Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Getting touches for RBs ‘not always that easy’
BOCA RATON — For most of Florida Atlantic’s 42-19 loss to Navy on Friday night, some of its most dangerous weapons remained unused on offense, handcuffed by a game plan that emphasized throwing the football.
The Owls and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles only gave their running backs 13 carries in the season-opener. Devin “Motor” Singletary ran the ball six times for 26 yards. Kerrith Whyte Jr. ran the ball six times for 36 yards. Gregory “Buddy” Howell Jr. ran the ball one time for 8 yards.
FAU coach Lane Kiffin said FAU’s plan against Navy revolved around getting the ball outside in space instead of trying to pound the ball inside with the running game. Kiffin said the Owls looked at South Florida (52 points against Navy last year) and Louisiana Tech (48) as examples of how offenses beat the Midshipmen. Navy was also loading the box to stop the run, Kiffin said, and was blitzing quarterback Daniel Parr in his second career start.
As FAU heads into Saturday’s matchup against No. 9 Wisconsin, Kiffin said he would like to get the running backs more touches, but understands it’s “not always that easy” to during games because coverages may change where the ball goes.
“It is hard as a play caller because you call this and they give you this, and the quarterback checks to that or they take that guy away because of coverage and stuff,” Kiffin said.
Last season, Singletary and Howell combined to rush for 1,849 yards and 25 touchdowns. Singletary became the first freshman in FAU history to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark. Howell set the single-season record for rushing touchdowns with 13.
Whyte, meanwhile, chipped in 145 yards and a touchdown last season.
Kiffin said the Owls “obviously want” to get Singletary, Whyte, Howell and freshman receiver Willie Wright the ball. Singletary said he doesn’t need carries to develop a rhythm running the ball, instead plainly “trying to just go when I got it.”
“Of course I always want the ball more, but we’ll see what happens,” Singletary said.
FAU’s approach in the season-opener against Navy brought up an old coaching decision: How much should a team emphasize their strengths or attack an opponent’s weaknesses?
Kiffin said, in the past, he’s always tried to play the matchups. He would move players around to different spots. He would get the ball to certain players. He adjusted to the defense and forced the defense to do the same.
In Briles’ system — brought from Baylor — the offense typically remained true to its concepts. He lined up his spread, uptempo attack and dared the defense to stop it.
“People have different philosophies on that,” Kiffin said. “I think in general, Kendal and their philosophy over time is more ‘We do what we do and you have to prepare for it.’ Not as much moving people around and stuff like that. I’ve kind of always been more move guys around for matchups, specific guys get the ball and stuff. It doesn’t mean which way is right or wrong.”
If the Owls are going to have any shot at upsetting Wisconsin on Saturday, they’ll have to be successful running the football.
In 42 games since the start of the 2014 season, Wisconsin has lost only once (26-1) when it allowed fewer than 125 rushing yards. It is 7-8 when opponents reach that figure.
In losses since 2014, the Badgers have allowed an average of 169.7 rushing yards per game. In wins, they have yielded just 89.4 rushing yards per game.
Perhaps no team has dented Wisconsin’s defense more than Kiffin did in 2015 while offensive coordinator at Alabama. Led by future Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry and current Miami Dolphin Kenyan Drake, the Crimson Tide rolled up 238 rushing and 264 passing yards in a season-opening victory.
In his office, Kiffin keeps a library of old game plans. He said FAU grabbed the one from that game to review it.
“It’s funny because we pulled out that playbook to look at what we had done, the defensive stuff,” Kiffin said. “It’s good to have good players that day. The stat sheet said on called runs that day, we averaged 8.1 yards per carry versus a great defensive staff and that was a really good defense.”