South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Offense comes to life early
Owls start hot, then defense takes over
BOCARATON— FAUcoach Willie Taggart and the Owls were looking for better offensive execution versus UTSA in their first set of consecutive games after having a slow offensive start to the season.
And they got it — at least early in the game — in their
24-3winover theRoadrunners on Saturday at FAUStadium.
The Owls (2-1, 2-1 Conference USA), who had significantly fewer inactives versus UTSA than they did in their loss toMarshall last weekend, had their best start to a game offensively of the season.
FAU scored on its first two drives of the game — the only time this season theOwlshave scored in the first quarter. The Owls, who had a 17-3 lead at halftime, recorded more yards in the first half against the Roadrunners (241 yards on
36 plays) than they did in the wholegameagainst the Thundering Herd, when the Owls
had234total yardson67 plays.
“We showedsomesigns ofwhat we can be offensively,” Taggart said.“We justhaven’tbeenconsistent for four quartersandwehave to continue towork to be the footballteamweknowwe can be. Our defense is playing lights our right now and we have to catch up defensively.”
Despite the offense sputtering by only scoring seven points in the second half, the Owls’ defense once again held strong to help FAUsecure the 21-point victory.
Malcolm Davidson, who started at running back with BJ Emmons and LarryMcCammon III both inactive with ankle injuries, was the offense’s engine. He had season-highs of 115 rushing yards and 14 attempts (8.2 yards per carry) for the fourth 100-yard rushing game of his FAU career after more limited action in the Owls’ first two games.
The junior running back had four different rushes of at least 15 yards, with three of those carries eventually leading toFAUscoring.
“It feltgoodknowingout there I can go out there and make plays,” Davidson said.
TheOwlsdidn’t allowtheRoadrunners to score in the second half, holdingUTSAto 83 yards on 36 plays in the final two quarters.
FAUfinished with seven sacks, with defensive end Jaylen Joyner recording three. Defensive linemanAlvinDempseyfinished with two tackles-for-losses and the Owls had 10 as a team.
Joyner had a 9-yard sack of UTSA’s Frank Harris on FAU’s side of the field to close out the first half and keep the Roadrunners fromscoring on the drive.
“Ihad a goal at the beginning of the game, but I still didn’t get it,” said Joyner, who was looking to break the single-game sack record of four set by Trey Hendrickson in 2015. “I’m going to try to get it again nextweek.”
The Owls opened the game with a 10-play, 58-yard drive that ended with Vladi Rivas kicking a
24-yard field goal to give FAU a
3-0 lead with 10:58 left in the first quarter. Davidson had a 28-yard run during the drive that putFAU onUTSA’s side of the field.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Owls scored their first touchdown of the game with a nineplay, 80-yarddrive that lasted four minutes.
DavidsonandJamesCharlesboth had 15-yard rushes on the drive. QuarterbackNickTronticonnected withwidereceiverAaronYoungfor
the27-yardtouchdownpasstogive
theOwlsa10-0leadwith4:55leftin the first quarter.
Tronti finished with 11 of 19 for
136 yards and one touchdown in
the air. He also ranfor 32 yards on
14 attempts with a touchdownon the ground.
“We were running the ball really well,” said Tronti, with FAU rushing for 196 yards on 50 attempts. “Our offensive line did an extremely good job.”
UTSA made a field goal with
8:55 left in the second quarter for its lone score of the game. The Owls forced five three-and-outs and two turnovers-on-downs.
FAU held the Roadrunners to
104 rushing yards on 37 attempts, with reigning C-USA Offensive Player of theWeek UTSA sophomore running back Sincere McCormick only rushing for 54 yards on16 attempts. McCormick entered Saturday as the leading rusher in the nation.
“It’s kind of what we do,” Taggart said. “That’s the philosophy [defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt] wants on defense. We want to stop the run and make teams throw the ball on us. Our guys have taken pride in that mentality. I’m so proud of those guys on defense.
“Thebeautyofitisthey’replaying greatteamdefense. They’reallfeedingoffeachother. That’sabigreason we’replayingthewayweare.”
The Owls put together a nineplay, 80-yard drive that finished with Tronti rushing for a 2-yard touchdown toward the end of the second quarter to give FAUa 17-3 lead heading into halftime.
Willie Taggart Jr. led FAU for two drives in the third quarter, with both sequences finishing with the Owls punting after gaining a combined 9 yards on eight plays.
The true freshman quarterback had an incompletion on his lone pass and was sacked once. He entered the game on the final drive, handing the ball off twice and rushing for minus-1 yard on the possession.
FAU scored its final points of thegameinthewaning minutesof the fourth quarter when it ended a five-play, 19-yard drive with Charles rushing for a two-yard touchdown to seal the victory.
The Owls will return to FAU StadiumnextSaturdaywhenthey hostWestern Kentucky for their fourth game of the season.
“We’re still learning about our team,” Taggart said. “You like to see back-to-back games and see how your guys respond, and we didn’t have that opportunity until this game. We made some improvements and as a staff, we’re continuing to understand ourteam. Wehave to buildoffthat.
“Now, wehavetobesmartwhen we leave here. Make surewemask up and do what we need to do becauseweknowwhathappened last time. We have to learn from thosemistakes sowecancontinue to play ball and get better.”