FLORENCE, Ala. (October 24, 2026) – For a second straight week, the University of North Alabama football team took a high-profile team to the wire in United Athletic Conference play but ultimately fell to ninth-ranked Austin Peay by a 27-21 final at Bobby Wallace Field at Bank Independent Stadium.
The Lions (4-4, 1-2 UAC) led late in the third quarter on a thrilling go-ahead touchdown pass from
Destin Wade to redshirt freshman
Xavier Johnson, but the No. 9 Govs (7-2, 3-1 UAC) had a 41-yard touchdown catch to end the quarter and added two field goals in the fourth.
An untimely fumble and a late third-down conversion allowed APSU to escape.
Despite the loss, UNA celebrated its largest attendance in Bank Independent Stadium's young history with 12,008 fans, including a full crowd in the standing room only area. This came as part of UNA's annual Homecoming and Hall of Fame weekend.
Johnson had two touchdown catches in the game, totaling eight catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns. This marks the first multi-touchdown game of his career. The Fort Worth, Texas native caught a 20-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and a long 74-yard pass to end the third. Both were to take the lead.
Wade finished 18-for-28 passing for 247 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for a game-high 68 yards. Redshirt sophomore
Roderick Taylor Jr. finished with 38 yards to lead the backs.
Defensively, the Lions limited Austin Peay to just 105 rushing yards for the game, including just two yards in the first half. The Govs had just 71 total yards in the first half thanks to a long second quarter drive from UNA to eat time of possession.
The defense was led by redshirt junior
Kanijal Thomas with eight tackles and a pass breakup, while junior linebacker
Fred Vili had six tackles, assisted on a tackle for loss and added two breakups.
Austin Peay started with the ball and punted on the first possession, but then picked off UNA's second offensive play to set up a 10-yard touchdown pass. The Govs carried the lead into the second quarter, but UNA answered within the first four plays of the second frame. On 4th and 6, redshirt sophomore
Snap Reed caught a 37-yard pass to put the ball in the red zone. Johnson caught one over the middle on the next play to tie things up with 13:00 left in the half.
APSU had to punt it with 9:18 left in the half, then UNA took over and proceeded on a 21-play drive that ate up all but four seconds of the half. The 9:14 drive was the longest of the
Brent Dearmon era and kept Austin Peay off the field. However, the drive ended in a missed 42-yard field goal, allowing Austin Peay to kneel on the final play of the half. The drive included seven first downs.
The second half was topsy-turvy at times, as Taylor had a hard-fought 11-yard run on the opening drive of the third quarter to give UNA a 14-7 lead. The Govs kicked a field goal on the next drive with 5:38 remaining.
In the final 2:29 of the third quarter, UNA and APSU combined for three touchdowns on six plays. The Govs took a 17-14 lead on a 22-yard run by Parsons, then UNA answered three plays later on a 74-yard catch by Johnson. Then APSU snatched the lead back two plays later with a 41-yard pass to freshman Denver Harper near the end of the break to make it 24-21.
The teams traded punts on three possessions before APSU added another short field goal to make it 27-21 with 2:46 left. UNA started a promising potential game-winning drive with a six-yard run by
Chris McMillian, but the next play included a 16-yard pass for a first down that was later fumbled near midfield and recovered by the Govs. This allowed APSU to run out the time.
UNA outgained the Govs 381-320 and had a 20-18 advantage in first downs. Both teams were 7-16 on third down and perfect on fourth down — UNA 3-3 and APSU 1-1. The Lions had a slight advantage in time of possession with 31:50 of offensive time.
This is only the second time a UNA game has ended in a 27-21 final score. The last time came all the way back in 1967 against Henderson State.
Next Saturday, the Lions will hit the road for a Halloween showdown at Central Arkansas. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. on "The Stripes" in Conway, Ark. This will begin a three-game stretch of games against teams below UNA in the standings with West Florida and West Georgia after UCA.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
