FAU Coach Tom Herman spoke with members of the media Tuesday afternoon prior to the teams matchup with USF at home this Friday. The Owls check into this matchup at 2-5, while USF sits at 3-4 and both teams could use a victory in this one as the fight for bowl eligibility wages on.
The Owls were plagued by injuries and inconsistencies in their loss to UTSA 2 weeks ago, however a bye week has given this team time to heal up and learn from their mistakes and now the attention shifts to beating an in-state rival. As it has been all season, the Owls path to a bowl game lies in front of them, albeit now much more difficult, however Herman remains confident in his team and their ability to finish strong down the stretch.
USF has underperformed this season, however a lot of that is due to the injury to their star QB Byrum Brown, who remains questionable for this matchup The Owls have prepared for both Archie and Brown, with Herman noting that Archie is capable of executing the passing side of this offense however lacks the explosiveness of Brown’s legs.
There is a path to victory in this one for the Owls, however it is going to require FAU to execute at a high level and push past mistakes that have plagued them in losses. Herman explains why his belief remains strong in his team's ability to do so, along with a lot more in this week’s press conference.
Herman on new players stepping up in a rivalry & thoughts on USF matchup
I don't know if it's somebody we don't expect, but I definitely think that there's an excitement whenever you play a team in your own state, a conference team, a team that you recruit against. You know, there's a little pep in your step. I mean, it's been that way everywhere I've been and, you know, go, go walk around the Ohio State Building when it's Michigan week, and the Texas building when it's OU week, and so on and so forth. I mean, it's a big deal everywhere, and so I do think that that energy, you know, can maybe give some confidence to a guy that maybe mulling around a little bit, maybe a guy that's up and down in his performance, that bit of energy, maybe the spark that that he needs to, you know, kind of complete his game, so to speak. But I can tell now, having finished our third day of practice for this week, there's a renewed pep in our step out there.
Herman thoughts on the weather
“The weather definitely has a factor, or has an impact in our energy level, not that it's bad when it's hot, it's all it's measured, you know, on an energy level. I think the guys realize throughout the course of a practice when it's 105 heat index on the first October, 1 week in October, and you know, it's been over 100 heat index, or whatever, in 100 straight days, you're measured with that energy a little bit. And know when and how to use it, where, I think when the weather cooperates and it's been beautiful, overcast, you know, breezy, yeah, especially those big guys, yeah, they feel that that heat and humidity the most, and they've been bouncing around Pretty good.”
Herman on how to fix the little things in a short amount of time
I've got to dive into my part in this, which is, you know, I think we were so close against North Texas, and we let that frustration maybe make us take a step back. You know, we didn't handle being that close and being able to taste it and then not do the things necessary to keep it. I don't think we handled that well. And I think there, instead of a confidence of going back to all of the good that we showed ourselves against North Texas when things got rough against UTSA, for whatever reason, we went back to the last four and a half minutes of UNT. And so that, that was my big challenge, our challenge as coaches this week was, kind of understand that and really hit home to our players that they're all, it's all one week seasons and the result of the North Texas Game and the UTSA any game, they're so fleeting and so unimportant once they're over and unchangeable, you cannot Change the past, and so we have to understand that we definitely need to learn from the past, you leave the result in the past. You take the lessons with you and I think with that renewed energy that we've seen, and because of the opponent, something's clicked. I don't want to be Pollyanna, but I sensed a renewed confidence and energy in our guys this week,” Herman said.
Herman on how the Bye week helped the team
Yeah, unique right to have two bye weeks in a season and only two games in between the two. But we needed it again. You know, we were missing our two starting slot receivers against UTSA, making our wide receiver crew, an already depleted wide receiver crew that much more depleted. And so hopefully we're able to get Milan and Omari back for the game. How much, I don't know, but as much as they can give us, Wendol Philord and Daedae Hill have been limited this week in practice, hoping to get some reps out of them during the game. So, but what it has done too is, we've been very, very cautious with some of some of our other guys. And so what that has allowed is, and maybe not by any practice design or anything, but you're able to see some of these guys that you haven't seen a whole lot of before, because now some guys that were running with the twos are running with the ones all week, and guys that may be on the scout team are running with the twos. And so you just get that added exposure to some of these younger or twos and threes type guys that are now kind of Battlefield promotions throughout the week of practice, that are doing a really good job. So I think that's been a plus of the Bye week,” Herman said.
Herman on the locker room being ready for this game
We actually talked today about the power of the word, and, you know, like you can be confident and on edge, or nervous even, those two things, you don't have to say, but you can say. And we're human beings, we can have different feelings, different thoughts, right and at the same time. And so to your point, you know, I talked about, hey, we can do all. We can be locked in and still have fun. We can be really aggressive. We can be really excited to play South Florida, and controlled and smart, and we can do all of those things. Human beings have that power to do all of those things. So that's to your point about being kind of workman like hopefully they still have a little bit of that motivation because of who we're playing. But also, and also have the ability to go about their business in a very methodical type way,” Herman said.
Herman on needing to win 4 games in 5 weeks for a Bowl
We put ourselves in a position to need all of them, regardless of who the opponent is. And so that we have put added pressure on ourselves. If you believe in pressure, I think that's word is defined by the uneasy feeling you get when you're not prepared. And so we'll be prepared for this one we touched briefly in our first team meeting after the UTSA game, about the five game stretch ahead of us and the opportunity that it presents. You know, there's a bunch of teams on that schedule that are going through some, some rough spots, like we are, and you know, it's going to be who can grow and who can mature and develop over the course of a season, that's going to come out on top in those games. But you touch on it, and then it's because I'd be an idiot to try to believe that there are players and staff that don't know who we're playing, after South Florida, so you want to acknowledge that. You want to present that opportunity to them, but then you've got to bring them right back to this one game. None of that's going to matter if we don't take care of business this week,” Herman said.
Herman on preparing for both Archie and Brown
I think you gotta, you gotta play what you see on Film, so we prepared for the plays and his style for Archie. But you know, if you really study him, there's not a whole lot to change schematically. I've got a lot of respect for Coach Golesh and what they do on that side of the ball, too, and they believe in a certain way of doing things, and they're going to do them maybe a few less designed quarterback runs, maybe not because of the athletic ability of number three, but just you don't want to take any unnecessary chances if now the alternative is to go to, you know, option three, if you're if he gets dinged up. So, very similar offense, I don't think, other than the quarterback run element, when you watch the film with Brown in there, compared to Archie, the offense schematically looks very similar,” Herman said.
Herman on if time of possession is important in this game
They have not done well in the time of possession statistics. I don't think it matters to them. As you know, in modern football, less and less people put a priority on that. It's certainly about what you do with those possessions and plays, and so I don't think it changes our game plan. I think the game plan is always, if we can run the ball effectively, we want to continue to do that. I believe that balanced offense doesn't mean you're going to throw for 200 and run for 200 in a game. It means that, however the defense dictates, you need to win the game that you can, you know, if they want to blitz the crap out of you and play cover zero to stop the run, then you better be able to throw hot and make guys miss on the perimeter. If they want to load the box and play single high, you better be able to read some people. You better be able to find windows and zone get open against main coverage. So you have a game plan that you want to execute. But ultimately, the defense has the chalk blast, as they say in in our profession, meaning, when the ball snaps, they do whatever they want, and at the end of the day, we've got to adjust and adapt and go win the game the way that they're dictating we need to win the game,” Herman said.
Herman on what USF does good defensively
They pressure, they Blitz, I think something like 70% of the time on first and second down. It's not always your high risk, high reward blitz either, you know, it's a lot of what we call simulated pressures, where they'll bring secondary player but drop an end and still only rush four. But it's a guy that's not accounted for in either the run scheme or the protection scheme that creates some confusion, and so that's, I think the biggest hurdle is the confusion and really finding the soft spots, the weaknesses when they do pressure, because obviously they feel that's a strength for them, and they've been proven right, they played pretty good defense. And so we've got other teams that have seen some of the weaknesses when they do Blitz, and have made them pay for it. Others haven't. And so we've got to fall in the family of those that do,” Herman said.
Herman on his confidence in the offense
“They're very confident, we beat ourselves. And so, even in the UTSA game, there was plenty to point at that were us at our best on that side of the ball. And so I wouldn't expect it any differently. I mean, maybe if you're playing the 85 bears or something, But, I think, as long as we can maintain a level of consistency. We'll be okay,” Herman said.
Final Thoughts
This matchup brings a lot to the table, as USF is a team that had high expectations coming into the season but has failed to meet them, but nevertheless the talent that got them those high pre-season expectations is still there. FAU is talented in their own right, however injuries and inconsistency has left them from reaching their full potential, however this game is an opportunity to put them on the path to doing so.
The Owls getting their star receiver Omari Hayes back in this one would be huge for an offense that is looking to find consistency, as when healthy Hayes has been a go-to target. But outside of Hayes and other injuries, the team has to execute at a high level, which they showed they’re capable of this season, just not consistently.
With the uncertainties that USF brings offensively, this is a game where the Owls can make a statement on defense, however the offense will need to capitalize on what the defense is able to accomplish.
There are no givens as to what will occur in this matchup, but Herman remains confident in his squad and believes they have what it takes to get an in-state conference rivalry victory at home.
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