Kiffin: FAU QB change is possible
After Florida Atlantic dropped its Conference USA opener at Middle Tennessee State, 25-24, on Saturday night, Owls coach Lane Kiffin didn’t sound committed to starting quarterback Chris Robison moving forward on a Sunday conference call with reporters.
Kiffin said he would be open to a quarterback change depending on what Robison, redshirt junior De’Andre Johnson and graduate student Rafe Peavey show in practice this week before the Owls’ home game against Old Dominion at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
“We’re not playing great there, so yeah, we’re willing to do anything to help us win,” Kiffin said. “We just got through the [Middle Tennessee] game, moved on to the next one. We’ll get to that, obviously, [Monday].”
Robison, who has started all five games for FAU (2-3, 0-1 C-USA) after winning the preseason competition over Johnson and Peavey, was 17 of 27 for 154 yards, no passing touchdowns and a late interception against the Blue Raiders.
Robison also had a 45-yard touchdown run.
The Owls only scored 3 points in the second half as they blew a 21-3 lead.
“He’s really pressing, trying to make every play,” Kiffin said of Robison. “He really needs to relax. He’s not how he was in the game against Air Force. That game, he was very relaxed.”
Robison threw for a Good afternoon: Miami-FSU showdown set streak has been a source of frustration in Coral Gables for years.
“Yes, we beat them at their spot, but they’ve beaten us in our spot,” receiver Ahmmon Richards said in July while at the ACC’s annual kickoff event. “This upcoming year is our chance to end that.”
Said Jaquan Johnson at the same event, “The Florida State rivalry is everything to everybody on campus, on the team. It’s bragging rights for the state of Florida, really. When we approach that game, we approach it like no other. Laser-like focus. You can feel the tension with the coaches, with the players, in the meeting room, even on the practice field. We’re trying to dominate and do everything right, have the perfect game plan, go out and execute the game plan, things of that nature when we play Florida State.”
As much as Richards and Johnson looked forward in July to this year’s matchup against the Seminoles, there are questions about whether the Miami veterans will play Saturday.
Richards has missed the Hurricanes’ last four games after sustaining a bone bruise on his knee in Miami’s 33-17 seasonopening loss to LSU. Johnson, meanwhile, has missed two games after straining his hamstring in the Hurricanes’ 49-24 win over Toledo on Sept. 15.
The Hurricanes also have questions about the health of linebackers Shaq Quarterman (ankle) and Mike Smith, who were injured in Thursday’s win over North Carolina.
CORAL GABLES Hurricanes and Seminoles fans, plan your tailgates accordingly.
Both Miami and Florida State announced that this year’s highly anticipated matchup between the instate rivals is set for a 3:30 kickoff from Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday.
While the game won’t be in the coveted primetime slot it has often occupied, it’s still a compelling enough matchup for a national audience, with the game set to be broadcast on ABC.
Both the 17th-ranked Hurricanes and Seminoles will enter the game with some momentum, Miami (4-1, 1-0 ACC) winning its last four games and FSU (3-2, 1-2) picking up its first conference win with this past Saturday’s 28-24 road victory at Louisville.
The afternoon kick marks the second straight year the two teams haven’t met in prime-time. Last year’s game — a dramatic 24-20 Miami win — kicked off at 3:30 after it was rescheduled because of Hurricane Irma.
On that afternoon in Tallahassee, Hurricanes receiver Darrell Langham scored the eventual gamewinning touchdown with six seconds left in regulation to give Miami its first win over Florida State since 2009.
This year, the Hurricanes will be looking to end another maddening losing streak to their rivals. Miami hasn’t won a game against FSU in Miami since a 16-10 overtime victory over the Seminoles in 2004. And like the seven-game losing streak the Hurricanes ended last year, the home losing school-record 471 yards in that home opener against the Falcons in Week 2, but has underwhelmed in the four other outings.
Johnson initially signed with Florida State out of high school but was dismissed after punching a woman in the face at a bar. The incident landed him at East Mississippi Community College, a school that was featured in the Netflix series “Last Chance U.” Peavey transferred in from SMU after originally attending Arkansas out of high school.
Kiffin said he had a meeting with team leaders on Sunday after a stunning loss where the Owls blew an 18-point lead and allowed Middle Tennessee to complete a wild twopoint conversion to take the decisive lead with 38 seconds left.
“We talk about finding a way to win a game, and we found every possible way to lose a game. It’s mindblowing,” Kiffin said. “And then to lose on a two-point play that [MTSU quarterback Brent Stockstill] is basically throwing a Hail Mary. He’s not even throwing it at the guy that caught it. He didn’t even see him. He just chucks it up.
“It’s a very tough game to get over with. Start to be in command like that, we did slow up a little bit.”
Nickel cornerback James Pierre, a former Deerfield Beach High standout, appeared to injure his forearm on Saturday night. Kiffin said “we anticipate him playing” this Saturday.