FAU Hosts Rice in Must Win Battle of the Owls



The Matchup: Rice (3-2, 1-0 C-USA) @ Florida Atlantic (2-4, 1-1 C-USA)


When: Saturday, October 15th, 6:00 PM

Where: Howard Schnellenberger Field at FAU Stadium

TV: None

Stream: ESPN+

Radio: Radio: FoxSports 640

Opening Line: FAU -5

Weather: Current conditions in Boca Raton, FL

The Series: Rice leads 2-1 but FAU took the last meeting in 2016

Rice Team Site: Here


Key Stats Comparison:




FAU Notes

Looking at an uphill climb from a prognostication standpoint to become Bowl Eligible, the Florida counterpart in the 4th edition of the Battle of the Owls find themselves in what could best be described as a must win. The contest will also be homecoming for Florida Atlantic University.

After Saturday, FAU will have just two games left wherein they will likely be favored - on the road at UTEP immediately following the action, and later in November against FIU in the 21st Anniversary of the Shula Bowl which will also be on the road.

After an early start on Week 0, and six straight games, the team finally caught some much needed rest and a relaxed schedule during their first bye week for 2022 and look to be getting ready for the return of preseason All-C-USA defensive lineman Evan Anderson.



Anderson (photo top right above) was sidelined after a foot injury which occurred during the Owls' game against Charlotte and could have potentially changed the outcome of the losses to both Ohio as well as Purdue.

Nonetheless, having him back in the anchor position at nose guard for Saturday's showdown is a huge boost to the defensive line rotation.

As previously mentioned, some strategic changes are likely in store on both sides of the ball, with the goal being to somewhat simplify the scheme on defense, and also provide a bit more focus on the rushing attack offensively.

Wide receiver LaJohntay Wester is one touchdown catch away from tying the program's single season mark (9) in the category. He's also looking to move up in punt return yardage rankings (5th, 293) and sits just behind Lucky Whitehead (4th, 312).

Linebacker Eddie Williams continues to lead the team in tackles, and is 2nd in Conference USA with 9.5 per game.


Rice Notes

The Western Division Owls are coming off a big 28-24 win over UAB in Week 5 thanks to solid defensive play. Rebounding from a lethargic first half, they would go on to outscore UAB 21-7 in the second despite having the ball for just three possessions.

Rice's 209 yards of total offense was the fewest total in a win since they were held to 191 while defeating Houston back in 2004.

Lead running back Ari Broussard has found it difficult to amass yardage for Rice through five games, netting just 192 ticks behind 75 carries (2.6 YPC).  Quarterback TJ Mcmahon has the second most tries for the squad (32) but is finding even less green ahead of him with 1.2 yards each time he's ran.

Mcmahon has an interesting stat line through the air. He's been accurate, completing 64% of his passes for 1,080 total yards with nine touchdowns. However, he's also thrown seven interceptions in the process.

Receivers Luke Mccaffrey (361 YDS), and Bradley Rozner (312 YDS) account for 58% of Rice's total production in the passing attack.

When they get into the red zone Rice will very likely leave with points, as shown by a 90% success rate therein. But they are 2nd to last in total offensive yards per game, only ahead of FIU.

Linebacker tandem Chris Conti and Myron Morrison are pacing the Owls' defense with 25 total tackles each to their credit. Just behind is secondary member Gabriel Taylor who has 24 on the season for Rice. Collectively, the team has 12 sacks, 24 tackles for loss, and eight hurries.

Rice is second in Conference USA in total yards allowed per game behind UAB, and 5th in total points allowed, just behind FAU.

Coach Taggart has confirmed QB Michael Johnson Jr is out for the remainder of the season.

"I think our experience is always going to help us out, with the amount of starters that we've got up front. Guys that have played in big games against multiple, looks, fronts, and pressures." - FAU Football OC Brent Dearmon on the OL and this weeks matchup vs Rice Football

"I think you're playing a team from South Florida. You're going to have great speed. You're going to have great length and you see those things. You see some twitchy dudes that make plays. Let's start with quarterback. N'Kosi Perry was a very highly recruited kid. He started his career at (Miami). Now he's been at FAU for two years. He has the ability to affect the game with his legs and he's got a great arm. It starts there. All of their skill (players) run so incredibly well. Their lines have gotten better and better every year. Looking at the jump they made from last year to this year, both their offensive and defensive lines are tremendously improved."

"There are things that we're addressing. It's not like we only self scout during the bye week. We put more time into it and more focus into it. I don't know about specifics as much as the challenge from me to the staff was to understand that FAU was on their bye also. So, anything that has hurt us this year in any of the three phases, they are going to do. We have to understand that so we better understand how we're going to solve those issues going forward. By the same token, we've been studying their film and looking for things that we can attack. We're going to try to present some of those same problems to them as well."

- Rice Head Coach Mike Bloomgren

"We came back this week. We're fired up. We're ready." - FAU Football DL Jaylen Joyner

What was initially looking like fantastic game time weather with low humidity is now scattered thunderstorms from 2:00 PM until 7:00 PM.

         

Time to get a W 🌴🏟🏈

Evan Anderson DRESSED AND READY tonight:

weather is good .... unis looks great ... here we go

We're underway, Davis kicks off to Rice for FAU and it's out of bounds.

Rice will start at the FAU 35.