Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Defense strong with turnovers, red-zone play
BOCA RATON — For the most part, the Florida Atlantic defense has been pretty pedestrian.
It has relied heavily on the high-scoring offense this season but has adopted a philosophy that has helped the Owls move within one victory of the Conference USA title game. The defensive mentality is simple: bend but don’t break.
“We have to protect our end zone,” safety Jalen Young said. “When we get down to the red zone, it’s a whole different mindset in terms of, ‘This is our red zone. We have to stop them right now. They can’t cross this line.’ ”
The Owls have used turnovers and stops in the red zone to serve as the perfect complement to their quick-strike offense. They lead Conference USA and rank fourth nationally with 24 turnovers. They have also just allowed 23 touchdowns in 38 attempts in the red zone.
“We’ve done two things well,” coach Lane Kiffin said. “We’ve played well in the red zone, and we’ve gotten turnovers. Those are really important because at the end of the day, we’ve got to keep them out of the end zone.”
With a berth in their first Conference USA title game at stake, the Owls will call upon the defense in Saturday’s game against Florida International in the annual Shula Bowl. The Panthers, who are also in contention for the Conference USA East Division crown, will provide a challenge. Led by coach Butch Davis, they are fourth nationally in red-zone efficiency (96 percent).
“When it’s crunch time, I feel we all exactly know what to do,” safety Chris Tooley said. “We know what time it is.”
Last week was the perfect display of the Owls’ defense. Louisiana Tech advanced inside the 20 on four possessions but only came away with three made field goals in four attempts. By halftime, FAU was ahead 20-9.
“Coach always talks to us as a defense about it, making sure that you’re holding teams to field goals, not touchdowns,” linebacker Azeez AlShaair said. “If you look back at that game last week, they had three field goals at halftime. If those are touchdowns, it’s a completely different game.”
The scenario has played out throughout the season. The Owls haven’t held an opponent under 20 points during the six-game winning streak, but have done just enough to keep the train rolling.
The defense isn’t entirely to blame. Most of their statistics are inflated because they are on the field so frequently. Due to their offensive tempo, the Owls are last in the conference in time of possession at just less than 26 minutes a game.
Only three teams in the nation — Ole Miss, San Jose State and Missouri — have held the ball less. Last week the Owls had two sub-minute scoring drives.
“I think we’re probably better than what the numbers are,” Kiffin said. “We’re not great [on defense], but you’ve got to take in account some things. You have an offense that does what we do that we’re going to go very fast. We’re going to lose the time of possession every week. That puts a lot of stress on your defense, especially last week.”