The All State

Media Credit: Lois Jones The 1977 Governors football team embrace each other before the game as they gather midfield to get recognized for their accomplishments. They were the first and only APSU football team to win the OVC championship 30 years ago. Head coach Rick Christophel's younger brother Randy was the quaterback of that team. The team finished with an 8-3 record beating OVC rival East Tennessee State for the title. [Click to enlarge]

It has been 30 years since the fateful season that sticks in the mind of former Austin Peay State University football coach James "Boots" Donnelly. On Saturday night, before the first sellout crowd at Governors Stadium since the early 1970s, Donnelly and his loyal former players stepped onto the new turf to be recognized for their achievements.

"I tell you what's great to see is all of these guys (players) that have been so successful in life," Donnelly said. "I think it's great that the university has seen fit to honor us in this game. It just goes to show the type of students this university puts out."

It was in 1977 that Donnelly and his underdog Governors made an everlasting impression not only on the APSU football program, but also on the community of Clarksville, by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Championship for the first and only time in the school's history.

Current APSU football coach Rick Christophel knows all about the infamous 1977 team. It was his younger brother, Randy, who quarterbacked the championship team only three years after Rick graduated and went from being APSU's quarterback to beginning his coaching career.

The thought of being able to commemorate the championship team before APSU's contest with Tennessee State Sept. 15 was great for Christophel.

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