Football Wins Second Straight, Topping WKU

Saturday, November 10

Boca Raton, Fla.

5:00 P.M.

Florida Atlantic

5-5 , 3-3

WKU

1-9 , 0-6

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

WKU

FAU

11/10/2018 8:42:00 PM | Football

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University football is now a win away from bowl eligibility after evening their record in both Conference USA play and overall, following Saturday night's 34-15 win over WKU at FAU Football Stadium. Kerrith Whyte, Jr. (163) and Devin Singletary (148) combined for 311 rushing yards and four touchdowns, two apiece, in the victory.

Quotable
"Good win today," said Head Coach Lane Kiffin. "I know that (WKU's) record is not that great, but that's a team that's played really well. Four of their games were three-point games, so if those games go the other way, that's a winning record coming into this game against some good teams too, like Marshall. I felt those guys had played tough on defense throughout the year and that we would have to play really well. (I'm) proud of our guys. It wasn't perfect the whole time, we started fast like we always do and then slowed down and screwed some things up, but then finished really well and got to play some backups there on defense at the end too which is good, especially with short week coming up this week."

Quick Hits

FAU (5-5, 3-3 C-USA) won the toss and chose to receive. They marched downfield with Whyte capping off an eight-play drive with an eight-yard rushing score
The drive included 40 yards from Singletary on the ground, with a long of 31, and went up and over 4,000 rushing yards in his career
WKU (1-9, 0-6 C-USA) was stopped on 4th-and-2 in their own territory, with a gang tackle led by Rashad Smith and Andrew Soroh giving the Owls possession on the WKU 43
They got into the red zone, but a 29-yard field goal attempt missed wide right
After forcing a punt, again the Owls moved across midfield, on a 35-yard catch-and-go from Chris Robison to Tavaris Harrison
This time, the field goal was good by Vladimir Rivas, from 30 yards out for a 10-0 lead
The Hilltoppers scored early in the second, a 15-yard touchdown pass, but their extra point attempt was blocked by Noah Jefferson to keep the spread at four, 10-6
De'Andre Johnson came in at quarterback for the next FAU drive. He had a rushing touchdown called back, and then was hit while throwing two plays later, resulting in a WKU interception
But on the very next play, Shelton Lewis got it right back for the Owls, his second pick of the year
The Owls punted, and the defense held strong on a 4th-and-8 to force their second turnover on downs with 1:43 left in the half
Robison reentered and found Jovon Durante on a 29-yard drive to the WKU 35. A penalty and sack moved the ball backward, however, and another sack forced a fumble, recovered by the Hilltoppers
WKU made good on a 41-yard field goal with no time remaining before the halftime break to make it a one-point game at 10-9
The Hilltoppers had the ball first out of the break, but were forced to punt
Singletary notched the 22nd career game with over 100 yards on the Owls' first drive of the third, and then on 3rd-and-3 from the WKU 40, took it to the house for his 63rd career rushing touchdown
The Owls added on early in the fourth, on another field goal by Rivas, from 22 yards. That made it a two-score game at 20-9
Robison hooked up again with Harrison for a long gain a couple of minutes later, 49 yards down the home sideline, to take it to the WKU five
Singletary got his second score of the night from one yard out, the 20th time in his career he has scored more than one rushing touchdown in a game
WKU responded with a 75-yard drive (though with a failed two-point conversion), to make it 27-15 with 6:17 left, and recovered the ensuing onside kick
Though the Hilltoppers drove to the FAU 10, the defense held and forced another turnover on downs to get the ball back at 3:57
Third play of the drive, Whyte raced untouched up the middle for 77 yards, the longest FAU gain of the season
For the second straight week, Whyte and Singletary each went over the century mark
Robison was extremely efficient, completing 81 percent of his passes (17-of-21) for 231 yards, and Johnson complemented him with a 3-for-4 showing for 30 more yards
Durante led the way in catches, with seven for 79 yards, while Harrison ran up 94 yards on his three receptions
Soroh and Smith led the defenders with nine tackles each, Akileis Leroy had eight and James Pierre seven
David Belvin III, Tim Bonner and Ernest Bagner each had a sack

Looking Ahead
FAU has two games remaining in the regular season, and two chances to get win No. 6 and become bowl-eligible. Next week, it's a Thursday night matchup, at 9:30 p.m. Eastern at North Texas. The final home game is the following Saturday, Nov. 24, hosting Charlotte at 1:30 p.m. For the final opportunity for tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit www.FAUSports.com.