Let me give you a scenario: two rival Florida college football programs play in the same mid-major conference.

Program A is located in the heart of Miami, where high school talent is abundant. They have a young head coach with local roots and won the conference title last season. UM’s booster scandal may give them an opportunity to usurp some of the long standing goodwill that the 5-time national champion Hurricanes have earned over the past two decades

.The only true negative of Program A is the fact that its football stadium is a glorified high school field, with mostly bleacher seats that fit a maximum of 23,500. During sellouts.

Program B resides in Boca Raton.

They have the stage to themselves as the only team in town. A brand new 30,000 seat, $70 million, on-campus stadium was built just for them. And they christened it with a 20-0 shutout loss and are now winless(0-9) for the season, after falling 41-7 to FIU.

They are tied for dead last in overall record for FBS football schools. Their coach is 77 years old and in his last season of his 50+ year career in football. An extensive nationwide search will occur during the off season for his successor. It would appear that Program B has a lot of question marks regarding its stability, but has a solid foundation to build on with the new stadium.

Each year the rival programs play in a regular season bowl game, with Program B winning eight of the first nine contests(the lone win was forfeited).

So which program has the brighter future?

After the tenth annual Shula Bowl, a 41-7 blowout by the Panthers over the Owls, it would be easy to say FIU (Program A) has the inside track on success, but, surprisingly, the answer is FAU (Program B).

The two schools are 45 miles apart, but in terms of production and success, currently the gap is much wider.

FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger, a former Miami Dolphin on Don Shula’s 1972 undefeated team, was remorseful and embarrassed afterwards.

“I have to apologize to Paul Bryant and Don Shula, people who taught me to play and coach football,” said Schnellenberger in his first official Shula Bowl loss.

On FIU’s senior day, the Panthers treated its guests like doormats, stepping and stomping the Owls into oblivion with a 31-0 halftime lead. Five personal fouls by FAU, along with a pair of Graham Wilbert interceptions, contributed to the insurmountable deficit. The Owls had more penalties(10) than first downs(6) in the first half.

“We can’t play football at this level with an inordinate amount of terrible decisions,” mused Schnellenberger.

FAU freshmen quarterback Stephen Curtis saw action for a few drives and with the way the season has unraveled, it is time for the Owls to see if he is not just the quarterback of the future but also the quarterback for the current. Graham Wilbert had another dreadful outing as he threw three interceptions and was sacked twice. This is Wilbert’s third game of the season with at least three interceptions.

After containing the slippery and electrifying FIU senior wide receiver T.Y. Hilton for almost all of the first half, Hilton would eventually break free for a 97 yard punt return for a touchdown late in the 2nd quarter in the final home game of his career.

Panthers running back Kedrick Rhodes ripped through the Owls defense on the way to 122 rushing yards. FAU’s defense was shocked by the 41 points it allowed.

“We knew everything they were doing,” admitted linebacker David Hinds. “Nothing they did was different than what we saw on film.”

The only positive to come out of the game for the Owls came with 8:49 to go in the 2nd quarter, as a 24 yard run by Alfred Morris made him FAU’s all time leading rusher, eclipsing Charles Pierre’s mark.

Despite setting the record, Morris was not satisfied.

“We came out and got embarrassed, so I can care less,” vented Morris.

With perspective, though, the Owls are primed for improvement. If only because after a season like this, FAU can only go up. But looking at the big picture, this year is a growing pain that will lead to eventual success for the Owls. The new on-campus stadium finally transforms FAU in a legitimate program, which will aid the recruitment process tremendously.

In the next couple of years, if realignment becomes a possibility for a Sun Belt team, the Owls are the most enticing team to take. They are close enough in proximity to compete for recruits in Tri-County area and if it is true that a big name coach(Mike Leach or Randy Shannon, for example) is desired by the athletics department, then that too is an added bonus for a program that needs a dynamic face of the franchise.

Until then, finishing off the season with dignity for Coach Schnellenberger is the last thing left to salvage.

What he said to his defense at halftime of the blowout could apply to the rest of the season and more importantly for next year.

“He told us to stay strong and bounce back from this,” said Hinds.