BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University’s football team (5-1, 4-1 C-USA) flew around the practice field Wednesday morning with cool weather and their gratitude for the opportunity to play.
The Owls have two regular season games remaining on their schedule, which is an extension of the 2020 season. Originally, this Saturday would have been the Conference USA Championship game, signaling the end of the regular season to all but two C-USA teams. But it is 2020, which meant the title game was moved back to the 19th, allowing the Owls to play two previously postponed games, including this Saturday’s contest at Georgia Southern (6-4, 4-3 Sun Belt) in non-conference action, and a return to C-USA play on Thursday, Dec. 10. This Saturday, the game will kick off at 6 p.m. in Statesboro, Georgia. Owl fans can watch Saturday’s game on ESPN+ or listen to the broadcast on Fox Sports South Florida 640 AM.
Taggart’s TakeHead Coach Willie Taggart
On Practice this Week:
“[It was a] good practice. Very competitive. It is pretty cool when you can be out at practice for an hour and 30 minutes or so and guys still want to go more. They want to compete more, ‘come on coach can we do one more series, can we get this?’ That lets you know they are having fun out there competing with each other. I thought we had a good practice the last two days.”
How has the COVID-19 testing gone?
“All negative baby.”
How difficult will it be to get a win at Georgia Southern?
“It is going to be tough. If you look at it, they don’t get many penalties at home. We have to be good when it comes to penalties. They don’t beat themselves from that standpoint. They are 5-0 at home this year but I think the streak is longer than that, like 26 games [at home versus non-conference opponents]. That says a lot about them and playing at home and the pride that they take in being at home, and their fan base, and again like I said, not many penalties. [They] play smart clean football and do a great job of taking care of home. It is going to be a challenge and we are going to bring our ‘A’ game.”
What do you want to see out of Javion Posey?
“I just want to see him run the offense. Don’t try to do more than what we need for him to do. He understands what we are trying to do from a game plan standpoint, the week throughout practice and just go out and do what you did in practice. You don’t have to do more than what we need you to do and I think that him understanding that and probably the most important thing is taking care of the football, then we have a chance, but it is really (‘really’ repeated 10 times) important that we take care of the football in this ballgame. We are not going to have many possessions with the style of play that they play so every possession is going to count for us. We have to make it happen every time that we are out there.”
Redshirt Junior Linebacker Ahman Ross
Has practice this week gone over pretty well?
“I can definitely say that. The guys have been locked in – offensively and defensively. We have been getting good work.”
Defensively, you guys will have your hands full with a talented quarterback. Can you talk about that?
“We know he is the leader of their ship. He is a great athlete. He is a runner. He can do some things with that option offense, but we treat it like any other opponent. We lock in. We watch film and we understand how he can hurt us as a defense and we know the things that we can do. At the end of the day, we just play within our defense.”
How difficult is it to play (against) a triple-threat offense? This is an offense that most teams don’t see.
“It may be a little tough, but it all comes down to discipline, being disciplined. It is going to come. They have a lot of eye candy, a lot of stuff that is made for you to get out of your gap, get out of your lane. Everyone on defense has a hat for a gap. They are trying to get your eyes to go somewhere else. As long as we stay disciplined, play our gaps, play our defense we will be fine.”
Inside the Owls’ Burrow On this week’s Owls’ Burrow, host and producer Frank Forte will focus on the upcoming game versus Georgia Southern and the interesting challenges the Eagles present. Redshirt junior wide receiver Brandon Robinson will be introduced in the “Pads Off” segment, while senior defensive end Ryan Veingrad will also be featured. In celebration of FAU’s 20th season, Forte looks back at quarterback Jason Driskel’s 2017 heroics over two games, when he had a four-TD passing performance and followed it with another game rushing for four scores. The show will close with a look at the Schmidt Family Complex which houses a portion of the FAU business school, the FAU Athletics Academic Center and the FAU football offices, as well as the team’s strength and conditioning facilities. This week’s show will air on Fox Sports Florida on Thursday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m., Friday, Dec. 4 at 11:30 a.m. and again at 8 p.m., and the final airing will be Saturday, Dec. 5 at 11 a.m.
