Five takeaways from the FCS Kickoff

(Stats Perform) – If you watched the seventh annual FCS Kickoff from the comfort of your couch Saturday night, the CDC would have approved the proper social distancing during the return of college football.

Otherwise, a lot was back to normal – relatively speaking – when Austin Peay and Central Arkansas got up close and personal in the first game during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That included No. 11 Central Arkansas getting the best of No. 13 Austin Peay 24-17 – something the Bears have done in three all-time meetings, including each of the past two seasons.

Here are five takeaways from the FCS Kickoff, held at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama, and broadcast on ESPN to a football-starved nation:

– An unannounced, inconspicuous absence of a key player this season will stick out like a nasal swab. Austin Peay’s All-America wide receiver DeAngelo Wilson, coming off Governors’ single-season records of 89 receptions, 1,564 receiving yards and 15 touchdown receptions, did not accompany the team to Montgomery. Both teams had to undergo NCAA-mandated coronavirus testing on Wednesday (72 hours prior to kickoff), so speculation of positive tests will hang over player absences sans any injury or illness disclosures.

– The two evenly matched (and a tad rusty) teams nearly matched the scoring of last year’s matchup in reverse. Last year, Central Arkansas scored the first 10 points and Austin Peay came back with 16 in a row before the Bears went ahead 17-16 in the fourth quarter and later tacked on a late TD – both Breylin Smith touchdown passes to Lujan Winningham – for a 24-16 win. Saturday night, Austin Peay went ahead 10-0, Central Arkansas scored 16 straight points and the Governors went back in front 17-16 in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t the Govs’ turn again, though, because the Bears answered with Smith’s 10-yard, game-winning TD pass to – yup – Winningham with 34 seconds remaining.

– Despite having to replace two standout offensive tackles, Central Arkansas rediscovered its run game with 175 yards on 31 carries – nearly doubling last year’s average of 89 yards per game. Senior Kierre Crossley scored from 34 yards out early in the third quarter and finished with a game-high 110 yards.

– The fourth quarter was terrific, but if you missed the first play from scrimmage of the 2020 season, you missed a lot. Austin Peay true freshman C.J. Evans Jr. took a pitch from quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall and raced along the Central Arkansas sideline before reaching the Bears’ 30 and cutting back across the field en route to a 75-yard touchdown. Unfortunately for the Govs, that was nearly half their rushing output because they managed only 77 more yards on the next 37 carries while being denied their 300th all-time win.

– The sparse, socially distanced crowd (2,000 maximum, but less than that) was a sure sign of the pandemic having an impact on college football. Few schools are playing this fall – 15 out of 127 in the FCS – and stadiums will be kept well below capacity with protocols to be followed in every which way (such as coaches wearing masks). There will be excitement with America’s favorite spectator sport, but a lot of the cheering may come out of your family room or living room.