Getty Austin Peay Governors quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall.
The Central Arkansas Bears and Austin Peay Governors will open the 2020 college football season on Saturday when they meet at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, AL, for the Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff.
The game starts at 9 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN. But if you don’t have cable, here’s how to watch a live stream of the game online:
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FuboTV
ESPN is now one of the 105-plus live TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch Austin Peay vs Central Arkansas live on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which allows you to watch the game on-demand within three days of its conclusion, even if you don’t record it.
Vidgo
ESPN is one of 68 total channels included with Vidgo. It also comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Vidgo, you can then watch Austin Peay vs Central Arkansas live on your computer via the Vidgo website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV or other compatible streaming device via the Vidgo app.
Sling TV
ESPN is one of 31 channels included in the Sling Orange package. And if you want to bypass the free three-day trial, you can get your first month for just $20, and you can get Showtime, Starz and Epix for free:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch Austin Peay vs Central Arkansas live on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch live, Sling TV comes included with 10 hours of cloud DVR.
Hulu With Live TV
ESPN is included in Hulu With Live TV, which comes with 60-plus live TV channels and Hulu’s extensive on-demand library of TV shows and movies. You can watch immediately with a seven-day free trial:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch Austin Peay vs Central Arkansas live on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu with Live TV comes with both its extensive on-demand library and 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
Austin Peay vs Central Arkansas Preview
The Bears and Governors will meet in the first game of a college football season disrupted by COVID-19.
“This is different,” Central Arkansas athletics director Brad Teague said, according to USA Today. “And certainly because we’re the only game on Saturday and the first game of the college football season, the first NCAA contest since COVID shut it down in the spring, there is a lot more excitement.”
Four Division I conferences — the Big Ten, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, and the Pac-12 — have already canceled their seasons, joined by many programs from the remaining leagues.
Though Saturday’s affair is sold out, the Cramton Bowl will be filled at about one-quarter of its roughly 25,000-seat capacity as a measure against the novel coronavirus.
“We also understand the scrutiny that’s going to come with us playing while many others are not and being the first game when many have pushed back to September,” Teague said, per USA Today. “We understand that. We’re ready to face those questions and talk about our safety protocols that have been in place really since June.”
The game will mark the head-coaching debut of Marquase Lovings, whom Austin Peay elevated from associate head coach to interim head coach following the sudden departure of Mark Hudspeth, who resigned in July after just one season at the helm.
“One of things we all love about Coach Lovings is that he is a great communicator,” Govs quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall said, according to The Leaf-Chronicle. “He’s going to let you know where you stand every day. He’s going to encourage you on the field and in the classroom.”
Lovings previously worked on the staffs of the Nicholls State Colonels, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, and the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
“There’s certainly moments that I think back to that time that give me confidence that I can do this,” Lovings said, per The Leaf-Chronicle. “My very first experiences as a coach under (Mississippi State) Coach (Sylvester) Croom, my time in Louisiana, my time at Nicholls State (in 2018). All those moments I take with me and I try to apply what I’ve learned.”
Austin Peay and Central Arkansas each claimed a share of their respective conference’s title last year: The Govs went 11-4 overall and 7-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play to share the league title with the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks, claiming the OVC’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs on a tiebreaker before getting eliminated by the Montana State Bobcats in the quarterfinals; Central Arkansas went 9-4 overall and 7-2 in the Southland Conference to share the championship with Nicholls State and receive an at-large berth to the FCS playoffs, exiting in the second round with a defeat to the Illinois State Redbirds.