FAU Football suffered a close loss to the University of Buffalo Bulls last week 34-31. FAU was down 10 and scored late in the game to cut it three, but they attempted an onside kick, but unfortunately didn’t recover and lost by three points to Buffalo.

Head football coach Lane Kiffin said for this week’s game versus Middle Tennessee State, he won’t be dwelling too much on the loss.

“We’ve moved on since the game, you have to relive it a lot,” Kiffin said. “You have to live it during the game. It’s good when you win, it’s bad when you lose.”

One of Kiffin’s biggest issues came with the amount of penalties the Owls had. FAU had eight that cost them 65 yards and often stifled their offensive drives.

“They [Buffalo] didn’t make many mistakes,” Kiffin said. “They played very disciplined; not as many penalties.We had really dumb penalties, costly penalties that aren’t anything the other team did.”

Another issue he saw was with quarterback play. Kiffin said that the quarterback competition has opened up again after redshirt junior Jason Driskel got his first start of the season last week.

Both Driskel and redshirt sophomore Daniel Parr could potentially see playtime during this week’s game.

FAU will look to rebound instead this week against the Blue Raiders. The Owls haven’t beaten them since 2007, losing nine straight times since then.

This will be FAU’s first matchup against an in-conference opponent this year. Kiffin said that as conference play has approached, he has spent more time looking at all the teams he will face.

“We spent a lot of time in the offseason on all our opponents and the ones in the conference that we play,” he said. “I think that gives me a better idea of offense, defense, and special teams.”

Middle Tennessee’s last opponent was Bowling Green, who they beat last Saturday 24-13. In the game they had 243 rushing yards and 290 pass yards as they showed off an offense working at full.

FAU needs to look out for running back Brad Anderson. He had 16 carries for 107 yards and also had six receptions for 98 yards. They need to be careful of his unpredictable use out of the backfield.

Another player FAU needs to keep an eye on is running back Jocquez Bruce. Bruce had 16 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown last game.

With Brent Stockstill out with an injury, both backs will be that much more important for MTSU.

Overall this is not an easy game for FAU. They haven’t beaten this team in over a decade, but being able to stop the Blue Raiders offense will give them a chance to change that.

Zach Evans is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him at @zachevanstweets.