FAU prepares to open Conference USA play after a disappointing 1-3 start.
BOCA RATON — In a span of one week, Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin has gone from saying his team made great strides to taking a step back.
That was his feeling after the Owls fell to 1-3 with Saturday’s loss at Buffalo. All the praise Kiffin gave the team after the Owls recorded their first victory seemed like a distant memory. The word “disappointment” was used often during Kiffin’s weekly Monday news conference.
“We’ve moved on since the game,” Kiffin said. “It’s like you have to re-live it a lot. You live it during the game, so it’s good when you win and bad when you lose … It was very disappointing, surprising because I really felt like we played extremely poor in the first game. I felt like we improved up in Wisconsin, especially defensively. We put together in our third game the most complete game by far and we’re on the track. And then to go up in a game that I really felt like if we kept improving we would win.”
What upset Kiffin the most about the loss were the simple mistakes. The Owls committed eight penalties for 65 yards and once again struggled on third down (3 of 10). They also held the ball for less than 20 minutes.
“It was a really hard loss to deal with it,” Kiffin said. “It was hard for me because I know how hard these guys work. “It’s hard for me because I know that they do all that and the easy things we don’t do. We’re in shape. We’re strong. We’re tough. Then we make these bad decisions.”
Kiffin refused to blame the loss on the team playing without linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair and running back Gregory Howell Jr. Both players are listed as “day-today.” Al-Shaair is the Owls’ leading tackler, and Howell ran for a career-high 175 yards and a touchdown against Bethune-Cookman two weeks ago.
“There’s no excuses,” Kiffin said. “Injuries happen everywhere. These guys, it was like we were playing without Lawrence Taylor the way guys were acting.”
Kiffin was also concerned with how the team played in the second half. He believes players may have let up once it was determined Buffalo would play without Tyree Jackson, who left the game with an injury. Kiffin grew alarmed when he heard players talking about Jackson’s injury on the way back onto the field.
“I think our team assumed, because their quarterback was such a big part of their offense, that once he was hurt, it looked like he wasn’t coming back, and we were just going to win,” Kiffin said. “I think that maybe happened.”
The Owls have little time to reflect on the latest defeat. They face a Middle Tennessee State team (2-2) that is coming off a 24-13 win against Bowling Green. The Blue Raiders also have a victory against Syracuse.
“This game was really disappointing,” Kiffin said. “It could have gone either way … There were tons of plays that could have decided to go the other way.”
srichardson@ sun-sentinel.com; On Twitter @shandelrich