BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University’s football team (5-5 overall and 3-3 in Conference USA) will travel to WKU for the seventh time in program history, but for the first time led by Hagerty Family Head Football Coach Willie Taggart, this Saturday for a noon game, scheduled to air on STADIUM network.
The game will be a return home of sorts for the Florida native, who played his college football career at WKU and was mentored by the legendary Jack Harbaugh, who led the quarterback to a career so stellar that his number would be retired. Taggart also began his football coaching career at WKU under Harbaugh and was the head coach when the stadium’s club seats were named in honor of Jack and Jackie Harbaugh. Taggart is 1-1 all-time versus the Hilltoppers. His USF-led team was defeated by WKU, 45-35, in the 2015 Miami Beach Bowl and his FAU Owls defeated WKU in Boca Raton, 10-6, last season.
TAGGART’S TAKEOn the mood of the team returning to Boca:
“It was quiet. Coaches were watching the game film. Guys were tired.”
On the difference between this loss and the previous losses:
“I think where it was different was in the locker room. Guys in the locker room were disappointed, upset, frustrated, and rightfully so. We’re all disappointed with the way we played and letting opportunities get by. When you’re not playing well and everybody’s working hard and trying to find the answers to get it right, we have to continue to work and try to get it right. We watched the film as an entire football team so everyone can see the issues on both sides. Now we have to be accountable to go out and correct those issues. That’s [on] both players and coaches to make sure that we know what we’re doing. You can have 10 guys doing it the right way, and one guy doing it the wrong way messes it up for everyone. We have to get all 11 guys on the same page on every play consistently enough to be successful so you can finish drives and score points. You can’t have as many missed assignments. When it comes to missed assignments, that’s on coaches to make sure guys know what to do.”
On offensive miscommunication:
“We got to help our guys out and simplify some things. Our guys are showing us that some of the stuff we’re doing is a little too much verbiage for them to see and then go out and execute it. It goes back to guys knowing what to do as well. These plays that we run over and over, you can’t let the game and those emotions in the game affect you to lose focus on what you’re supposed to do. It messes up rhythm. You see those plays when you’re looking around and doing that, typically something bad is about to happen, because the rhythm and focus of executing the play is not there. Going back and looking at it, I think there’s a lot we can do to help our offense so they can focus and not have those mishaps and play with the tempo that we need to play with.”
On redshirt sophomore running back Johnny Ford:
“I just want him to continue to play like he’s playing. Johnny’s continuing to get better every week. I think his attitude and approach to everything is better each and every week. I think the success he’s having is giving him more confidence. We need Johnny to keep doing what he’s doing, but we need other guys to come along with him. If we get some complement to that, we’ll all feel better about our offense and what our offense can do. We just need some other guys to step up and play that way as well.”
On facing his former team WKU for the first time on the road:
“I typically go back up to Bowling Green every year to visit. It’s always nice to get back to Bowling Green and see where you spent half of your adult life at a place that’s special to you. It’ll be fun, but it’s not about me. It’s about us going to find a way to win against a really good football team. Western [Kentucky] is a good football team. Their quarterback is the real deal. This kid [Bailey Zappe] will be playing on Sundays. He’s very talented. They have some very talented receivers. They’ve been playing for a long time and you can tell. They’re all on the same page on what’s going on. You have a defense that’s created a lot of takeaways. They’ve had a lot of interceptions and fumbles throughout the season, especially in the last few games. They’re a big challenge for our football team. We have to be at our best and we have to find a way to score some points.”
On offensive improvements for this week:
“We move the ball. It’s not like we can’t do anything, but how can we finish drives? We need to be better in the red zone. When you go back and look at all of it, we’re bad once we get down in the red zone. We have to be better in the red zone and getting touchdowns instead of kicking field goals. That’s been our Achilles heel. Once we get down there, we don’t do anything with it.”
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