Taggart sees similarities between Posey, Flowers
The FAU Owls seem to have realized their offensive identity in their Shula Bowl win against the FIU Panthers on Friday night.
And the identity is one with which Florida Atlantic coach Willie Taggart found success during an earlier coaching tenure.
The Owls (4-1, 4-1 Conference USA) have used a run-heavy offense in their first year under Taggart but saw their rushing attack reach another level of productivity against the Panthers, with J av i on Posey making his first start at quarterback.
FAU rushed for 381 yards on52 attempts (7.32 yards per attempt) — the fifth-most rushing yards in a game in program history—in its 38-19win against FIU.
“Our entire offense is starting to look like how it all started at USF,” said Taggart, who coached at South Florida from 2013-16. “Offensively the other day, I thought you saw guys playing for each other. Posey helped wi th that with the way hestarted thegame. He just brought a lot of confidence to our guys offensively, and I think that’s what we got out of our guys at USF.”
Like FAU, USF leaned on its rushing attack under Taggart — especially during his last two and most successful seasons with the Bulls. USF averaged 45.7 carries in 2015 and 43.6 rushing attempts in 2016 compared to passing attempt averages of 23 and 27.5, respectively.
FAU has averaged 43.3 rushing attempts to 21 passing attempts through its first five games.
Taggart even sees similarities between Posey and the starting quarterback during his last two seasons with the Bulls, Quinton Flowers. Taggart coached Flowers at USF from 2014-16, with Flowers rushing for 2,521 yards for 30 touchdowns on 389 carries from 2015-16 and being named the AAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2016.
While Posey has only played two games at quarterback in his collegiate career, he’s displayed speed and shiftiness as a runner similar to Flowers.
“They’re very similar,” Taggart said. “Just watching those guys
Taggart added he’s been most impressed by how Posey has responded after making mistakes, with the redshirt freshman leading FAU to touchdowns drive son two of its final three possessions of the first half after fumbling in the second quarter.
“That’s kind of who he is,” Taggart said. “If you watch him in practice, he doesn’t get toohigh and doesn’t get too low. He stays the same, which is pretty cool.
“This kid doesn’t get fazed very easily. That says a lot about the kind of athlete and person he is. That’s a great quality to have as a quarterback.”
Ultimately, Taggart gave Posey a “B” grade for his first start.
“He has some great football ahead of him,” Taggart said. “As he gets more comfortable with everything and the more comfortable everybody gets with him, you’ll seemore out of Javion. This is just the beginning for him.”