BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Oct. 18, 2019) – A late touchdown was the difference as the Florida Atlantic University football team lost to Marshall 36-31 on Friday. The Owls fell to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in Conference USA play, despite 362 passing yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns from sophomore quarterback Chris Robison.
Quick Hits
- After winning the toss, Marshall took the opening kickoff and finished the drive with a 30-yard FG
- The Owls responded with an eight play, 75-yard drive, capped off by Robison’s first TD rush of the night to take a 7-3 lead
- A Caliph Brice sack ended a Thundering Herd possession and on the ensuing FAU drive, Robison hooked up with John Raine, followed by a one-yard Larry McCammon III rush to extend its lead to 14-3 with less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter
- The Herd wasted no time in responding, taking just 57 seconds to score a touchdown of its own to cut the deficit to 14-10
- Both defenses stood tall, preventing any side from scoring for most of the second quarter
- Akileis Leroy had his first career interception late in the second quarter
- FAU was able to convert the turnover into points, when Vladimir Rivas drilled a 32-yard field goal to extend the Owls’ lead to 17-10
- Marshall answered on its next drive and scored a touchdown just 13 seconds before halftime to even the score at 17
- The first score off the second half came at the 6:10 mark of the third quarter when the Herd connected on a 25-yard field goal attempt, taking a 20-17 edge
- Marshall’s defense put the next points on the board, converting a safety to stretch the Herd’s cushion to 22-17 late in the stanza
- The Owls’ defense stopped the Marshall offense on the next possession, then the FAU offense answered with a scoring drive, ending on Robison’s second TD rush of the night and allowing the Owls to retake a 24-22 lead
- Marshall once again immediately answered with a touchdown of its own, then made a two-point conversion to go back up 30-24
- The two teams exchanged empty possessions, then a two-yard Malcolm Davidson TD run finished a 69-yard drive, and Rivas’ extra point gave FAU a 31-30 lead with 3:29 to go in the game
- The Herd were able to overcome an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and scored a touchdown with 36 ticks remaining in the game. This time, the two-point try was unsuccessful
- Meiko Dotson’s kickoff return gave the Owls respectable starting positon for a potential game-winning drive, but the Herd was able to pick off an FAU pass attempt, sealing the win for Marshall
Stats and Records
- Chris Robison finished 21-of-39 for 362 yards, his fourth 300-yard passing game of the season
- Robison also had a pair of rushing touchdowns, a career-high for the sophomore
- Robison’s 61-yard connection to John Raine was the longest pass play of the season for the Owls
- D’Angelo Antoine finished with seven receptions for 111 yards, passing the 100-yard mark for the second time this season
- Caliph Brice led the Owls with 11 tackles, his most as an Owl
- Akileis Leroy’s interception was the first of his career, to go along with a career-high 10 tackles
- There were seven lead changes in the game
What’s Next
The Owls travel to Old Dominion on Saturday, Oct. 26. Kick-off is set for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
– 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 and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
