GAME TIME FAU VS. MEMPHIS IN MONTGOMERY BOWL

When: Wednesday, 7 p.m. Where: Cramton Bowl in Montgomery,Ala.

TV: ESPN; Radio: 640-AM Weather: 56 degrees, mostly cloudy (25 percent chance of precipitation)

Online: Coverage at SunSentinel.com/fau ; @ khobi_p on Twitter

Odds: The Owls are 8-point underdogs.

Quick slant: FAU, which is in a bowl game for the third time in four years, will close out the 2020 season with the opportunity to win its fifth bowl game in program history against the team it won its first bowl game.The Owls beat Memphis, 44-27, in the 2007 New Orleans Bowl for the program’s first bowl win. Wednesday’s matchup marks the first time FAU will play an out-of-state bowl game since 2008.

About FAU (5-3,4-2 Conference USA):

The Owls finished the regular season with back-to-back losses to Georgia Southern and Southern Miss. FAU hasn’t lost three consecutive games in a season since October 2016. The Owls are undefeated (4-0) in bowl games, beating Memphis in 2007, downing Central Michigan in the 2008 Motor City Bowl and winning the Boca Raton Bowl in 2017 and 2019.

About Memphis (7-3, 5-3 American Athletic Conference):

The Tigers, who ranked as high as No. 16 on the AP Poll this year, finished the regular season with a winning record for the seventh consecutive year under first-year head coach Ryan Silverfield. Memphis has a

5-8 record in bowl matchups, making 12 of its 13 bowl appearances since 2003.

The Tigers have lost their past five bowl matchups, with their last bowl win coming against BYU in the 2014 Miami Beach Bowl.

Three things to watch

How will FAU’s defense hold up against the best quarterback its faces this year? Memphis quarterback Brady White threw for 3,096 yards and 28 touchdowns on a 60.1 completion percentage in 2020 after being named second-team all-conference last year.The Owls rank as one of the better pass defenses in the country, holding opponents to 175.6 yards in the air (No. 11 in the country).

Will Leighton McCarthy continue his climb in FAU’s record book? The redshirt senior’s nine sacks rank No.

3 in program history for a single season, behind Trey Hendrickson’s 9.5 sacks in 2016 and 13.5 in 2015. McCarthywas named to the All-C-USA second team on Tuesday despite leading the conference in sacks and tackles for losses (12.5)

It isn’t clear who’ll start at quarterback for FAU, which could ultimately decide to play multiple quarterbacks as it did against Southern Miss. Nick Tronti has started five games this year, while Javion Posey has started three.

— Khobi Price