COLUMBUS, Ohio – (Aug. 31, 2019) – Florida Atlantic University football fell in the team’s season opener to No. 5 Ohio State on Saturday at Ohio Stadium, 45-21.
Quotable
“Two different games,” said head coach Lane Kiffin. “Obviously we started off very poor, (to) start 28-0 like that in a half of a quarter, (played) about as bad as you can in all phases of the game. Then, (we) played a lot better after that, 21-17 we outscored them. Obviously that’s not a moral victory, but that does show our players. If we do things right, especially defensively … their starters were still in (and) our defense did a really good job after that.”
Quick Hits
- FAU (0-1) won the toss but deferred. Ohio State (1-0) needed four plays on the opening drive, with a 51-yard run for the score
- After the Owls were held to a three-and-out, a long punt return gave OSU a short field
- Two plays later, a 25-yard touchdown pass doubled the lead, and the next Buckeye drive ended in 31-yard passing score for to make it 21-0
- A fourth 1st quarter score for OSU came on a 29-yard pass
- Akileis Leroy smothered the Buckeyes’ quarterback to eventually force a punt late in the period
- James Charles moved the chains as the Owls took possession into the 2nd quarter
- OSU was forced into a second straight punt when a Korel Smith blitz flushed the QB out of the pocket and Leighton McCarthy pushed him out of bounds for a sack
- Matt Hayball boomed a 70-yard punt to pin OSU to their own 11
- Again, Leroy continued to be a presence in the backfield, picking up the Owls’ second sack of the day. On the next play, Damian Horton got pressure to earn a QB hurry
- FAU recorded with the first turnover of the game, as a backwards pass was mishandled and Quran Hafiz came up with the fumble recovery midway through the 2nd
- Jaylen Joyner was the next defensive lineman with a hurry, leading to another OSU punt
- The next Buckeye drive also ended in a turnover, as on a rush, Leroy forced a fumble, recovered by Rashad Smith
- That gave FAU good field position, at the OSU 25, and Chris Robison found Harrison Bryant for back-to-back completions, of six yards and seven yards, to move it to the 12
- Vladimir Rivas put the Owls on the board, splitting the uprights with a 28-yard field goal with 33 seconds left to go in the half
- FAU got the ball to start the 3rd, and picked up back-to-back 1st downs on a screen pass to Larry McCammon III (12 yards) and a catch by John Raine (14 yards)
- Robinson found Bryant on a beautiful leaping snag for 26 yards, and coupled with a roughing-the-passer penalty on the same play, the Owls had a 1st down on the OSU 12
- Four plays later, Rivas made good again, again from the same 28-yard distance
- On the ensuing drive, Da’Von Brown flew to the line of scrimmage for a tackle for no gain, and a one-yard loss, on consecutive plays
- Late in the 3rd, OSU scored for the first time in over two quarters, after the Owls had held them out of the end zone for six straight possessions
- After the TD, the Owls moved the ball downfield. Robison connected with John Mitchell and Bryant for twin 12-yard receptions, and hit Tavaris Harrison for eight yards and then six more for a 1st down
- Robison rushed for seven and James Charles for five, and Raine made a sliding catch for 12 yards and an apparent first down, but it was overturned upon review
- Heading into the quarter break, the Owls lined up for a field goal, but coming out, elected to go for it on 4th down. Robison found Charles for eight yards and the 1st
- A nine-yard Charles rush brought up 2nd-and-inches
- Two plays later, true freshman McCammon punched it from three yards, and Robison hit John Mitchell for a wide-open two-point conversion to make it 35-14
- The Owls attempted an onside kick but it went out of bounds. Beginning in FAU territory, OSU scored seven plays later
- The longest FAU gain of the afternoon came when Robison floated a pass to “Pico” Tavaris Harrison for 38 yards
- After a 9-yard run by Robison, and six yards from McCammon, a play later, Bryant hauled in a 16-yard pass to move within the 10
- Three plays after that, Robison got his first TD pass of the day, a three-yard completion to Raine. Rivas’ extra point pulled the Owls back to within three scores 42-21
- With OSU milking the clock, James Pierre stuffed a QB rush for a loss of five
- The Owls’ defense held the Buckeyes to a field goal attempt, which was good from 46
- Backup quarterback Justin Agner came on for the final Owl drive, making his FAU debut. He completed his first two passes, and three of his first four, before a diving interception gave the ball back to the Buckeyes
Stats and Records
· The attendance of 103,228 is the largest FAU has ever played in front of (eclipsing 101,821 at Alabama on Sept. 22, 2012)
· Bryant and Raine led all receivers on the day in catches with six, and Bryant paced all players in receiving yards with 79
· Harrison added four receptions for 57
· Robison made good on 65 percent of his past attempts (22-for-34) for 178 yards
· McCammon’s score was the first of his career
· Defensively, Smith was in double digits with a game-high tally of tackles on either side, with 11, seven of which were solo
· Brown was next with eight, while Hafiz added seven
· Leroy had six stops, a sack and tackle for loss, plus the forced fumble
· Hayball averaged 47.2 yards per punt, including the long of 70
- The Owls fell behind early with the early OSU flurry, but outscored the No. 5 Buckeyes the rest of the way, 21-17
What’s Next
The Owls kick off the 2019 home slate in a week’s time, hosting UCF (currently ranked No. 17) at 7 p.m. next Saturday at FAU Stadium.
– FAUSports.com –
Florida Atlantic University Athletics:
FAU Athletics is comprised of 21 intercollegiate teams involving 450 student-athletes that compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, volleyball, beach volleyball, cheer and dance. The Owls are a NCAA Division I-A (FBS) institution and compete in Conference USA and the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) (beach volleyball, men’s swimming). The Owls have been playing football since 2001 and are a perfect 3-0 in bowl games, the most recent being a 50-3 victory over Akron in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. The dance team finished its 2014 season No. 8, nationally. FAU cheer won a national championship in 2016.
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research andscholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
