Football Secures First C-USA Victory, 52-33 over Old Dominion

Saturday, October 6

Boca Raton, Fla.

5:00 P.M.

Florida Atlantic

3-3 , 1-1

Old Dominion

1-5 , 0-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

ODU

FAU

Football Secures First C-USA Victory, 52-33 over Old Dominion

10/6/2018 9:42:00 PM | Football

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University football had a 300-yard passer, 150-yard rusher, two receivers over 100 yards, and three skill players score at least two touchdowns in topping Old Dominion, 52-33. The win is the 10th straight home victory for the Owls.

Quotable
"It wasn't exactly how we like it to be, but like I told the guys, we probably need to enjoy a win," said Head Coach Lane Kiffin. "We should probably be pretty excited about a 10-game home winning streak … Credit to (Old Dominion), it's a good team and a good quarterback and some good receivers. There is a reason they beat Virginia Tech, and had East Carolina beat last week … Good response by Chris (Robison) in the passing game today after not playing real well, so that was good to see. I think we made some strides in a very difficult week after swallowing that loss. We felt we should have won that game. That one's over with, so all we could do is go 1-0 and we did today."

Quick Hits

FAU (3-3, 1-1 C-USA) won their first coin toss of the season, choosing to receive, and were off and running with a 44-yard catch-and-run on the very first play, from Chris Robison to Harrison Bryant
Following that were back-to-back gains through the air of 13 and nine from Robison to Tavaris Harrison
Robison then went back to Bryant for a 5-yard score three plays later. Though the 2-point conversion was unsuccessful, FAU led 6-0 just 1:40 in
ODU (1-5, 0-3 C-USA) drove into the red zone, and went for it on 4th-and-1 from the FAU 13, but the back was stuffed for no gain by cornerback Shelton Lewis
The Owls were stopped on their drive, but Robison pinned the Monarchs on their own 5 with a 53-yard punt
The teams traded unsuccessful possessions leading into the first quarter break
FAU doubled their lead with a 10-play drive early in the 2nd, which included a 28-yard run by Devin Singletary and a 3-yard rushing score by Kerrith Whyte, Jr. Again, the 2-point attempt was not converted
ODU would get on the board after a targeting penalty was assessed an on FAU sack, a 27-yard pass and a 2-yard touchdown run. With the extra point, the Owls' lead was cut to 12-7
The Owls responded immediately, moving the ball 81 yards on eight plays. Key gains were a Robison swing pass to Whyte for 17, an 18-yard run by Singletary, and a 22-yard touchdown catch from Robison to Bryant, the second such connection of the night
After an FAU interception was taken away because of roughing the passer, another would be recorded two plays later, by Chris Tooley
That gave the Owls the ball back with 1:15 left in the half, and it would take only 35 seconds to get into the end zone
Singletary would rumble for a 10-yard run, Durante hauled in a deep pass along the sideline from Robison for 41 yards to the ODU 4, and two plays later, Robison kept it for the score from five yards out. That made the halftime score FAU 26, ODU 7
The Monarchs marched downfield on the first possession of the third, ending with a 5-yard score to cut it to 26-14. They further cut into it less than four minutes later, on a 31-yard pass, making it 26-21
But Whyte answered immediately with the longest kickoff return in FAU history, 100 yards, besting the only other (also by Whyte, for 98 yards on Nov. 11, 2017). The extra point missed, but the lead pushed out to 11, 32-21
ODU strung together another long drive, nine plays and 64 yards to score, but Lewis intercepted the 2-point pass. He was tackled near midfield in an attempt to take it back for two. The score was back down to five again at 32-27
Early in the fourth, Singletary went in from 30 yards to push to 114 yards in the game and make it a 12-point lead at 39-27. That was his 57th career rushing touchdown (tying Tim Tebow and Marshall Faulk on the all-time FBS list), and 18th straight game with a score
On that same drive, Bryant had catches of 18 and 28 yards, making for 117 in the game, and joining Durante (111) over the century mark
Lewis came up with a pick on the ensuing ODU drive, and had a night: eight tackles (five solo), one for a loss, two pass breakups, the interception and the pickoff of the 2-point conversion. Jalen Young would lead the squad with 10 tackles, seven of which were solo, and Rashad Smith matched Lewis with eight stops (six solo)
Whyte would go in for his second rushing score, and third TD of the night, from 31, to increase the advantage to 46-27
ODU got some of that back, without the 2-point conversion though, to trail by 13 at 46-33
Singletary put the icing on the cake with a 44-yard score right up the middle, untouched, with 2:17 left for the final margin. With that score, he surpassed Tebow and Faulk and tied Ian Johnson for 13th all-time in rushing touchdowns. The yardage on the play allowed him to break Alfred Morris' all-time FAU mark of 3,529, at 3,568 and counting
The passing of Faulk means Singletary has the most rushing touchdowns ever of those playing three years (everyone above him now on the list played four seasons). His passing of Tebow means he has the most of anyone to ever play for a Florida FBS school
Singletary finished with 168 yards on the ground, on 19 carries, an average of 8.8 per. Whyte had 186 all-purpose yards (61 rushing, 25 receiving and 100 on the kickoff)
Robison was 21-of-32 for 339 yards and two scores, plus the rushing score
Bryant set a career high with 133 yards, on six catches, with the two scores. Durante finished with those 111 receiving yards on seven catches
The Owls set a season high in points and also total offense, with 605 yards (266 rushing, at a clip of 6.7 per, and 339 passing)

Looking Ahead
FAU has a bye week ahead, and goes on the road Saturday, Oct. 20, to face Marshall in Huntington, West Virginia. The Owls' return home is the next Friday, Oct. 26, versus Louisiana Tech, a 6:30 p.m. kickoff. For tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit www.FAUSports.com.