Eighty-three players took the field for Austin Peay in Saturday's 63-0 blowout win against Presbyterian in the home opener at Fortera Stadium… punter Matt Rigney was not one of them. 

The redshirt junior punter's services were not needed for the first time in his Austin Peay career and he didn't seem too upset about it.

"Anytime you don't have to do your job as a punter, it usually means the guys on offense can't miss. So, 100 percent credit to them. I always joke with Mike [DiLiello] all the time that you won't need me this game. Well, last night that came to fruition.

"On the sideline, I genuinely become the biggest hype man. Anytime the guys have a great play I will be one the first people to give them a high five and hype them up. I also keep a close eye on the situation just in case my number is called."

Now we'll preface that by saying that there was one Austin Peay punt in the game – a late audible to a pooch punt by backup quarterback Sheldon Layman on the Presbyterian 35-yard line. But there were no true punts in the game. The Layman kick came when the score was 56-0 and the Govs had the ball in Presbyterian again, they never had to send the punter out, so now let's talk about what it takes to accomplish that feat.

A good start was key to getting things going and keeping Rigney sidelined, and that's just what quarterback Mike DiLiello and the offense delivered. They were in a rhythm early and often, scoring a touchdown on their first six drives of the game. Those six-straight scoring drives to open the game were one drive shy of the program record which was set against Culver Stockton in 2012.

The first drive of the game was the longest, an 11-play, 77-yard journey that lasted 4:28 seconds and was capped off by an 8-yard DiLiello run on a read option. After Presbyterian turned the ball over on downs, DiLiello went 66 yards in seven plays and 1:52 seconds before hitting James Burns for a 14-yard touchdown pass.

Then it was a six-play, 29-yard drive and a two-play, 20-yard drive capped over by touchdown passes to Joshua DeCambre and Trey Goodman, respectively, before DiLiello led his second 11-play drive of the game. This time DiLiello led the offense 65 yards in 4:04 before handing the ball off to CJ Evans Jr. for a one-yard touchdown rush. 

After forcing the fourth of seven-straight Presbyterian punts, DiLiello made it 42-0 when he found Goodman for a 30-yard touchdown, capping off a three-play, 35-yard drive that took just 1:01. 

The only thing that stopped the Governors' offense in the first half was the halftime horn. Austin Peay had the ball and was driving, but the clock ran out as the Govs' field goal unit rushed out for a last-second kick.

Seven drives, six touchdowns. Technically it's not a perfect start to the game, but it's pretty dang close. 

Now, it would be wrong to talk about the first half of yesterday's game and not mention the effort by Chris Kappas' defense effort. The Blue Hose completed just six passes for 64 yards in the first half, on the ground they had just 20 yards on 18 carries. 

The offense doesn't score six-straight touchdowns to open the game if Kappas and Co. don't force a turnover on downs and then five-straight punts in the first half.

And then there were the specialists that actually got to play for the Governors and Riley Stephens had himself a day on kickoffs. Stephens blasted 10 kicks for an average of 63.1 yards and four touchbacks, pretty tough for the offense to get going when they are starting every drive deep in their own territory.

"I don't think we could ask for more," said head coach Scotty Walden. "As a coach, there are always things that I am critical about… but you really cannot ask for more than we had tonight. We played a team game… The offense and defense dominated today and looked really good at times. For our kickoff unit to pin them deep that many times and for the team to be consistent and physical at the point of attack, I really could not ask for more."

Now, the chances that Rigney gets another day off next weekend when the Governors host Mississippi Valley State is unlikely, back-to-back near-perfect football games would be quite a feat – tough but not impossible though. Buy hey, come on out to Fortera Stadium and find out. Maybe you'll see Rigney – who happens to be on the FCS Punter of the Year Watchlist – and maybe you won't. Regardless, I think you'll like what you see from this football team and you only have four more home games on the schedule this season, so don't miss the show.