Record-Breaking Dub: Game of 2’s in Division Clincher

By Louis Addeo-Weiss

BOCA RATON – In what was the final regular-season game for Florida Atlantic, the Owls were in search of their second Conference-USA East title in three years, as they took on the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. The 34-17 victory for the Owls, which improved their record to 7-1 in the conference and 9-3 overall, aired on NFL Network.

When asked about the importance of major network games by the South Florida Tribune’s Scott Morganroth, Kiffin had this to say.

“To get that exposure, I’m glad we were able to get on it.”

Following a feeble 7-yard punt by Zac Everett, the Owls would start on the Southern Miss. 33-yard line, opening the scoring via a 40-yard field goal by Vladimir Rivas, making it a 3-0 Owls lead.

Saturday’s game would see QB Chris Robison eclipse 3,000 passing yards when he connected with Deangelo Antoine on a 39-yard completion, breaking a 0-4 start to the redshirt sophomore’s day on passing.

The Owls would pad their early lead on the next play, as senior tight end Harrison Bryant, who entered today’s seasonal finale 110 yards short of 1,000 yards receiving, found himself in the end zone after a 38-yard pass from Robison. 

The touchdown, Bryant’s fourth of the season, matched his career-high at the college level, equalling the mark he set last season. Bryant would end the game with 3 catches, all of them touchdowns, giving him six on the season, leaving him just 35 yards short of 1,000, a mark he should eclipse next weekend.

For Bryant, Saturday would be his final regular-season home game at FAU, and barring a loss, would’ve been his final home game overall at the collegiate level. 

With Southern Miss. gaining momentum at the end of the first quarter, starting the second at FAU’s 8, Owls’ cornerback Mieko Dotson picked off QB Jack Abraham for his 7th interception of the season, a mark which leads all Conference-USA defenders according to CBS Sports. The pick would give the Owls their 16th of the season, the most amongst all teams in the conference. When all was said and done, the Owls would end the regular season with 17 interceptions, including 4 in Saturday’s division clincher.

When asked to describe the 2019 Owls thus far, defensive back Akileis Leroy, who too had two of those four interceptions, used the word “fight.” 

“There’s a lot of words you could use, but I use “fight” because that’s what we had to do to get back to the top of the mountain….We just to make sure that as a team, we keep going to motivate each other and just play ball….I told the boys, “don’t make it a job.” We grew up playing this game, having a love for it, so why not keep going up.”

However, Southern Miss. would begin to fight back, getting on the board with a field goal kick by Andrew Field, and scoring after a Robison pass attempt was picked off by Malik Shorts (1st collegiate interception) and run in on the next play by RB Steven Anderson, making it a 17-10 Owls lead, a score that would stick for the remainder of the first half.

Dotson would pick off Abrahams a second time on a fourth-down conversion attempt. The interception, Dotson’s second interception of the game and eighth of the season, set a program record, surpassing a three-way tie of Jalen Young (2017), D’Joun Smith (2013), and Tavious Polo (2007). 

The Owls, looking to separate themselves in what had been a close first half, got off to a scorching start in the second half, with Southern Miss. QB Jack Abraham throwing yet another interception, his third of the day. Before long, FAU would be ahead 24-10. When it was all said and done, the redshirt junior would be picked off 4-times, ending the season with 15 interceptions, the most in C-USA this season.

One of the bigger keys in the FAU’s second-half success came via the adjustments made on the ground game. Ending the first half with just 36 total rushing yards on 12 carries, the Owls averaged 5.6 yards-per-carry in the second half, highlighted by a rushing touchdown by way of BJ Emmons.

As was the case at the end of the first half, Southern Miss. kept the game competitive, capping off a 14-play, 8:10 drive with a rushing touchdown by the QB Abraham, making it a one-score affair at 24-17. While the Owls defense did a terrific job at limiting Southern Miss. rushing attack (1.7 yds/a), the Golden Eagles still managed to get in the end zone twice via the run.

FAU has now scored at least 30 or more points in 9 of their 12 games this season. Of those previous eight such occurrences, the Owls are 7-1, outscoring their opponents 312-161.

The Owls season will continue at home next week when they take on the University of Alabama-Birmingham at 1:30 for the Conference-USA title. The Blazers defeated North Texas 26-21 to improve to 9-3, winning C-USA West in the process.