BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University football (2-4, 1-1 C-USA) will play host to fellow Conference USA member Rice University (3-2, 1-0 C-USA) this Saturday, Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. The key to the game may come down to who controls the clock.
The games that FAU has had success, the Owls have controlled the clock. The Rice Owls’ attack the game in a similar fashion. Seven of their 24 scoring drives this season have used six minutes or more, making third down conversions vital for both teams.
FAU is 1-2 all-time versus the Rice Owls, capturing the 45-25 win during the last meeting between the two programs in Houston on Nov. 5, 2016, behind a 257-yard rushing effort by “Motor” Devin Singletary.
As the FAU defense heads into week seven, they are coming off a bye week that allowed the team to inch towards a healthier unit, something they haven’t experienced since preseason. Eddie Williams, who has a team-leading 57 tackles, which ranks No. 24 nationally, will be expected to lead the Owls again this week. Dwight Toombs, who is listed No. 26 nationally with two interceptions, will need to continue his opportunistic ways. Collectively, FAU has sought out the football gaining nine turnovers in six games; however, this week FAU faces a team that has put the ball on the ground just two times and has steadily eliminated the interceptions since game one.
QUOTABLE
Defensive Coordinator Todd Orlando
On facing Rice
“They’re playing really good football, smart ball. They’re possessing the football. They’re staying away from turnovers for the most part. [They are] able to run it, mix it up, use different personnel groupings. The time of possession is going to be really critical.”
On the bye week
“Coach (Willie Taggart) let the guys go for Friday and Saturday, so I think that by itself was huge for us. We came back, started working out a little bit Sunday, had an off day. Yesterday was a really good practice. You could tell there was a little bit of freshness with it. But it also gave us an opportunity to go back to the fundamentals and techniques. I know I talked about this beforehand, but it gave us a couple of weeks to get prepared for a team, so I think that all helps. But you saw a freshness yesterday defensively. I thought the guys came out, they were excited to play, and they were excited to be back at home.”
On using the bye week to decompress
“You get into the grind of this, you have to remember, it was game six, but if you talk about fall camp and the preparation that goes into it, you’re talking about a lot of months. But just to be able to sit back and just mentally decompress and get your mind back right and go back into this and be fresh, I think it all helps.”
On stopping Rice’s run game and getting the ball back
“When you look at the series that other teams have played, you’re going to get 11 or 12 opportunities, because the majority of the time if you go a little bit faster, you might get maybe three or four more, so everyone is going to be critical. We have to do a great job with the run game. We also have to do a great job on third down. Every possession is going to be critical, but third down is going to be very critical.”
On the defensive line room
“We’re trying to work Evan (Anderson) back, and a lot of these guys have been a little bit banged up. I thought they did a really good job yesterday. I think through the week, they’ve done a better job. It just goes back to the training part, and I think it goes back to the physical grind of camp and going into this and having a bye week just to work on simple fundamentals and techniques. I think yesterday it showed up pretty well. We’ll continue that trend, see how today goes, excited to get back on the field and excited to just go back into our stadium again and play better.”
On his message to the young defense during a losing streak
“I think it just goes back to practice habits. At the end of the day, you are what you do in practice. That’s the biggest thing when you’re talking about some youthfulness is to make sure they’re doing things correctly in the meeting rooms. The accountability has to be high, whether it’s class, whether it’s things that we ask these guys to do, and when they go and take any type of rep whether it’s special teams, offense, or defense, that they’re doing it with fanatical effort. We can coach the rest of that stuff up in terms of schematics, but every play we need to be physical, run to the football, and do things the right way.”
Redshirt Junior DE Jaylen Joyner
On the bye week
“Last week was a great week for us. We just got back to the basics. Everybody got a chance to decompress, get some good rest, and we came back this week pretty fired up. We’re ready.”
On facing Rice’s offense
“We’ve seen them on film, they like to keep the ball. They like to challenge the defense…we’ll try to get turnovers on those times and capitalize on those mistakes.”
On his message to younger players during a losing streak
“We have a 24-hour rule, so we just put the last game behind us and we try to focus on going 1-0 this week.”
On the defensive line
“The D-Line is playing great. We have to get to the quarterback. We’re going to work on doing that this week.”
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
FAU Coaches Radio Show
For free mobile listening of all game broadcasts and coaches shows, FAU fans can download the Varsity Network app for iPhone or Android. The app features instant access to free gameday audio streams and the ability for fans to receive push notifications to remind them of games starting or upcoming audio broadcasts. Local fans can tune in to Hubbard Radio (Fox Sports South Florida 640 AM) to follow the team.
FAU Television Inside the Owls Burrow
This week’s show will include a sit down with Hagerty Family Head Football Coach Willie Taggart. Show host and producer Frank Forte will talk 2022 FAU Homecoming and the upcoming game versus Rice. Forte will learn from Teja Young, a 2022 FAU co-captain, about what makes a great leader. Viewers will get to know running back Kelvin Dean in this week’s “Pads Off” segment and the show will conclude with the top-10 plays from the season’s first half.
TICKETS
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