Tampa Bay, Fla. — Just when you thought a first-ever loss to North Texas was embarrassing, FAU followed that up by getting pummeled by USF in a defeat that Owls players will want to quickly erase from their memories.
FAU dropped to 1-3 on the season on Oct. 2, losing 31-3 to the Bulls at Raymond James Stadium. The defeat, which was the Owls’ most lopsided loss thus far this season, was made worse due to injuries suffered by three starters.
Quarterback Jeff Van Camp (cervical neck sprain), center Jimmie Colley (head injury) and right tackle Max Karrick (knee sprain) all were removed from the game. Of the three knocks, Colley’s is the most concerning, especially considering how thin the Owls are at offensive line.
Head coach Howard Schnellenberger admitted after the game that the injuries were “very potentially bad,” but said the severity of each would not be known until sometime this week.
Even before the pair of injuries, the offensive line played a big part in the Owls’ dreadful showing. The unit failed to open up holes for the running game and was constantly allowing defenders to get in the backfield to make a tackle or pressure Van Camp. In fact, the Bulls recorded seven sacks against Van Camp.
“It wasn’t very good,” said Schnellenberger of the offensive line’s performance. “I don’t want to berate them right now because [USF] brought a lot of heat that other teams haven’t been bringing, and they brought it on an ongoing basis.”
As badly as the offensive line played, equally bad was the performance of tight end Rob Housler. A week after having an up-and-down game against North Texas, Housler struggled to make an impact against the Bulls. He dropped two key passes, including one on the opening drive that resulted in an interception and wound up giving USF an early 7-0 lead through a five-yard run from running back Moise Plancher.
“We didn’t want to start like that, at all,” said Van Camp, who believes his injury won’t keep him from missing any time. “Everybody was pretty hyped up before the game. It just wasn’t a good way to start it off. I really wish I could have that drive back.”
It may seem like Van Camp wants to shoulder the blame for that turnover, but the reality is that it was a good throw that Housler should have caught.
This should come as no surprise, though. Housler’s enviable 6-foot-5-inch frame makes it tempting for coaches and Van Camp to want to throw his way, but through the first third of the season, he has shown repeatedly that he is anything but.
It may even be time for backup tight end Darian Williams to climb above Housler in the depth chart, because right now, Housler is harming the Owls as much as he is helping.
“It hurts, it brings your morale down,” said backup running back Willie Floyd about the team falling behind so early.
As for the Owls’ defense, the unit held up well in the first half, but could not muster a repeat of that in the second. On the third play of the second half, USF fooled FAU with a flea flicker that resulted in a 38-yard touchdown pass from quarterback B.J. Daniels to receiver Dontavia Bogan.
“We didn’t see [that type of play] in practice, but we said it at halftime — here come the gimmicks, here come the tricks,” said linebacker Malik Eugene, who played in a homecoming of sorts at Raymond James Stadium. “We had to look for all of that.”
Making matters tougher for the Owls was the physical nature of USF. There were multiple hard hits on both ends of the ball, not least of which was a tackle from Bulls safety Mark Joyce on tailback Xavier Stinson that was so hard that Stinson’s helmet popped off.
“That was probably the most physical game we’ve played all season,” said linebacker Dino Cox. “They came out and ran the ball like they said they would, and the o-line was a pretty good, physical o-line.”
From offense to defense, and even special teams, the Owls were dominated by the Bulls, and that type of outing can’t help a team that has now dropped three consecutive decisions after winning a season opener so dramatically.
To save its quickly flat-lining season, FAU must now turn its focus to conference games, which will start up again when the Owls visit ULM on Oct. 9.
“That’s all that matters: conference games from here on out,” said Van Camp. “We’re going to turn it around because I know a lot of seniors don’t want to go out a loser. Last week was a disheartening loss. I don’t want to say it carried over a little bit, but it was definitely a heartbreaker. We’ve got to turn it around.”
FAU needs to turn it around because failure to get back in the win column against ULM would not only extend this poor string of results, but would likely end the Owls’ season even before the midway point.
