FAU: The closers
After early struggles, football team proves it can prevail.
BOCA RATON — The gesture is seen throughout football stadiums across the country at all levels.
When the third quarter ends, teams gather on the sideline and hold up four fingers. The symbol for finishing strong hadn’t applied in recent years to Florida Atlantic … until now. After years of struggling as closers, the Owls are finally learning to excel late in games.
“We watch all the teams put the fours up,” linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair said. “That’s what everybody does … All the times I’ve ever played football, I always done that. It just never meant something to me. So as a team, I feel like that fourth quarter … it means something.”
The Owls (5-3, 4-0 in Conference USA) go for their fifth consecutive victory Friday against Marshall at FAU Stadium. In every win they were either able to rally from a secondhalf deficit or create separation in the third quarter.
“We had games where we weren’t finishing last year,” safety Andrew Soroh said. “We’re finishing this year. I’ll definitely say we’re gaining a lot of confidence.”
Last week’s victory at Western Kentucky was perhaps the most telling example of how this team is different from year’s past. Trailing 28-20, the Owls scored the game’s final 22 points.
“That game was a good example of that,” FAU firstyear coach Lane Kiffin said. “We didn’t play very well. [Western Kentucky] kind of played lights out. They had a ton of first downs. At the end of the day, we got the ball four times [in the fourth quarter] and they got it once.”
What impressed players the most was how they remained confident despite trailing at halftime for the first time since playing Wisconsin the second week of the season. They refused to fold like they had done so many times the past two years.
Last year they gave up fourth-quarter scores in close losses to Ball State, Florida International, Charlotte and Marshall. In 2015, they had similar fates in defeats to Rice, Tulsa, Middle Tennessee State and Florida. All the losses were decided by fewer than six points, but the players didn’t let so much heartbreak affect them now. They remained upbeat in the locker room at the half.
“Everybody was focused,” Soroh said. “I wouldn’t say anybody was down. We were just keeping each other motivated.”
Al-Shaair added: “It was a lot guys who were still hungry. It’s not like we haven’t been down in a game, but obviously it’s been a while since we’ve been like that, scoring so many points on offense. I just kept talking to the team and telling the defense that we’ve got to go back out there and we’ve got to play, answer the bell.”
The turnaround has the Owls putting their mark on the school record books. The winning streak is tied for FAU’s second-longest since the program’s inception in 2003. In 2013, the Owls closed the season with four wins. They started 2004 — their first at the Division I-A level — with five consecutive wins.
“Confidence comes with success,” Kiffin said. “It’s just a mindset . ... ”