WKU Football: Florida Atlantic Preseason Preview
With the kickoff of football season less than three weeks away, we’ll continue to bring you our preseason look at each of WKU’s regular season opponents between now and the start of the season. Today we continue the series with a polarizing figure, Lane Kiffin, bringing the Owls of Florida Atlantic to Bowling Green in his debut season.
Date & Time
October 28th, 2017, 3:30 p.m.
Location
Houchens Industries L.T. Smith Stadium
Series
FAU leads 5–3
Last Meeting
Last October, WKU traveled down to Boca Raton. Mike White returned close to home and pitched in three touchdowns on 307 yards passing as WKU controlled throughout winning 52–3. The Owls fell to 1–7 after the defeat.
TV/Radio
TV — Stadium
Radio — Hilltopper IMG Sports Network
2016 Season
Florida Atlantic started off the season 1–7 overall in Charlie Partridge’s last season as head coach. They did finish the last third of their season more competitively, going 2–2 while beating Rice and UTEP and playing MTSU tough. Overall, FAU went just 3–9 (2–6) and tied for last in the Conference USA East Division. Partridge was fired the day after the season ended on November 27.
Returning Starters
17 (8 on offense, 9 on defense)
Relevant Preview Articles
Bill Connelly’s SB Nation Florida Atlantic Preview
Kiffin is not wasting time. He beat out power conference teams for a few recruits, he put his foot in his mouth a couple of times, and he hired a young (with one noteworthy exception), ultra-aggressive staff. He is looking to win over all else, for better and for worse, and he probably will.
FAU is projected right on the borderline of bowl eligibility, and if the Owls’ defense is able to rebound a bit more than projected, then seven or eight wins are on the table.
You know what you’re getting when you hire Kiffin, and FAU felt it was worth the jump.
Pete Fiutak’s College Football News Florida Atlantic Preview
The offense isn’t going to be a problem. The Owls have a devastating stable of running backs and a good fight at quarterback if Johnson doesn’t own the job in fall camp. With the sped-up tempo, the receiving corps loaded with veterans should all of a sudden put up crazy numbers.
The other side is the bigger issue right away, with one of of the nation’s worst defenses having to figure out what a stop looks like. Equally bad in all phases, at least the miserable D of last year returns loaded with good-tackling veterans in the secondary and a killer of a linebacker in Azeez Al-Shaair to start with.
This will be a lot of things over the next few seasons, but no matter what, it’s not going to be boring.
And that’s exactly what Florida Atlantic football needs and wants.
Three Players to Watch
The FAU defense was underwhelming last season, despite having the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, Trey Hendrickson. Hendrickson is now gone and Al-Shaair steps into the role as the top playmaker on a defense that returns nine starters. The preseason Second Team All Conference selection was productive last season, leading the Owls with 112 tackles on the season. The 6'2" junior from Tampa also chipped in two sacks and and interception that he returned for a touchdown last season. In defensive coordinator’s Chris Kiffin’s aggressive defense, Al-Shaair will be counted on to become even more disruptive to bring up a defense that was 123rd in scoring defense last season.
2. Devin Singletary — Running Back
After FAU’s season quickly became a failure, they did find a huge building block in the 5'9" Singletary during their 2–2 finish to the season. The sophomore from Deerfield Beach busted on the scene during FAU’s final six games. Sharing time with 800 yard rusher Greg Howell , Singletary finished 2016 with 1021 yards and 12 touchdowns on just 152 carries. Singletary is also a threat in the passing game, accumulating 163 yards on 26 catches. Against Rice and MTSU, Singletary was a one man offensive machine. Rushing for 257 and 235 yards on less than 30 carries in each game. The thunder and lightning tandem of Singletary and Howell return in 2017 and WKU’s defensive corps better be ready to gang tackle the talented duo.
Young is another proven impact player on a defense that should be greatly improved in 2017. The 5'11" junior from Belle Grade, Florida was a consistent tackler on that much maligned defense, finishing second on the team with 100 tackles. The preseason All Conference safety also picked off two passes, forced and recovered a fumble in 2016. He’ll be the center fielder of the defensive backfield and he’ll be someone to watch out for against WKU’s high flying offense when the Owls come to town.
Preseason Thoughts about the Game
- Lane Kiffin show
Florida Atlantic scored arguably one of the highest profile hires of the offseason when they lured the controversial Kiffin away from Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama. Kiffin’s track record from hot-shot USC offensive coordinator to failed Oakland Raiders head coach, to his infamous year at Tennessee and his failed tenure as the head man back USC is well chronicled. Having rehabbed his career at college football’s premier program, he now has an opportunity to prove that he’s matured enough to lead a program again and overcome his demons that got him fired mid-season at USC.
Kiffin modernized Saban’s offenses and now is using the FAU job as a proving ground to show he can lead a program without incident. Luckily for WKU, they get Florida Atlantic at home during Kiffin’s inaugural season. The Owls could be anywhere from 5–2 to 2–5 heading into the game. The Owls will be experienced and talented, with several coaches and players with a troubled pasts and chips on their shoulders. Whatever happens October 28, the Owls will be fascinating to track as long as Kiffin’s at the helm.
2. Quarterback battle
Heading into the season, the Owls do have an open competition at the quarterback position. Sophomore Jason Driskel was the starter last season, passing for 2415 yards and nine touchdowns. Driskel, however, threw 11 interceptions and despite talent and experience, Kiffin brought in a highly heralded and controversial quarterback to compete for Driskel’s job.
If you watched this season’s Last Chance U, you saw FAU’s potential quarterback of the future, De’Andre Johnson. The former Florida State signee was an Under Armour All-American coming out of high school. During his freshman year, he was dismissed from Jimbo Fisher’s program after punching a girl at a bar in Tallahassee. Johnson rehabilitated his career enough at East Mississippi to get offered from the Owls passing for 2,645 yards and 26 scores in 11 games while earning Juco All-American honors. Johnson is a dual-threat talent and should have ample motivation to put the incident in the past and work towards his sky high potential on the FBS level.
Whoever wins the job will lead the talented stable of running backs, offensive lineman and highly recruited (for G5 level) skill players on FAU’s roster. With Kiffin’s & offensive coordinator Kendal Briles offensive pedigree, the sky is the limit for Driskel or Johnson in 2017.
3. Sleeping giant in C-USA
FAU is Conference USA’s top sleeping giant program. Located in the wealthy Boca Raton community, they have a beautiful campus, a wonderful, newish on-campus stadium and access to one of the most fertile recruiting areas in the country. The marriage of Kiffin’s talent and name recognition with that potential has the Owl faithful rightfully expecting big things over the course of what could be a short tenure. Kiffin, for his part, has already started winning recruiting battles against Power 5 programs and has brought as much talent as possible to make his tenure as successful as possible. Now that recruiting momentum needs to translate on the field as the Owls look to move from the Conference USA basement to the top of the East. If not 2017, look out for the Owls moving forward.
4. Wildcard game
The aforementioned experience, coaching talent and talented transfers, makes Florida Atlantic the ultimate wild-card team in Conference USA this season. Breaking a losing culture can be downright difficult but talent and buy-in from those players could lead to a quick turnaround. I ranked Florida Atlantic as the eighth hardest game on WKU’s schedule a few months ago. By the time they travel to Bowling Green, the Owls could easily move into the top five, regardless of where they are WKU fans and players shouldn’t take them lightly.
5. Home Field Advantage
The game being at the Houch could be a deciding factor if the Owls are improved. This will be the second to last game of the regular season at WKU. The weather should still be good and it will be interesting to see if the Kiffin factor will draw a larger late season crowd then usual. Road games separate average teams from championship level teams, it remains to be seen how improved they will be under Kiffin, let alone on the road. WKU has been dominant at home since joining C-USA, only losing two games in the last three seasons (UAB in 2014, Vanderbilt in 2016). If the Tops get in a close game, a favorable home crowd could play a factor.
Preseason Prediction
As stated earlier, I believe this game is the ultimate wildcard on WKU’s schedule. The Owls could be the second or third most talented team that the Tops play this season. By late October, we’ll know if FAU is a conference contender or laying the foundation for a 2018 breakthrough. With all of those factors, I see this game being among WKU’s closest conference games of the season. For some reason (besides last year), FAU always seems to play WKU tough and I think this year won’t be an exception. I think the Owls will even take an early lead. They’ll use their powerful running game to control tempo and force WKU to make clutch plays they may not have to against half of their schedule. Like previous predictions, I’ll go with Mike White carrying WKU to victory. A clutch touchdown pass to Lucky Jackson in the fourth quarter carries WKU to victory in the end.
Final Score Prediction- WKU 38 — FAU 34
Best places for Florida Atlantic coverage as the game gets closer
Being located in the highly populated Greater Miami area, FAU has a large bevy of traditional media coverage. The Sun-Sentinal, Palm-Beach Post and Boca Raton Tribune all give FAU more media coverage than your average Conference USA program. For good fan perspective check out check out FAU Owl Access (fan blog) and The Owl’s Nest will give you a good pulse of their fan base from a message board perspective. One of the Underdog Dynasty head men in charge, Cyrus Smith, is also a huge FAU guy.
What do you think about Lane Kiffin’s FAU squad? Will they be the surprise team of Conference USA this season? Should WKU be on upset alert? Let us know in a comment below, via twitter at @TheTowelRackWKU or on our Facebook page.
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