Monroe, La. — Nearly an hour after FAU’s game against ULM, head coach Howard Schnellenberger leaned against a barricade near the field at an empty Malone Stadium talking on a cell phone.
It didn’t matter who he was talking to. The message he was likely relaying was that FAU lost — again.
The Owls (1-4, 0-2) dropped their fourth consecutive game of the season on Saturday, Oct. 9, falling to its Sun Belt Conference foes, the ULM Warhawks, 20-17, in a game the Owls should and could have won.
Having trailed 12-0 after an uninspiring performance in the first half, FAU rallied in the second half through a pair of Alfred Morris touchdown runs to take its first lead since a 7-0 advantage over North Texas on Sept. 25.
The Owls failed to close the game out, however, as a late fumble by quarterback Jeff Van Camp gifted ULM one more chance to pull out a victory.
“I mishandled the snap,” said Van Camp, who finished the day 13-26 for 141 yards with an interception and two sacks, one of which was a safety. “It was my fault.”
The Warhawks took advantage of that opportunity, and with 2:43 left to play, running back Jyruss Edwards ran up the middle for 5 yards and the game-winning score.
“They executed,” said cornerback Tavious Polo, who returned to the field from a one-game suspension for promoting an off-campus party on a flyer. “They was ready on the last drive. They came out wanting to win the game on the last drive.”
It was that last drive by ULM that will largely overshadow some of FAU’s positives, positives that include the defense’s ability to continue to force turnovers — a major change from last season — as the unit had a timely interception by Polo and a fumble recovery by defensive end Cory Henry.
Another positive facet for FAU was its ability to effectively establish the run. For the first time since week one, Morris was able to rush for more than 100 yards. He alone accounted for 153 yards on 30 carries.
Those two aspects are reasons why this loss is even tougher to swallow for FAU.
“Losing the game like we lost it is inexcusable,” said Schnellenberger. “We’ve got to learn how to maintain possession of the football, and then if we for some reason lose it, we have to be able to stop [opposing teams].”
The Owls also need to find answers for some of their other troubling habits. Shooting themselves in the foot with bonehead plays, such as an illegal procedure on a punt in the third quarter that negated a ULM muff and FAU recovery
inside the five-yard line, need to be weeded out.
FAU also could use having another threat in its aerial assault. Wide receiver Lester Jean has proven he has the ability to make big plays, but with defenses double-covering him, the
Owls need someone else to help the offense move the chains.
It doesn’t look like the current batch of starters, such as tight end Rob Housler and wideout Avery Holley, have enough ability or consistency to accomplish this, so FAU may need to start looking at some of its backups as possible solutions.
Aside from magnifying the team’s problems, this loss not only marked FAU’s second defeat in two games in conference play — against two of the weaker teams, mind you — it also essentially made the remaining seven must-wins for the Owls.
“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board,” said Polo. “We’ve got to work harder than we ever worked before. We can’t let no more games slip past. We’re 0-2 in the conference, and Troy right now is looking like the frontrunner. We can’t lose anymore.”
Not losing is a pretty tall order to ask of a team that still has to face Texas and Sun Belt powerhouse Troy. But that is the situation FAU has found itself in after another, almost traditional, slow start to the season.
The bright side for FAU is that it has two weeks to prepare for its next game (next week is the Owls’ second bye week) on Oct. 23 against Arkansas State before hosting rival FIU at Lockhart Stadium for the Shula Bowl. Both fixtures are Sun Belt match-ups, and should the Owls come away with two wins, the chance of salvaging the season will improve slightly.
“We’ve been through some much more trying times than this, and it is believing in each other and holding the core values in place,” said Schnellenberger about how the team must respond mentally if it is to be successful.
The first step in making that happen will require Schnellenberger to soak up every second of practice time from now until the game at ASU Stadium in Arkansas in two weeks.
Failure to do so will likely result in him having to make another phone call explaining yet another loss.
