GWU Out Muscles Austin Peay, 31-15, Saturday Night
September 13, 2008 | Football
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Stan Doolittle passed for two
touchdowns and Patrick Hall ran for a pair of scores, as
Gardner-Webb opened up a 24-9 lead en route to a physical, 31-15,
win at Austin Peay.
The Runnin' Bulldogs (2-1) saw its defense step up fiercely for the
second week in a row without the services of two-time All-America
Mario Brown – limiting Austin Peay to only 289 total yards,
and out of the end zone until the fourth quarter.
"When you control the line of scrimmage, games like this come out
in the win column for you," said GWU head coach Steve Patton. "We
played very physical on both lines and I think we were a little
tougher than they thought we were coming in. I challenged our guys
this week to show some toughness, and they responded very well on
both sides of the football."
In a game filled with plenty of hard hits, Gardner-Webb opened up a
3-0 lead on Ryan Gates' 46-yard field goal with 6:09 to play in the
first. Dobson Collins pushed that lead to 10-0 by racing 53 yards
with a screen pass from Doolittle with 48 seconds left in the
opening quarter, before Austin Peay's John Bell connected on the
first of three field goals for the Governors (0-3) late in the
second quarter.
Hall touched pay dirt from one-yard out with 1:07 remaining before
halftime for a 17-3 Bulldog lead, but Bell nailed a 51-yard trey
with a second left for a 17-6 score at the break.
Gardner-Webb stalled on its first drive of the second half, and
Austin Peay trimmed the lead to 17-9 with Bell's third field goal
with 10:48 left in the third quarter. Solid field position after a
pair of defensive stands by the Bulldogs led to Doolittle's second
touchdown pass – as the junior hit James Perry III from
18-yards out for a 24-9 Bulldog lead with 3:28 left in the third
quarter.
Austin Peay made its only charge early in the fourth quarter, as
Gary Orr found Adrian Mines in the end zone from 29 yards out, as
two GWU defenders fell on a touchdown play for the Governors –
but the extra point was missed to leave the hosts two scores behind
at 24-15.
The Bulldogs' defense stepped up the rest of the way, forcing a
punt and picking off two passes to effectively end the game. The
first interception led to a nine-play, 71-yard drive that ended on
Hall's final scoring run (three yards) with 55 seconds remaining.
Doolittle had 50 yards rushing on that drive from his quarterback
spot.
Philip Peoples paced a 191-yard rushing attack with 85 yards on 18
carries, with Doolittle carrying 10 times for 57 yards. Hall had
nine carries for 26 yards and the two scores.
Doolittle was 11-of-20 for 152 yards and a pair of scores. Perry
caught six passes for 59 yards and his first career touchdown to
pace the receiving corps. GWU gained 343 yards of total offense
with 15 first downs on the road.
Quantavis Jackson led the Bulldogs' defense with 10 hits and 1.5
tackles for loss. Marty Patterson added nine hits and Jeffrey
Williams seven for Gardner-Webb, which saw Daniel Cooke, Cedric
McGowan, Bryce Nixon and freshman Devin Johnson combine for four
interceptions. Nixon finished with four hits, a tackle for loss and
three pass break ups as well for the GWU defensive attack.
Austin Peay was held to less than 100 yards rushing and 200 yards
passing for the second year in a row vs. Gardner-Webb, and coughed
up four turnovers.
The Runnin' Bulldogs will enjoy an open date before returning home
to host Sam Houston State at 6 pm ET on Saturday, Sept. 27 in
Spangler Stadium.
