BOCA RATON – The offensive line has been a problem all season for the FAU Owls, and today was no different.
Quarterback Chris Robison was left with minimal time in the pocket, as the offensive line allowed seven sacks and five hurries in the Owls’ 36-31 loss to the Marshall Thundering Herd. Included in the sack total is a safety in the third quarter.
“I don’t remember ever having seven sacks,” Kiffin said. “Some of them were the offensive line and protection versus three-man rush, which is disappointing, and then some were on Chris.”
Marshall began the scoring early on a 30-yard field goal by Justin Rohrwasser, which made the score 3-0 in favor of the Herd. But the FAU offense took charge and later scored on a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs by Robison and Larry McCammon in the first quarter.
As a rushing unit, unfortunately, the Owls struggled throughout the game.
McCammon, who was making his return to the lineup, rushed for just 38 yards and a touchdown on six carries. Malcolm Davidson – who ran for 149 yards against Middle Tennessee State a week prior – ran for only 52 yards and a touchdown.
“I think the numbers make it look worse,” Kiffin said. “The two backs, Malcolm [Davidson] and Larry [McCammon], are 4.3 and 6.3 [yards per carry], but Chris loses 53 yards for a net of 47.”
Late in the first quarter, Marshall quarterback Isaiah Green connected with Armani Levias, who broke a few would-be FAU tacklers for a 59-yard touchdown catch.
Through the air, Green completed 15 of his 24 passes for 206 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Green’s performance was good enough for a 153.8 QB rating.
The second quarter, however, was stolen by sophomore running back Brenden Knox, who carried the Marshall offense to the eventual win.
On one of the final offensive drives for Marshall, Knox ran for 85 yards, finishing it with a 1-yard touchdown run to eliminate FAU’s lead, and tie the game at 17.
Knox, who came into the game with 385 rushing yards, ended the night with 220 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns, including the game-winning 17-yard touchdown run on Marshall’s final offensive drive.
For Florida Atlantic’s offense, the second and third quarter proved to be detrimental to the team. Not only did FAU score just three points on a Vladi Rivas field goal, but the offense limped to just 122 total yards of offense and completed just two of eight three-point conversions.
“Obviously, we started fast. We went down and scored twice, and they kind of swapped up on the defense from four down to three down, but we prepared for that,” senior tight end Harrison Bryant said. “We really just stalled there and left our defense out there way too long.”
While FAU led twice in the fourth quarter thanks to a rushing and passing touchdown from Robison, it was Knox’s touchdown with just 36 seconds remaining that practically ended FAU’s chances of winning the game, as an interception by Steven Gilmore secured Marshall’s win.
On offense for FAU, it was wide receiver DeAngelo Antoine who had another strong performance. The USF transfer finished with seven receptions for 111 yards, including a 35-yard grab to help set up a touchdown by Robison to take the lead late in the fourth quarter.
The loss puts FAU (4-3, 2-1 C-USA) a foot behind other teams in the conference, including Marshall and Western Kentucky. If FAU would like to clinch a second conference championship birth in three seasons, both Marshall and Western Kentucky would need to suffer losses.
Next week, FAU will travel to Norfolk, Va. to face the Old Dominion Monarchs (1-5, 0-2 C-USA). Marshall will host Western Kentucky in a supposed battle between top C-USA East teams.
PHOTO CREDIT: Keith Forde
