Football Wins Season Opener, 38-30 over Southern Illinois

Saturday, September 3

Boca Raton, Fla.

6:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

1-0

Southern Illinois

0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

SIU

FAU

9/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

.@CoachPartridge on the Win over SIU. #FAU pic.twitter.com/oNnGCEu7lm
-- FAU Athletics (@FAUOwlAthletics) September 4, 2016

Sept. 3, 2016

Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University football team took the 2016 season opener at FAU Stadium, defeating Southern Illinois on Saturday night, 38-30.

Relive the excitement of Day One with our cinematic highlights. #DayOne #FindAWay pic.twitter.com/LYcp7Ggvxy
- FAU Athletics (@FAUOwlAthletics) September 4, 2016

The Turning Point

SIU (0-1) scored just before halftime to take a 24-21 lead into the locker room, but FAU (1-0) had the ball first out of the break, and a 12-play, 75-yard drive culminated in tight end Tyler Cameron's first career receiving touchdown to give the team a lead that wouldn't be relinquished.

The Finish

The Owls would put up 17 unanswered points before the Salukis scored on a tipped pass into the end zone but with just 2:41 remaining in the game.

Notables

"Buddy" Gregory Howell, Jr. wasted no time getting the Owls on the scoreboard, with a 48-yard touchdown on FAU's second offensive play of the game (12:49 in the first quarter)
That was the longest rushing play of Howell's career, and he'd get his second longest with 4:03 to go in the opening quarter, a 37-yard score up the middle that put the Owls back ahead
Howell surpassed 100 yards in the first half, 102, on just six carries, and ended the game with 128 yards on the ground
On a pass that hit at least three players' hands before his, redshirt freshman receiver Tavaris Harrison was "Johnny-on-the-spot" to end up with an 85-yard touchdown in the second
Jason Driskel accounted for over 300 yards of total offense, and was an extremely efficient 14-of-16 passing in the second half
All told, the redshirt sophomore signal-caller was 23-of-31 for 287 yards in the air and added 41 yards rushing
Driskel shared the wealth with nine different receivers, and Harrison and Cameron each notched their first career score
Henry Bussey III had the most receptions with six, for 57 yards, and Kalib Woods trailed only Harrison in receiving yards (60 to Harrison's 85)
Sophomore linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair picked up where he left off from his All-American freshman campaign, leading the Owls with 10 tackles
Haiden Nagel and Jalen Young each added eight stops; for Naigel, that marks a career high
Redshirt sophomore defensive back Andrew Soroh nearly doubled his career total in tackles, with seven coming into the game and six on Friday
Trey Hendrickson had five tackles, two QB hurries, a sack, and blocked a Saluki extra point attempt in the fourth
Greg Joseph was a perfect 5-for-5 on extra points and added the Owls' last points, a 40-yard field goal
Dalton Schomp averaged 38.5 yards on eight punts, with a long of 55

Quotable

"We're excited to be 1-0; very excited to accomplish our second mission," said Head Coach Charlie Partridge. "Our first mission being summer camp, our second mission being the Southern Illinois game, and we accomplished that. There's a lot of things coming out of the game that I'm very excited about, starting with our offense. Our offense showed a lot of signs of explosion. You look at a couple of those runs by Buddy. Obviously, Pico (Tavaris Harrison), catching the ball after a tip, an explosive play there. Woods, an explosive play there in the fourth quarter that certainly helped us to be in a position to win the game, so I'm excited about that. Defensively, there were signs of some really good things that came out in the third quarter. We did some good things, but we'll continue to get better. They were hurting us with some short passes out on the edge and we'll get that stuff cleaned up. I feel good about that. Special teams-wise, they blocked a field goal, had a couple big punts, some field position things. Bottom line is we won the game. We're out on the prowl. The Owls are 1-0, and we start our next mission tomorrow. So, we gave our kids the advice to take care of each other tonight and be smart, and I'm proud. I'm proud that we're 1-0. That's what matters at the end of the day."

What's Next

The Owls head down to face Miami in Coral Gables next Saturday evening beginning at 6 p.m. The Hurricanes defeated Florida A&M on Saturday in Mark Richt's first game as head coach, 70-3.

To purchase tickets for any home game throughout this season or for season ticket plans, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/fau/EN/buy/browse?i%5B0%5D=242.