BOCA RATON – Devin Singletary found the end zone five times Saturday night (Sept. 16) against Bethune Cookman.
The FAU junior running back’s five scores would set a new school record for rushing touchdowns in a game, as well as help the Owls cruise to a 49-28 win over the Wildcats of Daytona Beach.
Singletary and the Owls offense got off to a great start early in the first quarter, with a nine-play, 57-yard touchdown drive.
FAU quarterback Chris Robison connected with tight end Harrison Bryant on gains of 21 and 22 yards, which set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Singletary.
After a 51-yard punt return by Willie Wright, Singletary would find the end zone for his second time of the night on an 18-yard run. On the next two Owl possessions, the junior running back capped off both drives with touchdown runs of 1 and 2 yards, putting the Owls up 29-0 in the first.
At the end of the first quarter, the Heisman Watch List running back had scored four times, tying his single game touchdown school record that he tied twice in 2017.
The Bethune Wildcats seemed to be outmatched by the Owls, but they found some life early in the second quarter with a 31-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Akevious Williams to wide receiver Jimmie Robinson.
The Wildcats had hoped to build off of that, but Singletary had other plans.
The 5-9, 201-pound running back simply walked in for a 2-yard score for his fifth touchdown of the night, breaking his own record for the most rushing touchdowns in a game by an Owl running back.
Singletary would finish the match with 19 carries for 89 yards and five touchdowns. His fifth score would put the Owls up 36-7 over the Wildcats with seven minutes remaining in the half.
After a Kennedy Ndukwe interception, Williams would find receiver Keavon Mitchell open in the back of the end zone for a Wildcats touchdown, bringing the score to 36-14.
After the half, the Owls would strike again with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Robison to wideout Jovon Durante, who illustrated an awesome ‘toe-tap’ grab. The score would be 43-14.
The Wildcats would answer back by putting up another touchdown on the board with a 41-yard grab by receiver Johnathan Thomas. The score would be 43-21 and remain that way to end the third quarter.
Ex-Florida State and East Mississippi College quarterback Deandre Johnson would get his chance to make some plays, and he did just that.
The 6-2, 205-pound quarterback trucked a Wildcat defender and tightroped the sideline before falling into the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown.
The Wildcats would score just once more on a Williams 5-yard run, and the Owls would win at home.
The Owls rushed for 376 yards and it seemed like they were well-tuned.
Running back Kerrith Whyte lead all rushers with 15 carries and 101 yards, but he and Singletary thought the performance by the group could have been better as a whole.
Singletary simply stated: “We are still kinda average,” he said. “We still need to elevate more.”
Whyte would chime in.
“We left a lot of yards out there, and it all falls back on the details,” he said.
Head Coach Lane Kiffin and the Owls were not as happy about the win as the fans were in Boca Raton, and that had a lot to do with the 28 points they had given up and a subpar showing on special teams.
Kiffin stated that the Owls special teams was a “disaster”, and ask himself and his staff, “Is there anything wrong we can do on special teams?”
Kiffin wanted to see a duplication of their stellar defensive showing during last year’s matchup against the Wildcats, and he definitely thought that the team as whole played down to Bethune’s level.
The Owls will face No. 18 UCF next Friday in Orlando, and they hope to play with more energy throughout the entire game.
Florida Atlantic moves on to 2-1, while Bethune Cookman falls to 1-2.
