BOCA RATON – FAU defeated Akron 50-3 in the Cherbundi Boca Raton Bowl.

Both offenses traded three-and-outs early on as both defenses flexed their muscles. Each team missed a field goal early in the red zone during the first quarter.

FAU (11-3 final record) struck first with a little over a minute left in the first quarter on a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jason Driskel to wide receiver Willie Wright. The Owls added a little excitement to end the first quarter as they attempted an onside kick after scoring, which the Zips would go on to recover.

After a late hit, dead ball personal foul, and an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Owls, the Zips were in striking distance to reach the end zone. But they would only score on a 19-yard field goal by kicker Nick Gasser, which turned out be their only points in the Boca Raton Bowl.

The Owls would score on a 3-yard run by Driskel. The touchdown was set up by runs from running backs Kerrith Whyte and Devin Singletary with a little over five minutes left in the first half.

Head coach Lane Kiffin and his Owls coaching staff were in a gambling mode in the first half as their first two touchdowns came on fourth downs in the red zone.

Meanwhile, Driskel torched Akron’s defense late in the second quarter on a 63-yard pass to wideout Kamrin Soloman that would set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Singletary. This would give FAU a 21-3 lead going into halftime.

The Owls defense shut the Zips down as they could only accumulate 122 yards of total offense in the first two quarters of the Boca Raton Bowl.

FAU would increase its lead in the second half on a 2-yard scoring run by Singletary. Meanwhile, the Jason Driskel and ‪Willie Wright‬ Show continued in the second half as they would score by connecting with each other on a 3-yard end zone pass, pushing FAU’s lead to 36-3 with a little over six minutes left in the third quarter.

Driskel had himself a stellar game as he would finish the game 17-of 22-passing for 270 yards and two touchdowns.

Akron (7-7 final record) couldn’t get much going throughout the second half as its offense was plagued by multiple three-and-outs. The Zips would finish the game with 146 yards of total offense.

The Zips defense was very porous as the Owls were able to rack up 582 total yards of offense.

Records broken tonight:

Junior linebacker and captain Azeez Al-Shaair became the all-time leading tackler for FAU during the first half. Azeez would finish the game with 13 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and a sack.

Singletary would increase his touchdown count to 33 on the season and earn the title of most touchdowns in a season for FAU and Conference USA. The Delray Beach American Heritage alum would finish the game with 124 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns, marking the 12th time this season that he eclipsed the 100-yard rushing yard mark in a game.

The Owls set a team record by scoring their 84th touchdown of the season in the third quarter, which broke the previous record of 83 that was set back in 2007.

Driskel would receive Offensive MVP honors after the final buzzer sounded at the Boca Raton Bowl, while Al-Shaair would be selected as the game’s Defensive MVP.

Postgame comments:

Kiffin was very happy with the Boca Raton Bowl victory. Kiffin stated. ““Really just an unbelievable day. I can’t imagine being better. This is a special story. These stories don’t happen often. You don’t just come to the FAU and win 11 games. These kids aren’t even playing close games. It’s one thing to play a close game, go to triple-overtime but these kids just dominate everyone they play. By the fourth quarter, the game is usually over. To win ten-straight games is incredible. You don’t win bowl games 50-3. Sitting here one year and one week ago, no one would believe this other than maybe me. It is just awesome to see. I am proud of these players.”

Azeez Al-Shaair: “The celebration never gets old. Seeing Montey Kiffin dance never gets old. Ask anyone on the team, we’ve never thought about ourselves individually, it’s always been about the team. That’s rare.” After looming questions about Al-Shaair possibly declaring for the NFL draft he answered back with “If you start something you’ve got to finish it. That’s what my mom taught me, you never start anything without finishing it.”

Singletary: “I didn’t see this many touchdowns (33) coming because we preached rushing yards all year long. It’s looking pretty bright for us. It means a lot. We have a lot of guys who played this year who are
coming back, so we know what to expect, we know what we’re looking for. We’re going to come back to work and try and get better.”

FAU has won 10 straight football games to end its best season ever, and Kiffin would sign a 10-year deal with the team that lasts through 2027.

With all this success happening, capped by a 47-point Boca Raton Bowl win, what could be next for the Owls?