Yesterday, the Florida Atlantic Owls (0-2) lost in their home opener to the Army Black Knights (2-0) 24-7. 

FAU could not capitalize on the few opportunities given to them on offense. Army is a team that hangs their hat on controlling the clock, and with a possession time of 38 minutes and 39 seconds in this game, FAU had to score every chance they got. However, major success was never found. 

“I think Army is really good,” Herman said. “They’re going to make plays in the run game. I mean, to get them off the field, three-and-out or four-and-out, doesn’t happen very often,” Said Herman. “Again, like any offense, you gotta keep them off schedule and they were churning out, not only big plays, but the four, five, or six-yard gains. Those have got to be one-yard gains and two-yard gains.”

On FAU’s first possession in the second half, quarterback Cam Fancher threw an interception that eventually led to Army’s final touchdown of the game. The game was still in reach at this point, but this interception killed FAU’s momentum.

“The read was the safety,” Herman said. “If the safety took that [Jayshon Platt’s] route, then the throw was to go to the outside receiver on his post and we have leverage on the inside. I don’t think he saw the underneath defender.”

Next week, FAU will be back at home to face their rivals in the Florida International Panthers (1-1) in the 23rd Shula Bowl game at 6:00 p.m. next Saturday, Sept. 14. The game can be streamed on ESPN +. 

Recap

The coin toss was in FAU’s favor and they elected to receive the ball. However, on FAU’s first drive of the game, Army forced a quick three-and-out. 

In Army’s first possession, FAU’s defense was handling Army’s triple-threat offense effectively. That is until on a third and eight, Army quarterback Bryson Daily rushed outside towards the right, then pitched it to running back Noah Short, who had a wide-open field and ran for 49 yards to FAU’s 18-yard line. 

After that highlight play, Daily handed the ball off to running back Kanye Udoh twice. The first rush was for ten yards and the second was an eight-yard rushing touchdown in which Udoh broke through two FAU defenders. Army led the game 7-0.

In the next offensive possession, FAU drove down to Army’s 36-yard line, but Army would not let FAU’s offense go any further. The Owls decided to go for it on fourth down and Fancher was immediately pressured by the Army’s pass rush. Fancher was able to evade the sack but had to throw the ball away. Army forced a turnover on downs. 

Army took over and scored as fast as lightning. After two rush attempts for 20 yards, Daily dropped back and threw his first pass of the day to wide receiver Casey Reynolds. Reynolds was wide open for the 44-yard touchdown reception to make it a two-possession game. This was Daily’s only completion on the day. 

“ [Army’s defense] is definitely physical,” FAU’s linebacker Jackson Ambush said. “If your eyes are in the wrong spot, the ball is going to be long past you. At the end of the day, we should execute our keys and being in the right spot in the right fits.”

After another three-and-out from the FAU offense, Short ran for 28 yards to end the first quarter. 

As soon as the second quarter started, both team’s offense seemed to go extinct. For seven straight minutes, the two teams were in a punt-off. 

FAU’s defense was starting to falter against Army’s rush attack in the middle of the second quarter. However, freshman safety CJ Heard forced and recovered a fumble from Udoh for FAU’s offense to take over on their own 32 yard-line with 3:37 minutes left in the first half.

The offense quickly passed mid-field and got into the red zone after a 16-yard rush from Fancher and a 19-yard sideline reception from wide receiver Joseph Young. Then, Fancher found wide receiver Omari Hayes on the slant for the eight-yard touchdown reception.

After a few rush attempts from Army to get to mid-field, the game went into halftime with a score of 14-7. 

Army opened the second half with a 30-yard rush from Daily to get to FAU’s 45-yard line. Then, Short had another long rush for 26 yards. FAU’s defense prevented them from progressing any further, but kicker Trey Gronotte made the 35-yard field goal to make it 17-7. 

FAU’s offense seemed to click on their first possession of the second half. Fancher completed three passes for 24 yards, going quickly into Army territory. On the fourth play of the drive, Fancher threw deep left into double coverage and Army safety Max DiDomenico intercepted the ball. The pass was intended for wide receiver Jayshon Platt and wide receiver Milan Tucker appeared wide open in the deep right-side of the field on this play.

“It [the play] was to get me out of the pocket to see if they check the depth of the boundary…there was no depth,” Fancher said. “So, I got to the shot route, seeing the safety turn his hips, it looked like he was going to the outside post. He turned his hips, the ball wasn’t there and then he broke on it back to where I threw it.”

There was 9:30 in the third quarter when Army took over on their own 4-yard line. They proceeded to slowly drive down the field with rush after rush, picking apartFAU’s  run defense. Army went into the red zone looking prime for another score, however, Udoh was penalized for a personal foul forcing a 2nd and 20. 

Army couldn’t pass the first down marker after two plays and lined up for the field goal. They snapped the ball and holder Matthew Rhodes started running outside to the left. It was a fake field goal attempt. The FAU defense was caught off guard and Rhodes was untouched on his way to a 23-yard touchdown rush. Army was now leading 24-7. 

The drive started in the early third quarter and lasted until the fourth quarter. Army had the ball for ten minutes and 33 seconds. 

FAU was able to drive to the goal line, but Army’s defense forced a turnover on downs. With eight minutes and 44 seconds left in the game, Army slowly drained the clock and Daily kneeled down three times to end the game. 

Morgan Larkins is a Staff Writer for the University Press. Email him at mlarkins2023@fau.edu or DM him on Instagram or Twitter @mj_larkins for more information regarding this or other stories.