Owls joins list of area teams donating to hurricane relief
BOCA RATON — With teams across South Florida contributing to Hurricane Irma relief, the Florida Atlantic athletic program joined the effort.
The Owls offered free admission to all first responders to Saturday’s game against BethuneCookman at FAU Stadium. The school also donated $1 from each ticket sold at sporting events this week to the Red Cross. Professional teams such as the Miami Dolphins, Miami Heat, Miami Marlins and Florida Panthers as well as the University of Miami have all made contributions.
Before the game, coach Lane Kiffin took to Twitter to get his message out to those who have assisted victims of the storm, which damaged homes throughout the state and still has thousands without power. Kiffin tweeted, “Look forward to getting all the local first responders to the game tonight. Don’t forget those ID’s as you check in between gate 3 & 4.”
It was the second time this week Kiffin showed his appreciation for supporters of the relief efforts. On Friday, he took out a full-page advertisement in the Wisconsin State Journal newspaper to thank the Wisconsin Badgers for their hospitality last week in Madison.
After the Owls lost Saturday, they were unable to return to Boca Raton until Wednesday. They were housed on the Wisconsin campus, provided with meals and allowed to practice on the Badgers’ field.
New offensive wrinkle
Kiffin opened up the playbook by inserting receiver John Franklin III at quarterback for one play in the first quarter. The result was a 18-yard run and gave Franklin opportunity to showcase his versatility.
He was a backup quarterback at Auburn before transferring to FAU before the start of the season.
Franklin, who played at South Plantation, enrolled at FAU as a graduate student.
He originally signed with Florida State out of high school before landing at East Mississippi Community College that was featured in the Netflix documentary series “Last Chance U.”
Finally a sack
It took 9 1⁄2 quarters but the Owls got their first sack of the season when sophomore defensive tackle Will Davis got to BethuneCookman quarterback Larry Brihm late in the first half.
FAU didn’t have many opportunities against runoriented Navy, which only threw 10 times in the season opener, and was unable to get much pressure last week at Wisconsin.
Changing captains
As Kiffin promised before the season, the Owls continued their trend of choosing different team captains for each week. On Saturday, they were senior running back Gregory Howell Jr., junior safety Jalen Young and junior defensive lineman Hunter Snyder.