ATHENS, Ga. - Less than an hour before the start of Saturday afternoon's Austin Peay-Georgia football game, Governors coach Will Healy was standing at midfield using the same three words with almost every remark.
"This is awesome," Healy said repeatedly.
The former Boyd-Buchanan quarterback and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga receivers coach was savoring the grand stage of facing the No. 3 Bulldogs before 92,746 fans and a national audience on ESPN. Healy was not lacking for attention, as the 33-year-old was greeted during pregame warmups by Bulldogs running backs coach Dell McGee and defensive line coach Tray Scott, as well as new Georgia men's basketball coach Tom Crean.
Moments later, Bulldogs head football coach Kirby Smart came up and visited with Healy for roughly five minutes.
It was a dream-like moment for Healy, but it eventually gave way to a humbling 45-0 loss to a vastly superior roster. The 45-point deficit is the largest of Healy's 24-game career with the Governors.
"This week has been amazing for us, but I didn't feel like we played extremely hard," Healy said afterward. "It wasn't a real competitive football game, and that's frustrating. I do think there are a lot of things we can learn from this."
Austin Peay had its share of jitters in the early going, getting a delay-of-game penalty before its first offensive snap and then needing a timeout after its first play. An illegal-formation penalty accompanied the start of Austin Peay's second possession, which was followed by a poor pitch from Governors quarterback Jeremiah Oatsvall that resulted in a fumble Bulldogs outside linebacker D'Andre Walker recovered at Austin Peay's 8-yard line.
Georgia tailback D'Andre Swift scored on the next play to make it 17-0 with 2:41 left in the opening quarter, and Healy replaced Oatsvall with former McCallie School standout JaVaughn Craig. A 6-foot-2, 203-pound junior, Craig completed six of 11 passes for 36 yards and rushed four times for 21 yards.
Craig's first possession after assuming the reins resulted in an 11-play, 55-yard drive that stalled at Georgia's 20-yard line. Healy eschewed going for it on fourth-and-1 for a 37-yard Logan Birchfield field-goal attempt, which sailed wide left.
"I wanted to go for it, but I always want to go for it," Craig said while walking off the field. "Our offense always wants to stay out on the field, but our coaches have the best game plan, and you trust in that. We have a great field-goal kicker who just pushed it left.
"It was a good drive, and we'll have to build on that."
Healy said Vaughn played better than Oatsvall, adding that Oatsvall had an "uncharacteristic day." He reiterated that Oatsvall and Craig had a great battle in preseason camp and he has confidence in both of them.
Austin Peay will have its home opener this Saturday night against Presbyterian, but the Governors won't forget their season opener any time soon.
"This experience was one of a kind," Craig said. "To get to play before more than 90,000 people was a great experience, and it was great to be able to compete against a top-three team in the country."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.