BOCA RATON, FL – What started off as a beautiful night in paradise turned out to be a chaotic surprise as a downpour drenched the Owl faithful after halftime and pressed on till the end of the game.
The Owls started off hot as their defense set the tempo with an opening interception on the first drive of the game. The offense carried on with the new found momentum as Larry McCammon barreled his way into the endzone with eight minutes on the board to give the Owls the lead. McCammon would find his way into the endzone once again in the later part of the first quarter to give the Owls a 14-0 lead. McCammon would set a new career record in rushing yards with 130 total in the game.
Tulsa would finally get their response in the 2nd quarter with a rushing touchdown of their own, cutting the Owl lead down to 14-7. Before halftime, kicker Logan Lupo would give the Owls a ten point lead with less than a minute left in the first half. With the momentum on the Owls side it definitely didn’t look like they would slow down at any given moment. That is until the rain came after halftime.
The rain killed any fast paced momentum for the Owls as they relied heavily on the run game in the second half. Tulsa would only manage a field goal in the 3rd quarter as FAU’s lead would be cut down to 17-10. FAU would get back on the 4th with another field goal from Logan Lupo, the game looked to be a stalemate being decided with field goals. Tulsa would finally accelerate the process with a touchdown in the final five minutes of the game. However, FAU’s defense would hold the fort down causing a disruption for Tulsa’s offense, killing any momentum the Hurricanes tried to build up. FAU would go on to win the game 20-17.
The Press Conference involved FAU QB Daniel Richardson, here’s some quotes from his interview;
- “Take the fight to them, that’s what we did”
- “It was like playing backyard football, it was actually fun”
- “We left a lot on the field today, but we did get the win”
- “It’s great to win, thank God for the opportunity to play again”
- “Happy for the team and the guys with this win”
- “Just taking it day by day and getting to play as one”
We also spoke with Head Coach Tom Herman, here’s some notes from his interview;
- “Really proud with how we responded to this adversity”
- “Really proud of the maturity and growth for this team”
- “Lot of respect for Coach Wilson” when talking about Tulsa and their program
- “Championship teams find ways to close the door, we may not be there yet but we are on our way”
- “We’re gonna celebrate the hell out of this game”, when talking about winning FAU’s inaugural AAC victory
- “We are taking the step necessary to compete”, “the long term goal is to compete for championships”
- “I think we handled it well”, when discussing the weather conditions during the 2nd half
- “This was a big game, for us to have those tangible results was really important to us”
- “These guys have submitted themselves to a purpose greater than us”
Lastly, we spoke with Desmond Tisdol, here’s some notes from his interview;
- “We definitely needed that W heading into next week into Tampa they’re a tough team” when asked if the team needed the win heading into next week’s match against USF
- “We took little steps from each game”
- “We still gotta keep going no matter what the score is”, after being asked about giving up the late touchdown in the 4th
FAU gets back in the win column, next week they face in-state foe in Tampa against USF.
