CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Florida Atlantic University football team fell to Illinois 23-17 on Saturday afternoon.
The game was bookended by a strong first quarter and a fourth quarter rally with big-time performances from Owls on both sides of the ball.
QUOTABLE
Hagerty Family Head Football Coach Tom Herman
“I think we definitely played hard enough, that hasn’t been the issue over the last two weeks. I told the team after the game, I said for 10 months we have been asking you as a team, as players, to have faith. The definition I know for faith is belief without evidence. I really do believe that now we have gone from not having evidence to having evidence. Now it is a matter of trusting that evidence, trusting the fact that we just took a 97-yard drive when we had to have it down two scores and punched it in the end zone on the road versus a Big Ten team. Trust the evidence that we had some big stops on defense when we needed to, we had turnovers. There is plenty of evidence that showed what we can be and now it is our job as coaches and our jobs as players to figure out the mechanism here in the next week of how we get that not just 60 plays in a game, but 80 plays in a game…This program has two conference championships and both of them started with three losses to open the season. We know we have a really difficult schedule, I think we were down a little bit there toward the end, especially defensively, but that is what happens when you play back-to-back Power Five teams on the road. But we have a lot to build on and we know that even though the American Conference is not easy by any stretch of the imagination, there are a lot of guys that understand that this was a very winnable game that we let ourselves beat ourselves, but a lot less than previous weeks. Guys can feel and see that improvement and I know we are going to be better for having played these last two games when we do hit conference because of the speed and physicality of what we have gone through in the past two weeks.”
Junior QB Daniel Richardson
“Very big progress. Just the sideline encouragement, the leadership, guys rallying behind each other, just saying positive things, staying out of the negative and just not pointing fingers…It was a very winnable game and that is a great team over there, hats off to them and their coaching staff. I felt like we could have gotten the job done, you never know what could have happened if we got the ball back, but at the end of the day, they won so hats off to them.”
FIRST HALFThe tone of the half was set by Roc Bellantoni’s defensive unit. Illinois’ first two offensive drives ended prematurely thanks to a fourth down tackle by Darius McClendon followed by a strip sack by Xavier Peters that was recovered by Jayden Williams.
Set up by the forced turnover, Logan Lupo knocked in the field goal to give the Owls a 3-0 lead.
The third Fighting Illini drive ended with a Marlon Bradley sack on third down, giving the offense the ball shortly before the end of the first quarter.
In his first start under center as a member of Florida Atlantic, Junior QB Daniel Richardson quickly found a working formula: find LaJohntay Wester. Five receptions in the opening quarter culminated in a 19-yard touchdown to Wester, the program’s all-time leader in receptions, with zeroes on the clock to give FAU the 10-0 lead.
The second quarter saw Illinois strike back with two touchdowns for a 14-10 lead at halftime.
SECOND HALF
While Illinois began to find offensive success, Florida Atlantic fought until the end.
Down two scores in the fourth quarter, a 97-yard drive saw Redshirt Senior WR Je’Quan Burton turn a catch into a 34-yard gain, followed by a 25-yard Larry McCammon run, and ended in a nine-yard touchdown to B.J. Alexander, his first as an Owl, to bring the score to 23-17 with three minutes remaining.
OFFENSE
- In his first start as an Owl, Richardson finished 28-49 with 256 passing yards and two touchdowns
- Wester recorded his third consecutive 10+ reception game, this time with 13, and narrowly missed his career-high with 137 yards
- Senior RB McCammon carried the ball 17 times for 89 yards
DEFENSE
- The ferocious defensive line brought pressure all afternoon with four sacks and eight tackles for losses
- Bradley recorded his first multi-sack game of his career
- LB Jackson Ambush and DB Jarron Morris each racked up 11 tackles
- DL Chris Jones and Xavier Peters both notched their first sack of the season
- Senior CB ‘Smoke’ Mungin added two pass breakups to his six tackles
- Redshirt Sophomore CB Jayden Williams was all over the football with two fumble recoveries
SPECIAL TEAMS
- Lupo launched a booming 66-yard punt to pin back the Illinois offense
- Wester added 32 punt return yards to his impressive performance for a total of 169 yards from scrimmage
UP NEXT
The Owls will enjoy a bye week before their next game on Saturday, Oct. 7. The New Era will shift into full gear for the first American Athletic Conference game in FAU Football history, against Tulsa at Boca Raton’s FAU Stadium.
