Florida Atlantic University’s football team (0-2) fell in their second game of the season last weekend 24-7 to Army West Point (2-0). Army’s triple-option offense proved a struggle for the Owls defense as they allowed 405 rushing yards.
FAU will play at home this Saturday against their South Florida rivals, the Florida International University Panthers (1-1).
The Panthers are coming off a substantial 52-16 win over Central Michigan University (1-1). They came out with a 28-0 lead before halftime and forced CMU to turn the ball over six times.
Here are the University Press sports writers’ predictions for the FAU vs. FIU game.
Megan Bruinsma, Sports Editor
Starting off a season 0-2 is always a tough position, no matter the sport. However, that doesn’t mean FAU can’t switch their trajectory.
The Owls are going into a game where they have a monumental track record of success, leading the Shula Bowl series 16-5 while also winning the last six matchups. Based off that, it seems the odds are in FAU’s favor, but with FIU’s substantial win over Central Michigan, can we confidently say that?
In the game against Army, we got to see some sort of passing offense from the Owls, with 193 yards compared to their previous 114 yards. It remains unclear who on the receiver end quarterback Cam Fancher is truly connecting with but it’s all about working towards improvements.
FAU’s defense still appeared to be the strongest element of the team…well in moments. They held Army to one field goal over the span of two quarters as well as safety C.J. Heard forcing a fumble, leading to the Owls’ first stop of the Armys’ offense. More of these stops need to be made against FIU because they proved that they have their offense together.
This year, the rivalry game might not be such an ‘easy task’ as it typically is viewed from FAU fans perspective. But, with the energy of a rivalry game, especially in the Owls’ home territory and not playing FIU last year, they can rake in their first win.
Prediction: FAU 21, FIU 17
JD Delcastillo, Managing Editor
Is it too early to say it’s over?
After putting up a fight against Michigan State in East Lansing, the Owls took a massive step backwards, being dominated at home by an Army team that threw the ball a total of four times.
Looking at FAU’s opponent, the FIU Panthers are coming off a dominant 52-16 win against Central Michigan, meaning that the Panthers are coming into this game full of confidence, while the Owls are still scratching their heads looking for answers (and their first win).
If we’re going to make a prediction based on history, then FAU should win this convincingly. FIU hasn’t won a Shula Bowl since the Obama Administration, where they barely scratched by with a 33-31 win in 2016. They also haven’t won a Shula Bowl in Boca Raton since 2012.
However, my concern lies with the current morale and mental state of the Owls. When you have a team led by a transfer quarterback from Ohio, a head coach who spent his first six years as a head coach in the state of Texas and 20 other transfer players, are any of them bought in to how meaningful this rivalry game is to the university?
Even if they aren’t, I think that they can put together a good enough performance to win the game for their own sakes, because losing the Shula Bowl at home is going to leave the Owl fan base demanding for jobs to be lost.
Prediction: FAU 17, FIU 16
John Burke, Contributing Writer
There’s no such thing as a must-win game in week three of the college football season, but if ever there was one it would be FAU’s game against FIU on Saturday. Coming off an extremely disappointing showing against Army last week, the Owls have a great opportunity to bounce back and finally get into the win column.
On offense, I believe FAU’s best path to victory will be establishing the run and using Fancher’s playmaking abilities on play action. To start the year, Owls running backs have had little success. As a matter of fact, through two games FAU’s leading rusher isn’t even a running back. Fancher tops the team totals with 79 rushing yards and that includes the seven sacks that took away 29 of those yards.
FAU running backs CJ Campbell Jr. and Zuberi Mobley have 33 combined carries for 93 yards on the year, boasting a less-than-stellar 2.8 yards per carry. FIU was thrashed by the run against their only competent opponent of the year, as Indiana ran for a whopping 234 yards against them in week one. If the Owls are ever going to seriously attempt to establish the run, no time would be more fitting than Saturday night at the Shula Bowl.
On defense, FAU will need to focus on stopping the run as well as containing FIU’s mobile QB Keyone Jenkins. He can hurt the Owls with his legs if they let him, so I think a key to victory will be forcing him to stay inside the pocket and forcing him to use his arm. The Panthers don’t particularly have elite receiving threats and FAU’s secondary should be strong enough to give defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni the confidence to be aggressive with bringing pressure as well as stacking the box against the run.
The Owls should win this game. By no means does that mean they will, but they should. I believe that the defense will be able to do just enough to drag this team across the finish line and I think they’ll get into the endzone themselves for the first time all year.
Prediction: FAU 20, FIU 13
For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or DM the staff on Instagram: Megan Bruinsma (@megan_bruinsma), JD Delcastillo (@jd.delcastillo).
