Austin Peay treats Knights like bowl game

ORLANDO — Austin Peay coach Will Healy wants his team to enjoy its trip to Florida, and for the Governors to upset Central Florida — in that order.

The Governors weren’t even scheduled to make this trip, but since his FCS program was added to 18th-ranked UCF’s schedule, Healy is treating it like a bowl game for Austin Peay.

The team arrived in Orlando on a special charter flight on Thursday — a day early — with the coaches’ families in tow. Once on the ground, the Austin Peay contingent immediately headed to Disney World for six hours of fun.

On Friday, Austin Peay planned to enjoy Cocoa Beach, which is about an hour away. The team planned a walk-through practice as well.

The Governors will start to lock in and mentally prepare for their matchup today with UCF (6-0) in what they jokingly have dubbed the Peay Bowl.

“I wanted to treat this like a bowl game, down to having a bowl gift on their beds when they got there,” said Healy, Austin Peay’s second-year coach. “I wanted to make sure these kids can never have a better experience playing a college football game than what our guys are going to do this week.”

It could be dubbed the Hurricane Irma game.

Neither team was scheduled to play this weekend when the season began, but the storm forced the Knights to cancel their September home game against Georgia Tech. UCF needed an extra game and Austin Peay (5-3) was available.

Healy and his players made it work with a few conditions.

“This is going to be like a Super Bowl for them,” UCF coach Scott Frost said. “They’re coming down here and treating this like a bowl game. I’ve been on a team like theirs when I was (an assistant coach) at Northern Iowa and when you get to play an FBS team, there is nothing you want more in the world than to knock a team off and beat them.

“So I know they are going to come down here hungry and our guys have to be ready.”

Healy, whose team ended a 29-game losing streak with a victory in Week 3, isn’t expecting anything less than the Knights’ best.

“They’re fighting for something a lot bigger than just this week,” Healy said.