BOCA RATON, Fla. – Eliminating the explosive plays will be a key this weekend when the Florida Atlantic University football team travels to Bowling Green, Kentucky to face Conference USA East Division leader WKU. The two teams will open Saturday’s broadcast schedule for STADIUM Network with a noon kick.
The Owls (5-5 overall and 3-3 in Conference USA) will be led by safety Jordan Helm. The safety has a team-high 77 total tackles and has an obvious nose for the ball with four pass breakups, one interception and three fumble recoveries, one of which he returned 52 yards (the second longest return in program history). Needing all 11 men on the field to defend the Hilltoppers, the trenches will be filled by Evan Anderson, who had a monster week at ODU, a linebacker room that has played well despite the loss of Caliph Brice, and corner Zyon Gilbert, who will play his fifth game versus WKU (6-4 overall and 5-1 in C-USA) and third in Bowling Green.
COORDINATOR’S CORNERDefensive coordinator/safeties coach Mike Stoops:
On Western Kentucky’s pass heavy offense:
“They have a great system. You have to have the players to be able to run it. When you look at WKU, it’s an offense built on a lot of the air raid concepts, a lot of quick throws, a lot of quick screens. It’s a quarterback-friendly system and you certainly have to have a guy like this to really make it work and get the ball to his playmakers and that’s what they do a great job of: getting the ball in the hands of guys that can make plays. They do an excellent job.”
On facing quarterback Bailey Zappe:
“You have to get stops. You have to limit the explosive plays. I think if there’s one thing we can do better defensively that’s one, giving up explosive plays. They have guys that can make explosive plays on short throws. I think the tackling, playing the screens, the sucker screens, I think any of the quick throws, the bubble [screens], you have to be able to tackle well in space. You have to limit the yards after catches. That’s what these guys do a good job of: yards after catches and getting the ball out quick, breaking the tackle and making a big play. They’re very good at that. The quarterback’s not going to hold the ball. He sees defenses extremely well. Very talented player and very accurate with the football. They present a lot of challenges across the defense. Playing pass defense is everybody. You need 11 guys. You need to try to get pressure on the quarterback. You need to stay in front of him and we need to force some errant throws and make some plays in the secondary.”
On defending against a quick throwing offense:
“I think your matches have to be good anytime you match routes. I always think that’s important in getting bodies on them and taking away field space. Teams like this, finding grass, knowing how to sit, read coverages, I think that’s what you always know how they like to run these offenses. There’s going to be challenges all over the field. I think the big thing, again, is going to be tackling.”
PLAYER’S PROSPECTIVERedshirt junior wide receiver Brandon Robinson
On facing WKU’s defense:
“They still run the same scheme. We just have to take advantage and take what they give us.”
On the offensive inconsistency:
“It’s tough because sometimes you get to that place where you don’t know where it starts, but you do look back and reflect. We are hurting ourselves as far as the penalties and dropped passes, not hitting the right hole, blocking. It all comes together, and it all builds up to make that one problem. It’s going back and working on the little details that matter.”
On his touchdown against Old Dominion:
“You can score touchdowns all you want, but if you don’t get the W, if you don’t do what you feel like you could to help the team where you need to be, then to me it doesn’t really matter that much.”
On the team’s urgency:
“For the most part, I feel like since yesterday and today’s meeting, people are locked in. You’re still trying to have fun with it. We still know that we have something on the line here.”
On new WR coach Hines Ward:
“He’s already been part of our program. We have little details that he installed already. To me, it’s going to be nothing new. For the most part, he’s going to give us more of that receiver mindset of how you can run things and how you can play within the offense.”
PLAYER’S PROSPECTIVEGraduate student safety Jordan Helm
On his fumble return that ended up the second longest in FAU history:
“I had to roll to the post that play. I was just running down, and I didn’t even see the ball come out. I was just trying to run and help on the tackle. I saw the ball laying there. “Keke” [Akileis Leroy] did a great job punching it out. When I picked it up, I was just trying to run as fast as I could. Maybe if I made one guy miss or one more block, I would have taken it all the way back, but it was a really cool moment.”
On facing Western Kentucky’s offense:
“It’s definitely going to be a challenge for us in the secondary. They do a great job of getting guys open. They have a dynamic vertical passing game, so we have to be on point with our matches.
On limiting explosive plays:
“You have to limit big plays. When we’ve shown we can limit the big plays, it’s been hard for teams to score on us, especially in the red zone. If we can limit the big plays, that’ll help our defense a lot.”
On trying to become bowl eligible:
“We know we have to win. The whole team wants a bowl game. They want to send the seniors out the right way. That’s something we’re all working towards.”
On positives from last week to carry over this week:
“Despite the big plays, I felt our defense was pretty dominant overall. Third down was good and the red zone was very good. We held them to multiple field goals so if we can carry that over and limit the explosive plays, we’ll be good.”
On facing WKU’s quarterback Bailey Zappe:
“That quarterback is an NFL guy. He throws the ball all over the field. He’s looking for an open receiver and he does a great job of finding them. He does a great job of understanding coverages, and the receivers do a great job of getting open.”
On how freshman nose tackle Evan Anderson helps the rest of the defense:
“His overall size, he takes up multiple gaps. When you have a D-lineman that can take up multiple gaps, it frees up your linebackers and frees up your safeties to make more tackles. Some of what Evan does might not show up on the stat sheet, but he makes our job so much easier, him being a dominant force up the middle.”
TICKETSSingle-game tickets for the Owls’ final home game are on sale. To experience “Football in Paradise,” Click HERE or call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
