Kiffin doesn’t hold back when assessing performance of QB

BOCA RATON Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin shut down the idea of backup quarterback Nick Tronti getting more snaps after starting quarterback Chris Robison struggled for a second consecutive week in the Owls’ 36-31 loss to Marshall.

But Kiffin didn’t hold back expressing his displeasure with Robison’s decisionmaking against the Thundering Herd.

“The seven sacks, even though five of the seven weren’t even normal passes, [were] just poor quarterback decisions,” Kiffin said. “[They] were RPOs. They are named RPOs for a reason — run/pass options, not run, pass, hold the ball — RPHO. Unfortunately, that cost us on offense.”

Kiffin also was quick to point out that

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FAU’s rushing stats looked worse because of those ill-advised plays.

Redshirt freshman running back Malcolm Davidson finished with 52 rushing yards and one touchdown on 12 attempts, while freshman running back Larry McCammon rushed for 38 yards on 12 attempts.

Robison cut the team’s total rushing yards nearly in half by rushing for minus-47 yards on 14 attempts.

“We actually ran the ball better than it felt like because of all the quarterback lost

yardage,” Kiffin said. “The negative runs by Chris, like I said just holding the ball on RPOs, which you can’t do, you have to hand it off or you have to throw it on time.

“He takes another one where he runs out of bounds instead of throwing it out of bounds and it is a 4-yard loss. That really took a toll on the stats and made the numbers not very productive, and he didn’t play really well with a number of decisions.”

Robison owned up to his poor decisions. He attributed his struggles to the Owls running less RPOs this season than they did last year.

“I’m comfortable with it,” Robison said. “It was just me getting acclimated back into doing that every single snap.”

Robison added that Marshall’s defense wasn’t doing anything special. He just tried too hard to make plays by himself instead of relying on his running backs or throwing the ball away.

“I don’t know why exactly I was doing it,” Robison said. “Maybe just because I was trying to be a hero, trying to make plays all game instead of just doing what I was supposed to do.”

Robison made better decisions during his redshirt sophomore season after struggling last year. Kiffin said he expects for Robison to continue to improve, while Robinson remains focused for Saturday’s game at Old Dominion.

“I know I’m one of the best quarterbacks in the conference,” Robison said. “Obviously, a bad performance two weeks in a row, that shouldn’t really affect me. I have a lot of people, especially the team, expecting me to do my job. I can’t get down on myself just because I played bad, because I have to play good this week.”