FAU (0-6, 0-3) fell flat on its face Saturday evening in front of 29,103 fans against Western Kentucky, losing 20-0.
David Kooi’s first career start showed the fans first hand not only how far the program is from being successful on the field, but just how dire the quarterback situation is for the Owls.
“Our problem is we don’t have a tried and true quarterback,” said head coach Howard Schnellenberger. “We’re having a hard time to develop that,”
Normal starter Graham Wilbert was ruled out earlier in the week due to a right arm injury sustained last week against North Texas.
FAU’s defense came ready to play against Western Kentucky(2-4, 2-1) and held the Hilltoppers scoreless until early in the second quarter when Bobby Rainey scampered into the endzone from four yards out to take a 6-0 lead. The drive however began in Owls territory and the lack of an offensive presence for FAU gave Western Kentucky good field position all game.
For the Owls, the offense continued its dry spell in the second quarter totalling just eight yards, one first down and three Mickey Groody punts.
FAU again failed to include Alfred Morris in the gameplan. Last week he ran for 162 yards but against the Hilltoppers only carried the ball 14 times— even with a backup quarterback taking snaps.
“I can’t force them to put me in,” said Morris. “I’m not gonna complain if they don’t put me in.”
In the fourth quarter the defense finally broke and the Hilltoppers continued attack on the ground worked as quarterback Kuwaun Jakes took a seven yard scramble in for a score to make it 13-0. With only three minutes remaining in the gameBobby Rainey put the nail in the coffin with a one yard touchdown run, making the score 20-0.
The Hilltoppers controlled the clock by maintaining ball control for over 37 minutes of the game and broke the Owls down on defense.
FAU’s offense, forced to make plays by the constant blitz packages sent by WKU, were unable to produce all game and finished with 121 total yards on only 49 plays.
“Obviously this is not new for our offense. Our offense has been shut out in virtually every game we’ve played,” said Schnellenberger.
