Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Eye on the prize
Owls focusing on conference, not bowl.
BOCA RATON — All season Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin has warned his players about looking too far ahead.
He prefers they simply live in the moment.
So when the Owls take the field for tonight’s game against Marshall, don’t expect anyone to focus on the fact a victory would give them the required six wins to become bowl-eligible.
“I really have not used that very much because that’s not really a goal I would have for our team,” Kiffin said. “I have a lot higher goals than that.”
Kiffin has the Owls thinking bigger picture. While becoming the school’s first postseason team since 2008 is a goal, they have other things in mind. A win against Marshall would put them one step closer to capturing their first Conference USA title.
Playing in a bowl game is secondary.
“I don’t think we’ve looked at our season like that,” quarterback Jason Driskel said. “I think our approach is more, like I said, being 1-0 each week. We’re on a little bit of a run. We’re unde-
feated, first place in the conference. Our goal right now is to win our conference, and if we do that, we’ll be bowl eligible. That’ll fall into place.”
The Owls (5-3, 4-0 in Conference USA) refuse to allow the lure of the postseason to affect their approach. Even though winning a sixth game would ease the pressure, they aren’t making it the rally cry for the remainder of the season.
“It’s not something I really think about like, ‘OK, I just want to hurry up and make sure we get to six,’ ” linebacker Azee Al-Shaair said. “Our focus is getting to six wins because of who we’re playing this week. Of course you want to get that ‘W’ but it means a lot more than just a bowl game.”
Added safety Andrew Soroh: “That’s not really the focus right now. We’re really focused on being 1-0 again in the conference, so we can get to the conference championship [game].”
The Owls have only one a conference championship in their 15-year existence. That happened in 2007 under coach Howard Schnellenberger when they were in the Sun Belt. FAU has never been in contention for the Conference USA title since joining the league in 2014.
Before this season, they were just 7-17 in conference play. Kiffin, in his first year, has the program within reach of matching that wintotal in one season. It is why he has prioritized a league championship higher than a bowl game.
Kiffin has done it mostly for motivational reasons, because he doesn’t want the Owls to let up once they reach six victories. The likelihood of that is strong considering they have played the tougher portion of the schedule. After Marshall, the remaining opponents — Louisiana Tech, Florida International and Charlotte — have a combined 10-13 record.
Still, Kiffin would rather keep playing well in the conference at the forefront.
“I’m kind of in the middle on that,” Kiffin said. “There’s some motivation there but we don’t want that to be all the motivation. ...”
Kicker makes cut
FAU kicker Greg Joseph was named a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award on Thursday.
The honor is given to the nation’s best kicker. Joseph, who played at American Heritage-Delray, is one of 20 players to make the cut. The finalists will be announced Nov. 21 and the winner named Dec. 7 as part of ESPN’s Home Depot College Football Awards Show.
Joseph, a graduate student, has made 10 of 11 field goals this season. The only miss was a 56-yarder. He holds nearly every FAU career kicking record, extra points (139), field goals (52), field-goals attempted (72) and total points (295).