CHARLOTTE, N.C. – (Sept. 28, 2019) – The Florida Atlantic University Owls piled up 557 yards of offense in taking their 2019 Conference USA opener, 45-27, over Charlotte at Jerry Richardson Stadium on Saturday evening.
Quotable
“We were able to stop the run today, kind of made them one-dimensional at some points,” said head coach Lane Kiffin. “Going on the road, you pack your run game, you pack your defense. We played good defense and we ran the ball.”
Quick Hits
· FAU (3-2, 1-0 C-USA) won the toss, and chose to defer. On the very first play of the game, Rashad Smith posted a tackle for loss, of three yards, and a quarterback hurry by Tim Bonner made for a long 3rd down opportunity for the 49ers (2-3, 0-1 C-USA)
· A three-yard rush made for a three-and-out on the opening drive
· The Owls wasted no time getting on the board, as on their first play, Deangelo Antoine took a reverse 66 yards – the team’s longest play of the year thus far – to the CLT 3, and Larry McCammon punched it in on the very next snap
· The extra point attempt went off the upright, but FAU held the early 6-0 lead
· The Owls’ defense forced another three-and-out, with Bonner notching a sack on 3rd down
· Charlotte regained the ball two plays later on an interception
· After a high snap for a loss of 10, another high snap resulted in a sack for Ray Ellis, pushing the 49ers six more yards back. That would eventually lead to the third 49er punt in as many possessions
· Chris Robison’s first completion of the day went over the middle to a wide-open Harrison Bryant for 33 yards
· Malcolm Davidson rushed for 12 yards to make it 3rd-and-1. A penalty pushed the Owls back 15 yards, but McCammon tip-toed the sideline on a screen pass for 16 to move the chains
· A swing pass to Davidson went for 30 yards down to the three, and Davidson was rewarded with the carry for the score, the first of his collegiate career. Robison then found John Mitchell for the successful conversion and a 14-0 lead midway through the first
· Charlotte cut the FAU lead in half with a 79-yard drive, ending in a 24-yard pass, making it 14-7 with 3:29 to go in the opening period
· Coming out of the quarter break, Nick Tronti took over behind center and rushed for back-to-back gains of 23 and six yards. Two plays later, Vladimir Rivas’ field goal attempt from 31 yards was good and extended the lead to 17-7
· The Owls’ defense held on the 49ers’ first drive of the second, again coming up with a three-and-out. Just before the punt was a four-yard TFL by Leighton McCarthy
· On second down, FAU recorded their fourth play of 30 or more yards of the day, a 47-yard connection from Robison to Mitchell. That marked 10 completions in a row for Robison
· The drive ended on a missed field goal from 31 yards
· Charlotte was on the move, but an overthrown pass into the end zone resulted in the first interception for Meiko Dotson in his FAU career
· The 49ers cut it to three late in the half on a one-yard touchdown pass
· After the Owls took over, on 3rd-and-long, Davidson found a hole and gained 19 on the ground to keep a late-in-the-half drive alive
· The next snap saw Robison and Tavaris Harrison team up for 25 yards on a catch-and-run to take it into the red zone
· And with just 25 seconds left in the half, Robison fired a bullet into the end zone, to Harrison again, for an 18-yard score
· Zyon Gilbert came up with the Owls’ second pickoff of the day with the clock ticking down in the half
· FAU punted on their first series after the break; Charlotte scored to cut it to three once again
· The Owls responded with a 57-yard quick strike, Robison to Bryant, to take it to the CLT 6. Two plays later, Davidson rumbled in for his second touchdown of the day
· The team’s sixth play over 30 yards was Robison to Antoine for 41, putting them on the doorstep again. That also put Robison up and over 300 yards on the day
· Ellis recorded his second sack of the day to force a long third down for the 49ers; a series later, Dotson picked off his second pass
· Midway through the period, the Owls marched downfield while taking nearly three minutes off the clock. A five-play drive, all rushes, culminated in a one-yard score by James Charles. Coupled with Rivas’ extra point, the lead ballooned to 45-21
· Charlotte put in a touchdown with 13 seconds left to cap a 10-yard drive for the final score
Stats and Records
· Saturday marked Robison’s third straight 300-yard pass game, and fifth in two seasons
· The redshirt sophomore was an efficient 20-for-27 for 312 yards and two scores
· Just five games into his second season, he has already equaled his touchdown passing total of 12 from a year ago
· Bryant was tops among eight different FAU receivers that caught a pass, both in receptions (six) and yards (96)
· Mitchell and Antoine each caught four passes, for 70 and 55 yards, respectively. Coupled with his 66-yard rush, Antoine paced the squad with 123 all-purpose yards
· Davidson blitzed past his career high in rushing (64 against UCF earlier this season) with a game-high 83 on 13 carries, for an average of 6.4 per. He was right behind Antoine with 113 yards from scrimmage
· After Davidson and Antoine on the ground, it was Charles (53 yards) and Tronti (39)
· The Owls’ defense filled up the stat sheet with eight tackles for loss, three sacks, nine quarterback hurries, three interceptions and five pass breakups. They also held Charlotte’s vaunted rushing attack to just 52 yards on the day (and 1.9 yards per carry). C-USA’s leading rusher, Benny Lemay, gained only 46 yards on 11 carries
· Defensive backs Da’Von Brown and Ahman Ross led the way with six and five tackles, respectively. For Ross, that represents a new career high
What’s Next
The Owls are on a bye next weekend, and return to FAU Stadium next time out, Oct. 12 versus Middle Tennessee. Kickoff is 4 p.m., and it will be Military Appreciation Night. Among the special events on that linked release is discounted admission for active and former military members. For all football ticket inquiries, click HERE.
– 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.
