Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Owls know it’s time to get after it
Practice intensifies with the season opener looming
BOCA RATON — FAU’s scrimmage on Saturday afternoon did not go the way the team had hoped. Penalty flags were thrown frequently, the offense repeatedly sputtered and it was unclear if the defense played well due to its own talent or the failings of the offense.
“From the offensive point of view, we gotta get better, including myself,” quarterback Chris Robison said. “We had a lot of busts, we had a lot of people not straining to finish. We didn’t have a good enough tempo and it just showed that we need to get better before the first game.”
The Owls aren’t very deep into fall camp, but the season opener on Aug. 31 is quickly approaching, and the team knows that there will be little time to figure things out once the season is underway.
FAU opens the season on the road at Ohio State, before taking on UCF at home. Those two teams went a combined 25-2 last year and both finished in the AP Top 25. But despite the rough performances in the scrimmage, the Owls know that they still have a few more weeks to work out the kinks and be ready for their tough competition.
“We have to know that we have more time to get better,” Robison said. “We have to know that next week, we’re not playing Ohio State and we have however many more days we have to get better, and to perfect our craft on the whole offense and the defensive side as well.”
One big area to start would be lowering the number of penalties, which was frequently an issue for both sides of the ball on Saturday.
“That part’s discouraging,” coach Lane Kiffin said. “I think we had six penalties in the first probably 10 to 12 plays. Four on offense, two on defense. So that’s discouraging.”
But Kiffin also pointed out that those penalties may have partially been a product of moving into the stadium and playing in a realgame situation for the first time. The team is confident that it can cut back on those errors before the season kicks off.
“It’s great that we have three weeks. We can correct what we messed up on and just take it one day at a time and get better,” offensive lineman Junior Diaz said. “It was a lot of penalties … it was too many so we just gotta correct that and play smarter.”
The team is not completely in trouble as it looks to improve, however. The defense did have a good day, coming away with several turnovers and all-around solid coverage, even if some of its best plays were a result of the offense’s struggles. And while much of the offense failed to play consistently, the running backs mostly played well, with B.J. Emmons putting up a big run toward the end of the scrimmage.
“Defense did create some turnovers, for the most part stopped the run pretty well,” Kiffin said. “I thought the backs had a few good runs, whether it was runs or catches where they did some good things. It was good to see B.J. finish off their two-minute drive with a long play.”
With a few weeks left to work out the issues — and for Kiffin to name a starting quarterback — the team is looking forward to getting back out Monday and working to be ready for the season opener.
“Monday, come in and get some corrections and see what we can add on to make the game better but Ohio State is gonna happen whenever it happens so there’s no rush,” Emmons said “We’re not comfortable yet, we’ve still got some things … but it’ll be here before you know it, and we’ll be ready.”