Cashing In: Austin Peay’s Payday with Georgia

by Peggy Brown

Dawgs OTL Writer/ Co-Editor

If you’ve never heard of Austin Peay, you’re not alone — but after a little digging, I found out this small Tennessee school has a story that makes Saturday’s matchup more interesting than it looks on paper. I dug in and found so much information that it makes me want to take a road trip and see the place. For now, though, I want to pose two questions: What is its story and why would the University of Georgia play this team in football?

History of Austin Peay State University

Austin Peay State University was established in 1927 and named after Tennessee’s governor, Austin Peay, who was from the school’s town and the state’s fifth largest city, Clarksville. In 1785 when it was the center of tobacco trade, Clarksville was founded. It is located at the Kentucky border and 49 miles northwest of Nashville. Pictures of the downtown area show a quaint street of red-brick buildings that are purported to house lively restaurants, gift shops, and the nearby Victorian-style Customs House Museum. For nature lovers, there are the beautiful mountains and Dunbar Cave, an extensive cavern and cave system. The city is home to Fort Campbell, which supports an estimated 60,000 jobs and is at least partly responsible for the low median age of 30 in Clarksville.

Military Connections and Student Life at APSU

Fort Campbell also influences programs and services offered by Austin Peay State University, including more than 2,400 military-affiliated students out of 10,439 in 2024. In 2015, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission named APSU a Veterans Education Transitions Support (VETS) Campus. In 2020, the university earned the MacArthur Award for its ROTC program, which was among the top eight in the country. In addition, APSU employs a full-time Veterans Affairs counselor on campus.

Fun Fact: Austin Peay’s Famous “Let’s Go Peay!” Chant

Fun fact: Austin Peay is also home to one of college sports’ most unique chants — “Let’s Go Peay!” — which always gets a laugh from opposing fans and makes the Governors one of the more memorable small schools in the country.

Why Georgia Football Scheduled Austin Peay

So far, we have some of the story surrounding Austin Peay State University, but why would the University of Georgia, a school of roughly 40,000 students, want to play football with them? Much like last week’s football game with Marshall, it seems to be a mutually beneficial arrangement. According to a November 21, 2024 article in The Red & Black, larger schools pay smaller schools to play football on the larger school’s campus to guarantee a win and to add money to the local economy, while smaller schools accept the deal because the football program funds other programs at their schools. Sometimes the deal includes home games for the smaller schools as well. But in 2025 UGA paid APSU $550,000 to play this Saturday, and they set aside $4.15 million, according to my AI friend, with $1.7 million to Marshall, and $1.9 million to Charlotte, all Division I schools.

The Future of These Matchups

In theory, this system is a win-win, but with the playoff committee pondering a change to more emphasis on the merit of opponents rather than win-loss record, the future is uncertain. The future of “pay-to-play” matchups like Georgia vs. Austin Peay is increasingly uncertain as the financial structure of college football shifts. With the College Football Playoff expanding and the committee placing more weight on strength of schedule, big programs may think twice about scheduling smaller opponents. At the same time, the growing costs of NIL, facilities, and staffing mean athletic departments at smaller schools still rely heavily on these payouts to fund entire sports programs. Clarity on this cloudy future will likely come once the playoff format stabilizes and conferences decide how non-conference scheduling fits into the new landscape of college football economics. No matter who cuts the check surely there will still be football between the hedges. Nevertheless, I plan to watch the game on Saturday, wish Austin Peay the best, hope Georgia wins, and perhaps one day visit the city of Clarksville, Tennessee, on my next trip to the mountains.

Go Dawgs.