FAU Returns to the Road at ODU

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University football team will return to the road this weekend holding a 4-2 all-time series record versus host and Conference USA foe Old Dominion. This Saturday’s game, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+, will be the first time Haggarty Family Head Coach Willie Taggart will lead the Owls versus the Monarchs.

FAU (5-4 overall, 3-2 in C-USA) is expected to be led by quarterback N’Kosi Perry, who has already made a mark among the program’s all-time offensive leaders, as well as Akileis Leroy and Zyon Gilbert, who have done the same defensively.

Host ODU will enter the contest with a 3-6 record overall and a 2-3 mark among C-USA teams. The Monarchs are 2-2 at home in 2021 after not playing in 2020, a year that would have opened a new stadium. The Owls are 1-3 on the road this season, but have never lost at ODU.

TAGGART’S TAKE

Haggarty Family Head Coach Willie Taggart
On FAU’s offensive struggles:
“I know from an offensive standpoint, (we’re) not finishing drives. We’re moving the ball throughout the game, but we didn’t finish drives, whether it was the fumble, or we get down and we get sacked that takes us out of field goal range or dropped passes. You have to make them. Games like that you have to make those catches, make those throws, make tackles. It was some of our players that we count on that normally don’t drop balls like that. It was just one of those games. Hate it but give Marshall credit for taking advantage of the opportunities they had.”

On the offensive line:
“I think we have to make sure we’re doing right by our kids and making sure we protect and give them help when they need help and look at the protection that we’re doing. I will say there were times where we did give our tackles help and it still didn’t work. We have to coach better and we have to make sure we put our guys in the right position.”

On the wide receivers:
“It all goes back to fundamentals. You look at those balls that they dropped. They took their eyes off the ball. It’s not like they do that all the time. I would like to think and hope that it’s a one game thing. We have to get back to making sure we’re stressing those fundamentals.”

On the tight ends:
“We have to put more emphasis in throwing the ball to them. We’re looking at everything. We’re trying to find ways to score points. I look at our offense, we’re moving the ball. We have to finish drives. That’s something we have to figure out. We have to look within ourselves as coaches and players and find out why we’re not finishing these drives because they’re game changers for us.”

On Redshirt Junior Kicker Aaron Shahriari:
“I loved the way he nailed those field goals when we were down there (in the red zone). I thought he nailed it when it came to those field goals. That was a bright spot for us.”

On creating more pressure on defense:
“That’s something we have to get corrected. It’s tough to cover that long. They have time and they’re catching the ball and getting YAC’s [Yards After Catch]. That’s something we really have to look at what we’re doing defensively when it comes to the passing game. That’s two weeks in a row where it’s over 300 yards in the passing game. We did a good job stopping the run but they’re throwing the ball too easy.”

On what to learn after a loss:
“You want every game to be a learning experience. Especially when you lose. You have to learn from it. If you don’t, you’re going to fall behind. When you’re doing the game like that with a young team, they have to understand what it’s going to take to win against opponents like that. With that kind of game, it’s a different mentality in how you go about doing things. As the year is going, our guys our learning what it’s going to take to be a championship football team and unfortunately, we had some setbacks in games. As long as we learn from them, I think we’ll continue to get better as a young team that can make sure those things don’t happen as we move forward.”

On facing Old Dominion:
“I think Old Dominion is a much-improved football team. You watch as the year went on, they got better each and every game. It’s one of those games where you can’t look at the record. It’s a good team that’s getting better. They didn’t play last year and had to get used to each other this year. Now toward the latter part of the season, you’re starting to see them take off.”

On the offense recollecting themselves for next Saturday:
“I loved our players mentality after the game in the locker room and what a few of them had to say to each other and what we needed to do moving forward. I think it’s always good when guys go out and don’t play the way they know they should and then the next morning you see them working on their craft trying to get better. I believe in all of those guys that dropped the ball and I believe they’ll make a catch that will make up for it and help us.”

On what Old Dominion Quarterback Hayden Wolff does well:
“Him getting the ball out of his hand quick and distributing it to his playmakers. He’s doing a good job of getting it to them while they’re open and where they can run with the ball after the catch. Now you see with Hayden [Wolff] in there they’re more consistent. They’re more efficient with what they’re doing.”