FAU, UCF connected in more ways than just as opponents

ORLANDO — It seems fitting that Florida Atlantic and Central Florida play their showdown of state colleges and what appear to be two of the nation’s top Group of 5 teams on a Friday night.

That’s when so many players on the two teams were used to playing with or against each other in high school.

UCF has 27 players on the roster from the South Florida tri-county area as the Knights (2-0) took on the Owls (2-1) at Spectrum Stadium in Orlando.

Among them is standout junior slot receiver Dredrick Snelson, a Flanagan graduate, who told the Sun Sentinel over the phone this week that he’s excited to feel the same intensity he was accustomed to in South Florida.

“I’m going to just bring my same high school energy, bring out that old Snelson, basically bring my South Florida talent to Orlando,” said Snelson, who scored UCF’s second touchdown on Friday night to put the Knights up 14-0. “I’m just looking forward to the intensity.”

Snelson, who pointed to Miramar grad and FAU nickel cornerback Herb Miller as a one of the Owls players he knows well, noted there was no communication during the week with FAU players, “but I’m sure after we’ll talk.”

Snelson went 4 for 4 winning state titles in his high school career — at three different high schools. He was an Under Armour All-American senior on the Flanagan 2015 team that won the school’s only state championship, was on back-to-back American Heritage teams to win it all junior and sophomore seasons, and as a freshman did it at Miami Booker T. Washington.

Junior FAU running back Devin “Motor” Singletary, who played in high school at American Heritage-Delray and is from Deerfield Beach, said he knows cornerback Aaron Robinson (Deerfield Beach) linebacker Shawn Burgess-Becker (Monarch) on UCF.

Left tackle Reggie Bain noted Knights redshirt sophomore linebacker Eric Mitchell played at his same high school, Miami Central, although they weren’t teammates as Bain was two years older and Mitchell played at Miami Norland earlier in his high school career.

On the flip side, FAU cornerback Chris Tooley is from Orlando and played at Oak Ridge High. He said he knows UCF freshman quarterback Quadry Jones, who played at Orlando Jones.

In addition to players, there are various coaching connections. FAU running backs coach Kevin Smith played the position collegiately at UCF before an NFL career with the Detroit Lions. Coming from Miami Southridge, he is the Knights all-time leading rusher.

UCF cornerbacks coach Corey Bell was in charge of the FAU secondary from 2014-16. He has shuffled around Florida, making other stops at Miami, USF and UF while previously coaching Dade County high school ball at Miami Edison and Hialeah American.

FAU coach Lane Kiffin and UCF defensive coordinator Randy Shannon don’t have any history at the opposite schools, but what they do have in common is that they each have won college championships as coordinators — Kiffin as OC at Alabama in 2015 and Shannon as DC at Miami in 2001. Kiffin was also wide receivers coach on the 2003 USC team that was AP national champions and 2004 team that won it all but later had to vacate the title.

And oh yeah, beyond players and coaches, we still haven’t even noted that the two schools’ athletic directors are related. UCF’s Danny White, holding the position since 2015, and FAU’s Brian White, named AD in March to replace Pat Chun, are brothers.

More notes

Singletary ran for a touchdown in his 17th consecutive game when he took a draw on third-and-8 from the UCF 11-yard line up the middle for a score late in the first quarter on Friday.

Quarterback Chris Robison can throw, can run on occasion and apparently he can punt as well. Robison remained on the field for FAU’s first two punts on Friday and gave them good boots — the first going for 58 after a nice bounce. The Owls’ first scoring drive was kept alive by a fake punt that Gerald Hearns ran for 24 yards and a first down.

Starting safeties Jalen Young and Zyon Gilbert were back in the lineup. Young missed last week’s Bethune-Cookman game with a knee injury and Gilbert for undisclosed disciplinary reasons. Redshirt sophomore Korel Smith was not dressed for Friday night’s game. He was seen pregame with his jersey on, no pads and sweatpants while the Owls were warming up.