CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A 30-0 second half whitewash allowed Florida Atlantic University football to overcome a score right before the break, and kept the Owls undefeated at Charlotte, in Thursday night’s 38-9 win at Jerry Richardson Stadium.
QUOTABLE
Hagerty Family Head Football Coach Willie Taggart:
“We exorcised some demons tonight. It’s great because you look at our program and what we’re doing, you think about the negative things, one negative thing you hear a lot is winning on the road. I told our guys all week, there’s no extra pressure on us to go win on the road, we just have to go do it. We know what it takes, we just have to go do it. We hadn’t done it all year, perfect time to do it, Thursday night on TV against the team that’s leading our side of the conference. It was great for our guys to actually go out and do it, and do it the way that they did.”
THE BEGINNING
The only score of the first period was a 23-yard field goal by the 49ers (4-3, 2-1 Conference USA) at the 3:29 mark. The Owls (4-3, 2-1 C-USA) embarked on a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a N’Kosi Perry eight-yard touchdown pass to TJ Chase, in a series that straddled the end of the first and beginning of the second. Neither team scored again until the 49ers took the lead into the locker room on a two-yard pass on 4th-and-goal at the horn, but missed the extra point to only move ahead by two, 9-7.
THE TURNING POINT
Out of the break, the Owls started on their own 35 as the kickoff went out of bounds. The second play of the drive was a 12-yard Perry keeper; Perry then found LaJohntay Wester for 18; and finally, a screen pass from Perry to Johnny Ford saw the back scamper untouched up the left sideline for 32 yards to regain the advantage.
Similarly, on the next series, Ford began things with a 10-yard run; two plays later, Wester rushed for 18 up the middle; Perry found Je’Quan Burton on a catch-and-run for 57; and Malcolm Davidson scored on the ground from nine yards out. At that point, it was a stretch of seven of nine plays that went for nine or more yards for the Owls.
Then, late in the frame, immediately following a Korel Smith interception that set up fantastic field position, Perry connected with Brandon Robinson for a 30-yard TD and a 19-point lead.
THE FINISH
The next CLT drive, as the fourth began, also ended on an INT – this time by Ahman Ross:
The Owls then took 4:23 off the clock, and Aaron Shahriari extended the edge with a 27-yard field goal. Then, after a turnover on downs, Ford rushed for 60 yards all the way to the one, before getting it again and crossing the goal line for his second score of the night.
The cherry on top was as Charlotte drove to the red zone, and on fourth down with 1:16 to go, Tre Jackson came up with the Owls’ third sack of the night to put the offense back on the field for the victory formation.
STATS AND RECORDS
- Perry’s first pass attempt was complete for 33 yards to Wester. Then on the first FAU scoring drive, he was 3-for-3 for 53 yards
- Overall, he completed 81.8% of his passes, 9-for-11, for 225 yards – averaging 25.0 yards per completion
- He spread it out to nine receivers, led yardage-wise by Burton’s 78, Robinson with 54 and Wester with 51
- Ten rushers combined for 202 yards on 40 carries, 5.1 per, led by Ford’s eight carries and 92 yards
- That and his 32-yard receiving TD gave him 124 all-purpose yards
- The Owls’ defense limited Charlotte to 98 second half yards, just 36 in the third quarter, (seven rushes for 14 yards and 4-of-7 passing for 22 yards)
- For the whole game, they held the 49ers to 2.7 yards per rush (70 on 26) and recorded three turnovers. The first was just after the team’s first TD in the second with Romain Mungin forcing a fumble, recovered by Caliph Brice; Smith’s interception setting up the third third quarter score; and Ross’ first career pick in the fourth
- Brice led the squad with 10 tackles, 3.5 for loss (the Owls had eight total TFL and the three sacks). Mungin and Jordan Helm each had nine stops. The team posted 12 quarterback hits and five pass breakups as well
WHAT’S NEXT
A week from Saturday, FAU returns to play at home for the first time in four weeks, for Homecoming 2021. The Owls host UTEP that night, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m. The game will be on ESPN+ and, as always, carried on Fox Sports 640AM South Florida. Single game tickets for all 2021 home games are available; to experience “Football in Paradise,” click HERE or call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
