Central Arkansas, the Burkhalter brothers were both credited with a tackle on the same play. There are no other FCS teams to have siblings record a stat on the same play this season.
TIME IS CRUCIAL: Both UNA and APSU are on the right side of the time of possession pendulum. The Govs rank 12th in FCS with an average time of possession of 32:50, while the Lions are 43rd at 30:38. UNA's win last week included a season-high 35:19 time of possession mark. The last time UNA had over 35 minutes of possession came last season in back-to-back wins over West Georgia and Utah Tech.
UAC ROUNDUP: Outside of Abilene Christian, everyone in the UAC is in action this week. The Saturday slate begins with Central Arkansas at West Georgia at 1 p.m. CT, followed one hour later by No. 3 Tarleton State at Eastern Kentucky. The Lions and Govs kick off at 3 p.m. The night ends with an in-state rivalry between Southern Utah and Utah Tech at 7 p.m. CT in St. George, Utah.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
