On Wednesday, the University Press sat down with Luke Lawhorn to discuss FAU football’s homecoming game against a familiar foe. Lawhorn is Sports Editor at The Paisano, a student news organization which covers the University of Texas at San Antonio.
FAU is returning from a 56-14 road victory over the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls (3-4, 2-2 AAC) last Saturday. The Owls are now one of four teams undefeated in conference play, with one of those teams coming to Boca Raton this Saturday.
The UTSA Roadrunners are coming from a 41-20 home victory against the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers. Like the Owls, the Roadrunners are 3-3 and undefeated in conference play. Both teams know each other well, having been in Conference USA since 2014. The Owls are 3-0 against UTSA all-time, with their last matchup being 24-3 in 2020.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
In conference, FAU’s offense is worst in converted fourth downs, but UTSA’s defense is conference worst in fourth down conversion. UTSA’s offense is among the conference- best in first and second down conversions. What would UTSA need to do to win the turnover battle? Would that be where the game could lie?
Absolutely, I think that is where the game could lie. As we mentioned yesterday, UTSA is 3-3, and in those three losses, they all came out of conference. If you look, it is really because we just turned the ball over and couldn’t really get on the field.
In the first game, against Houston, we lost [redshirt senior quarterback] Frank Harris’ three turnovers on three straight drives, and we lost 17-14. If we don’t turn the ball over there, especially on three straight times, we could win that game.
Then, we played both Army [University] and [University of] Tennessee, where Tennessee, they’re just obviously better, but Army, they had 45:15 minutes time of possession. Huge swings.
If we keep the ball and don’t turn it over, that’s exactly where we want to be. Harris has been in moments like this before. If he plays clean, UTSA will likely win the game on Saturday.
UTSA’s defense has allowed on average 406 total yards per game, 10th in the AAC. What would the defense need to do to prevent the Owls’ offense from getting yards?
Well, first it’s to make sure [redshirt sophomore] Trey Moore, our linebacker, is playing healthy. Last week against UAB, he played and had a career-high in sacks. He had 3.5 sacks, I think he had 10 tackles, but I’m not 100% sure. He is our most important player on defense.
Every game he has played and finished, we’ve won. Since he’s missed two or three games, that’s why we’ve really had a hole in our defense, and our defensive line just couldn’t get any pressure. Last week, our defensive line was looking pretty solid.
As long as they’re all healthy and playing as a unit, we should go back to “our usual selves,” or at least from the last two seasons. And making that total yardage from 406 [to] shrink by at least 100 yards.
Coming from Conference USA, both teams are undefeated in AAC play. What sets UTSA apart from the other three teams that have the best conference record?
Coming off back-to-back Conference USA championships. We have the experience, and we know we can do it. We know that losing games early non-conference sucks, but we have our mind focused for November, early December play. We want to play Tulane in that season finale, and likely, those two teams rematch that next week in the first week in December.
What I think sets UTSA apart is the experience we’ve had in these last two to three seasons.
What do you think the outcome of the game would be?
I think UTSA will win. It won’t be by a blowout by any means. I think Florida Atlantic is a pretty solid team. I have UTSA winning by about two scores, so from 10 to 14 points, somewhere in that range.
I don’t necessarily know how I envision it going. We do have several good running backs. We’re trying to get that running game going here these last few weeks. I do think it will be a multiple score victory for UTSA.
What have you guys learned in your three losses and three wins this season?
I think it’s been toughness, and talking and listening to [UTSA head] coach Jeff Traylor after these games. We really weren’t healthy for a lot of the opening games, so once it came to health, it was all about going back to what we knew. We pride ourselves on the triangle of toughness, which is our little mantra or quote here.
The triangle of toughness, and enforcing that when we’re playing these opponents, especially on the offensive and defensive lines, we’ve just kind of been out-toughed, if you know what I mean. Going back to being tough, taking that on the road. This would be a good test this weekend to see if the first six weeks of what we’ve learned about being tough would come to fruition this Saturday.
Who is the biggest threat on the Roadrunners’ offense? Defense?
Offense is of course Harris who has been in these big moments: three straight bowl games, two straight conference championships. He’s been in the moments, so he is, of course, the biggest threat on the offense. Aside from him, it’s going to be receiver [senior] Joshua Cephus. We’ve lost star receiver [senior Zakhari Franklin] last year, who transferred to Ole Miss [University of Mississippi].
Our other receiver, [senior] De’Corian Clark, is still battling an injury. He’s likely not going to play this Saturday. So, all of the attention is going to go to Joshua Cephus, who just broke our school record for receptions with 269 last Saturday and is about 400-ish yards away from breaking the yards record. So, he’s definitely going to be the focal point of our offense.
When Moore plays, not only do we win, but we register a good amount of sacks, and break some records, quite frankly. So, on offense, it’s Cephus, star receiver, and on defense, it’s linebacker Moore.
What would the Owls need to do to win this game against UTSA?
Make Harris make plays. He’s battled some injuries all in the offseason. He even contemplated retirement during the summer. He’s back; he’s had a slow start and sat out two or three weeks already. Missed time with a turf toe. Forcing him to make plays, like going back to his old ways, which could be a great thing for UTSA, but we haven’t really seen it.
We’ve lost our offensive coordinator, Will Stein, who’s by the way at the University of Oregon, you see what they’re doing. Like I said, we lost our best receiver to Ole Miss, and our other receiver is injured. You got to make UTSA play uncomfortable, which is what a couple of these teams earlier this year have done, along with the injuries.
But since we’re pretty healthy, it would be tough for FAU to do that this Saturday. But, like I said, if they make Harris uncomfortable, throwing to these new receivers, that could be a way that the Owls can win.
Maddox Greenberg is the Sports Editor for the University Press. Email [email protected] or DM via Twitter @MaddoxGreenberg and Instagram @maddoxblade04 for information regarding this or other stories
