Austin Peay beats Gardner-Webb 35-17

Team pages: Gardner-Webb · Austin Peay

Gardner-Webb0-117
Austin Peay1-035Final
Thu, Aug 27 · Governors Stadium, Clarksville, Tenn. · Crowd 7,043ESPN+

Austin Peay beat Gardner-Webb 35-17.

Next: Gardner-Webb lost to Wofford 17-13, Sat Sep 5

Next: Austin Peay lost to Vanderbilt 28-9, Sat Sep 5

How it swung

Before kickoff, our ratings gave Austin Peay a 78% chance, and the closing betting line (Austin Peay was a 14.5-point favorite) put it at 88%.

Favored the whole way: Austin Peay never fell below 80%.

Gardner-Webb never had better than a 19% chance.

FinalAustin Peay 35-17 Gardner-WebbAustin Peay wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.
50%75%90%Q1Q2Q3Q495% at halfAustin PeayWon35-17Scores
50%75%90%Q1Q2Q3Q495% at halfAustin PeayWon35-17Scores
50%10%25%Q1Q2Q3Q45% at halfAustin PeayLost17-35Scores
50%10%25%Q1Q2Q3Q45% at halfAustin PeayLost17-35Scores

No single play moved the chance by 20 points.

No single play moved the chance by 20 points.

Austin Peay’s chance to win after every play.
How to read this chartStarts from the pregame line (Austin Peay -14.5), at 87% for Austin Peay (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores.

Every drive

Austin Peay scored on 5 of its 12 drives; Gardner-Webb on 3 of its 11.

Austin Peay’s drives are teal, Gardner-Webb’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

own goalgoal lineQ1Austin Peay: Punt, from 75 yards out to 42PuntGardner-Webb: Field goal, from 92 yards out to 19Field goalAustin Peay: Touchdown, from 79 yards out to 0TouchdownGardner-Webb: Punt, from 72 yards out to 67PuntQ2Austin Peay: Interception, from 73 yards out to 72InterceptionGardner-Webb: Touchdown, from 47 yards out to 0TouchdownAustin Peay: Touchdown, from 79 yards out to 0TouchdownGardner-Webb: Turned over on downs, from 64 yards out to 38DownsAustin Peay: Touchdown, from 62 yards out to 0TouchdownGardner-Webb: Turned over on downs, from 81 yards out to 21DownsAustin Peay: Punt, from 79 yards out to 71PuntGardner-Webb: End of half, from 59 yards out to 64End of halfQ3Gardner-Webb: Interception, from 75 yards out to 44InterceptionAustin Peay: Punt, from 59 yards out to 61PuntGardner-Webb: Punt, from 77 yards out to 77PuntAustin Peay: Touchdown, from 62 yards out to 0TouchdownAustin Peay: Missed field goal, from 65 yards out to 33Missed FGGardner-Webb: Punt, from 80 yards out to 86PuntAustin Peay: Touchdown, from 48 yards out to 0TouchdownGardner-Webb: Touchdown, from 75 yards out to 0TouchdownQ4Austin Peay: Turned over on downs, from 65 yards out to 6DownsGardner-Webb: Turned over on downs, from 94 yards out to 46DownsAustin Peay: End of game, from 54 yards out to 52End of game

Box score

Austin Peay 35, Gardner-Webb 17

Austin Peay covered −14.5 by 3.5. The total, 52, stayed under 59.5.

Gardner-Webb leaders

  • Passing Cole Pennington 27 of 49, 312 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
  • Rushing Christian Vann 4 for 15 yds; Adrian Cormier 7 for 11 yds, 1 TD
  • Receiving Kory Jones 9 for 102 yds; Jalile Bost 2 for 63 yds, 1 TD

Austin Peay leaders

  • Passing Chris Parson 14 of 21, 308 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
  • Rushing Courtland Simmons 11 for 73 yds, 2 TD; Chris Parson 12 for 31 yds, 1 TD
  • Receiving Denver Harper 3 for 108 yds, 1 TD; Marvin Sims 3 for 78 yds

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last three games · 2025 season

Gardner-Webb · 7-5

Rated 220th in our preseason ratings.

L 24-29 vs Western Illinois #226 of 667

lost by 5 as a 13.5-point favorite

W 30-14 @ Tennessee State #249 of 667

won by 16 as a 15-point favorite

W 27-24 vs Southeast Missouri State #199 of 667

won by 3 as a 4.5-point favorite

L 21-27 @ Tennessee Tech #82 of 667

lost by 6 as a 19-point underdog

W 48-20 @ Lindenwood #230 of 667

won by 28 as a 1.5-point favorite

L 7-37 vs UT Martin #184 of 667

lost by 30 as an 8-point favorite

W 21-10 @ Eastern Illinois #215 of 667

won by 11 as a 4.5-point favorite

W 30-27 vs Charleston Southern #232 of 667

won by 3 as a 13.5-point favorite

L 35-52 @ Ohio #76 of 667

lost by 17 as a 29.5-point underdog

Gardner-Webb lost 35-52 at Ohio. Chance to win started at 2%, low under 1%, high 12%.

W 23-13 vs The Citadel #214 of 667

won by 10 as a 3.5-point favorite

L 12-59 @ Georgia TechTop 25 #37 of 667

lost by 47 as a 37.5-point underdog

Gardner-Webb lost 12-59 at Georgia Tech. Chance to win started at 2%, low under 1%, high 3%.

W 52-45 @ Western Carolina #182 of 667

won by 7 as a 6.5-point underdog

Last three games · 2025 season

Austin Peay · 7-5

Rated 118th in our preseason ratings.

L 44-45 @ Tarleton State #72 of 667

lost by 1 as an 18.5-point underdog

W 30-16 vs Samford #246 of 667

won by 14 as a 25.5-point favorite

W 41-38 vs Central Arkansas #191 of 667

won by 3 as a 13.5-point favorite

L 17-33 @ Southern Utah #135 of 667

lost by 16 as a 1.5-point favorite

W 56-28 vs North Alabama #232 of 667

won by 28 as a 19.5-point favorite

L 20-34 @ Eastern Kentucky #156 of 667

lost by 14 as a 10-point favorite

W 44-30 vs West Georgia #161 of 667

W 42-10 vs Utah Tech #218 of 667

won by 32 as a 14-point favorite

L 31-45 @ Abilene Christian #129 of 667

lost by 14 as a 2-point favorite

W 56-7 vs Morehead State #252 of 667

won by 49 as a 25.5-point favorite

L 6-28 @ GeorgiaTop 25 #6 of 667

lost by 22 as a 46.5-point underdog

Austin Peay lost 6-28 at Georgia. Chance to win started at under 1%, low under 1%, high 1%.

W 34-14 @ Middle Tennessee #196 of 667

won by 20 as a 16.5-point underdog

Austin Peay won 34-14 at Middle Tennessee. Chance to win started at 9%, low 9%, high better than 99%.

The series

Gardner-Webb leads the series 2-1

3 meetings since 2007 · Austin Peay won the last meeting

  • 2023Austin Peay 41-14
  • 2008Gardner-Webb 31-15
  • 2007Gardner-Webb 20-13

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Our model and the betting line don’t fully agree on Austin Peay’s chances here.

50-50Model · 78%Line · 88%Gardner-WebbAustin Peay

Austin Peay favored by 14.5 · Total 59.5

How games like this usually go

Austin Peay by 14.5, and it went to form

50%90%Q1Q2Q3Q450%90%Q1Q2Q3Q4

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 251 games since 2025 with a favorite of 14.5 to 21.5 points.

Home field

Austin Peay is worth +9.5 points (±16.2) more at home than on the road since 2018 — top tenth of FBS, 99th percentile.

50% at home, 21% on the road against FBS opponents (1-1 home, 3-11 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads +2.4 at home vs. away over 52 games — inside the ±8.8 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.

Night kickoff — historically worth about half a point more to the home side against the number, and not much more than that. The visitors travel about 330 miles to get here.

Where next