Tough tests for Owls in 2018
C-USA champs will face UCF and Oklahoma
BOCA RATON The highlights of the Florida Atlantic football schedule this season are playing against a team from last season’s College Football Playoff and playing another team that believes it should been in the College Football Playoff.
The Owls open at the Oklahoma Sooners on Sept. 1 and later head to Central Florida on Sept. 22. Those are the marquee games on the slate in defense of the Owls’ Conference USA championship.
“The level of expectation for our team has been set,” FAU coach Lane Kiffin said. “Our goal this offseason is to take what was accomplished in 2017 and build upon that standard. And, against one of the toughest schedules in the country.”
While those dates were made public months ago, the league announced the remainder of the schedule Tuesday afternoon. After the Sooners, who lost to Georgia in the CFP, the Owls play Air Force and Bethune-Cookman at home. The OU game should be especially interesting because it will be the debut for the Owls’ new starting quarterback.
Last year’s starter, Jason Driskel, would have been a senior this fall, but chose to walk away from football to focus on academics. That leaves the opportunity for Oklahoma transfer Chris Robison, who sat out last season due to NCAA rules, to potentially make his first collegiate start against his former team if he beats out De’Andre Johnson during camp.
The Owls then face UCF, which went undefeated last season, but was left out of the playoff. The Knights beat Auburn in the Peach Bowl and then began campaigning themselves as “national champions” because of their unblemished record and the fact they defeated Auburn, which knocked off both teams — Georgia and Alabama — that played for the title.
It marks the second meeting between FAU and UCF. The Knights won 33-29 in 2003, but the programs were in different phases then. UCF has won major bowls in two of the past four seasons. Under Kiffin, the Owls finished 11-3 last year and defeated Akron 50-3 in the Boca Raton Bowl.
After completing the non-conference portion of the schedule, FAU opens league play at Middle Tennessee State. The Owls won last year’s game 38-20.
They return home the following week to play Old Dominion, a team they scored 58 points against a year ago. After a bye week, the Owls play at Marshall and then face Louisiana Tech at FAU Stadium.
They then go after their second straight win in the Shula Bowl series when they play at Florida International.
The schedule concludes with a home against Western Kentucky, at North Texas and versus Charlotte.
Here is the full schedule (home games in caps): Sept. 1: at Oklahoma Sept. 8: AIR FORCE Sept. 15: BETHUNECOOKMAN Sept. 22: at UCF Sept. 29: at Middle Tennessee St. Oct. 6: OLD DOMINION Oct. 13: Bye Oct. 20: at Marshall Oct. 27: LOUISIANA TECH Nov. 3: at FIU Nov. 10: WKU Nov. 17: at North Texas Nov. 24: CHARLOTTE