Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Owls sure they have what it takes
It will be tough to replace production at skill positions
BOCA RATON — It’s one of the biggest questions for Florida Atlantic in fall camp ahead of this season: How are the Owls going to replace all the production from skill-position players they lost?
FAU’s two leading rushers from a year ago, Devin “Motor” Singletary and Kerrith Whyte, contributed more than 2,200 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns combined the season before each was drafted, Singletary by the Buffalo Bills in the third round and Whyte by the Chicago Bears in the seventh round. They both left FAU a year early.
Along with them, leading receiver Jovon Durante (65 receptions, 873 yards, five touchdowns) also moved on to pursue a professional career.
The most productive returning offensive playmaker is senior tight end Harrison Bryant, who had 45 receptions, 662 yards and four touchdowns last season. He and fellow senior John Raine create a formidable two-tight end set, but Bryant also sees the potential among running backs and receivers, as they compete this fall camp. The quarterbacks are also competing to see who will start.
“I feel like there’s a lot to figure out, but the answers are all there,” Bryant said. “It’s just going to take time. We have really talented people in all three of those rooms that are going to step up and take on those roles.”
BJ Emmons, a redshirt junior who was a freshman at Alabama when FAU coach Lane Kiffin was offensive coordinator with the Crimson Tide, serves as a prime candidate to take on the lead back role, even after a season away from football and spending 2017 at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. Emmons is embracing competition among FAU backs; St. Thomas Aquinas grad James Charles was right there with him in the spring.
“I feel like anybody in the room can do it,” Emmons said. “It’s just the material that you got to learn, so just be ready to compete every day. The best man is going to come out on top. I feel comfortable with everybody in the room getting the camaraderie and the chemistry together. At the end of this camp and leading to Ohio State, we will see the best running back — running backs — on the field. So it’s not a lot to replace because we’ve got the talent.”
To help the run game make up for the 1,348 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns of Singletary and 866 yards plus eight rushing scores from Whyte, the Owls’ offensive line knows it will need to do its part and then some. With three returning starters and four linemen back who contributed last season, the unit is optimistic it can pave the way for FAU’s new stable of running backs.
“We have to be as best as we can be so we can give our running backs the room they need so they can compete and ball out,” said senior left tackle Brandon Walton, moving over to the blind side after playing right tackle last season. “Also, we have to be there for them and we have to uplift those boys because we know they can reach that potential even higher if they wanted to.”
With Durante gone in the receiving corps, 5-foot-8, 160-pound junior Willie Wright is a weapon in the slot and on jet sweep action to the outside. Also, 6-foot-4 redshirt junior target John Mitchell is a viable option after a standout spring, and 6-foot-3 redshirt senior Tavaris Harrison presents another experienced returner. FAU also added graduate transfer DeAngelo Antoine from USF in the offseason to bolster that group.
“I don’t think we’re as strong in the top of our roster as we have been the past two years, but I think we may be stronger at the back of the roster with a lot of quality walk-ons that we went out and found, transfers and things,” Kiffin said. “So hopefully that helps where we can play more people because that was an issue last year.”