Relationships led to Pitt game with Tennessee’s Austin Peay
Austin Peay is not in Austin, Texas. It’s in Clarksville, Tenn., about an hour northwest of Nashville. It’s a common misconception, Austin Peay athletic director Gerald Harrison admitted.
Some Pitt fans might have discovered that fact when Austin Peay was announced last week as the Panthers’ non- conference season opener. Pitt is set to host the Governors on Sept. 12 at Heinz Field, after the Mid- American Conference postponed fall sports and Miami ( Ohio) could no longer fill the Panthers’ non- conference slot.
The Panthers, in their 130- year history, have never played a team that currently competes in the Ohio Valley Conference. “But college athletics is all about relationships,”
Harrison told the Pittsburgh Post
Gazette.
And there is history between Austin Peay’s AD and those within Pitt’s athletic department.
Harrison has been at Austin Peay for two years. Before that, the South Carolina native worked at Duke for a decade. Harrison was the Blue Devils’ football administrator, a role that acquainted him with other directors of football operations in the ACC, including longtime Pitt staffer Chris LaSala.
Harrison also knows former Duke assistant and Pitt basketball coach Jeff Capel, as well as Matt Plizga, the media relations director for Pitt men’s basketball and previously the Blue Devils. But it was Harrison’s connection with LaSala that facilitated Austin Peay’s trip to Heinz Field.
“Chris reached out first to see if we’d be interested,” Harrison said. “And the more I thought about it, like, yeah we’re interested. Let’s see if we can make it work.”
Like Pitt, Austin Peay lost its Sept. 12 opponent. The Ohio Valley Conference postponed fall sports, which nixed the Governors’ game against UT- Martin. However, the league is allowing its football programs to schedule up to four nonconference games in the fall.
Austin Peay decided to play three and was able to keep two of its previously scheduled games. The Governors lost to Central Arkansas, 24- 17, Saturday and travel to Cincinnati on Sept. 19 — a matchup that was pushed back two weeks from its original date to comply with the American Athletic Conference’s revised slate.
Scheduled to play a Football Bowl Subdivision side already, Harrison was used to being asked about the FCS program’s COVID- 19 testing capacity. So when Pitt inquired about that, he was prepared.
In its updated fall model, the ACC requires all non- conference opponents to adhere to the league’s protocols. Right now, that testing requirement is one weekly PCR nasal swab test for every team member, 72 hours before competition. However, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said he expects those protocols to get stricter, hinting at two PCR tests and a Friday antibody test every game week.
“We would do what we need to do before the game,” Harrison said. “If the ACC requires two tests and an antibody test, we would figure that out. Our university is prepared.”
After assuring Pitt of its testing capacity, Harrison said it didn’t take long to secure the Governors’ spot. Pitt and Austin Peay started discussing a non- conference meeting last week. An undisclosed fee was agreed upon, and within three weeks of kickoff, a contract was signed with a COVID- 19 clause in it.
“If they can’t play or we can’t play for some reason due to the effects of this virus, we’ll shake hands and go on about our business. Or fist bump or elbow bump or whatever,” Harrison said with a laugh. “I’m confident and I’m hopeful we’ll get the game in. But if not, there’s some language that protects both institutions.”
In addition, the game could not be rescheduled later this season if it has to be moved from Sept. 12. Pitt has off dates on Oct. 31 and Dec. 5. But one of the Ohio Valley Conference’s stipulations in allowing teams to play is that their mini- season must wrap in a five- week span. With Austin Peay playing Saturday, Pitt’s first bye week is outside that range.
As for the money, Pitt will pay less than the $ 1.1 million it agreed to shell out for Miami ( Ohio). Without sharing a specific figure, Harrison said FCS schools usually get 40%- 50% less than an FBS program would make on a guaranteed money road game.
Still, that’s a healthy, six- figure chunk of change.
Austin Peay lost a “significant amount of funding,” Harrison said, after the 2020 NCAA tournament was nixed. Every Division I athletic department took a hit from that cancellation, but for most FCS programs, money gets tight pretty quickly. To navigate the pandemic’s harsh financial realities, it was important for the Governors to keep the game at Cincinnati and add their road game at Pitt.
Harrison noted that the program’s decision to play this fall — to schedule three non- conference games — was not strictly motivated by money. Before locking down the Cincinnati game and pursuing the Pitt matchup, Austin Peay’s football team voted whether or not it wanted to play. The result was an “overwhelming” yes.
“The narrative becomes that people are playing just for money,” Harrison said of the guarantee games. “Well, at our level, those games don’t fund those sports. Those games fund all the sports. I have 350 student- athletes. So as happy as our football players are about playing, our tennis and golf teams and everybody else should be equally excited about the football team’s opportunity in Pittsburgh.”