Football Falls to Marshall, 27-21
The Florida Atlantic University football team fell prey to a late score by Marshall and saw their comeback fall just short Saturday night in a 27-21 road loss.
The Turning Point
Marshall (2-4, 1-1 Conference USA) took over on their own 20-yard line with 8:24 left and put together a 14-play, 80-yard scoring drive that milked 6:31 off the clock. Keion Davis took it in from one yard out for the only touchdown of the second half to give the Thundering Herd the win.
The Finish
The Owls (1-6, 0-3 C-USA) had 1:53 to work with, and two Marshall penalties allowed them to start their final drive at the 50-yard line. The first play saw Jason Driskel go deep toKalib Woods, who went high to make a spectacular 33-yard catch. Four plays later, the two hooked up again, for an 11-yard gain, moving it to the Marshall 10 with 1:15 remaining. But the ensuing pass play, on 4th-and-3, fell to the turf incomplete, ending the drive and the FAU comeback attempt.
Notables
Freshman “Motor”Devin Singletary and “Buddy” Gregory Howell, Jr.provided a healthy one-two punch in the backfield. Singletary set a career high in both rushing (111 on just 13 carries) and total yards (155, adding in his 44 yards on three catches), while Howell went over the century mark for the fourth time this season with 109 yardsThe two became the first pair of Owls with over 100 rushing yards each since Nov. 16, 2013Both teams scored on their first drive. The Owls got the ball to start and took only 1:05 on four big plays to find the end zone: a 14-yard rush by Howell, 26 yards on a pass from Driskel to Singletary, Howell again, for 17 on the ground, and then an 18-yard read option keeper by Driskel for the scoreDriskel set a career high in rushing yards as well, with 57 on eight carries. The Owls outgained the Thundering Herd on the ground Saturday 281-106After the opening score, Marshall subsequently went 75 yards as well, on seven plays, and after a stalled FAU drive, kicked a field goal to take a 10-7 leadThe Owls regained the advantage on a drive that included two big gains by Singletary. On third down, his great individual effort turned what could have been a loss into an 18-yard catch-and-run, and four plays later, he broke multiple tackles on the way to a 48-yard score, the longest of his young careerLate in the second quarter, trailing by two, the Owls moved back ahead on the ninth rushing touchdown of the season by Howell, a one-yard plunge up and over the topThat drive included a pinpoint pass for 36 yards, again from Driskel to Woods, that put the Owls into the red zone. Woods ended the game with 100 yards even on five catches, the fourth time he’s hit that plateau this seasonMarshall drove to the red zone as the first half clock ticked down, looking for the lead again, but Jalen Young’s interception with 34 seconds left snuffed out that opportunityWith that limited time remaining, the Owls moved into field goal range, but the Thundering Herd returned the favor with a pick with just seven seconds remaining in the halfThe third quarter only saw three points put on the board, a successful field goal by Marshall with 2:11 left in the period. The only fourth quarter scoring was the Thundering Herd’s final touchdown and two-point conversionTwo Owl defenders set new personal bests in tackles in a game: Young (16, his previous high was 14 twice) and Nate Ozdemir (16, besting his 10 earlier this season against Ball State). Azeez Al-Shaairwas only one shy with 15 (he tallied 16 last year against Rice)FAU players combined for nine tackles for loss and two sacks, 1.5 from Trey Hendrickson. He also had three of the team’s seven quarterback hurries
Quotable
“Our mindset is to continue to fight and win every one of these games; we’re four possessions away from being a 5-2 football team,” said Head Coach Charlie Partridge. “There’s a lot of things to be proud of, but you’ve got to find a way to finish. We were inches away from making that fourth-down conversion … we were very close against what we know is a good football team regardless of how their record has been so far.”
What's Next
The Owls have a bye next week, and will return home next, hosting WKU on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 3:30 p.m.