Marshall will present challenge for Owls
Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin wasted no time in complimenting the Owls’ upcoming opponent, Marshall, which FAU (3-3, 1-1 Conference USA) prepares to face in Huntington, W.V., at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“These guys are arguably the most talented guys that we see all year in conference. Nothing against anyone else, they just got a lot of really good-looking players. They return a lot of guys on defense,” Kiffin said. “We got to go on the road to play them, so we’ll have our hands full.
“This is a lot harder game than most people think it is.”
The Owls have never won at Marshall (4-2, 2-1). They beat the Thundering Herd for the first time last season at home.
“We’re kind of, after two years, I guess, used to those stats,” Kiffin said. “No disrespect, but a lot of these teams we haven’t beat on the road or haven’t ever beat Marshall in the history of the school before last year, so just another obstacle.”
With how impressive Marshall is, the bye week for FAU came at the right time. Kiffin said it was more about looking at his own team than beginning to study the Thundering Herd.
“We just get a little bit [of a head start], but a lot more is on us. A lot more is on us and working on getting better,” he said. “Probably, more than anything, we got guys legs back. We got guys healthy.”
As Kiffin takes an introspective look at his team midway through the season, he calls some of the numbers from his defense “glaring.”
FAU ranks 120th out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in points allowed, with the Owls giving up an average of 38.7 points. The are also No. 114 in total defense (470.2 yards per game), No. 105 in forcing turnovers and 118 in sacks (seven of each) and No. 96 in opponents’ third-down conversion rate (41.67 percent).
That Owls defense will have to contain senior Marshall receiver Tyre Brady, a former Miami Hurricanes wideout who came out of South Dade High in Homestead. He has 41 receptions for 530 yards and six touchdowns this season.
While FAU was idle, the Owls got some help in the Conference USA-East division race. Middle Tennessee State, which topped FAU in its conference opener, lost at FIU on Saturday night. The Blue Raiders’ loss pulls them even with FAU in the loss column in the division, although they still own a tiebreaker for winning head-to-head. FIU is the only East division team still unbeaten in the conference, but FAU will have its shot at the Panthers on Nov. 3.
“We screwed up, and things got out of our control once that happened,” Kiffin said. “That was some help. … We would need some more help, but we got a lot of work to do ourselves.”
Through the first half of the season, Kiffin sees redshirt junior De’Andre Johnson and graduate student Rafe Peavey handling their backup quarterback roles to the younger Chris Robison, a redshirt freshman, well.
“I think that’s a difficult situation anytime you’re in it, especially when you’re older,” Kiffin said. “Everybody wants to be the starter. It’s always tough at every slot, but every quarterback thinks they should be the starter and quarterback’s dad thinks they should be the starter. That’s always been the case anywhere you’re at. That’s nothing new.”
Kiffin said right guard Antonio Riles has been “banged up.” Against Old Dominion, freshman Nick Weber, a Stoneman Douglas product, got some snaps spelling Riles.
On defensive tackle Noah Jefferson growing into the defense after playing for FAU for the first time against Old Dominion, Kiffin said, he can help with his height and it comes down to how he continues to pick up the defense after arriving two games into the season.