Boca Bowl Champs!!

Saturday, December 21

Boca Raton, Fla.

3:30 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

11-3

SMU

10-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

SMU

FAU

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

12/21/2019 8:11:00 PM | Football

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University football team improved to 4-0 all-time in bowl games with an emphatic 52-28 win over SMU in Saturday night's Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl at FAU Stadium. FAU finishes the season 11-3 and is just the second Conference USA team to win at least 11 games twice in three seasons (WKU, '15-'16). Quarterback Chris Robison went 27-for-37 with 305 passing yards and two touchdowns, in addition to 28 rushing yards to earn Offensive MVP honors. Linebacker Rashad Smith, who had 11 tackles, two takeaways and a touchdown, was chosen as Defensive MVP. Punter Matt Hayball took the Special Teams MVP award.

Quotable

"I am always the kind of guy who sees what happens because I have been a part of games I go in thinking you are prepared and think you are so much better and then all of the sudden get bit," said interim head coach Glenn Spencer. "Then there are times when you go out there and it just clicks. I go back to the players. It was all about preparation, execution and finish, that's what we talked about last night and this morning."

Video Game Recap

Quick Hits

The two teams exchanged punts until late in the first quarter
Chris Robison found John Mitchell for 12 yards to convert a fourth down deep in SMU territory
The Owls capitalized later in the possession, when BJ Emmons scored from a yard out to put FAU up 7-0 with 3:11 to play in the first
Emmons' rush completed a 13-play, 74-yard drive
SMU answered with a drive deep into the Owls' end of the field, but a false start penalty resulted in a 38-yard field goal attempt that missed and kept the Mustangs off the scoreboard
FAU appeared ready to add to its lead, but fumbled at midfield. SMU returned the ball to the Owls' 29-yard line and eventually scored a touchdown to tie the game 7-7 early in the second
James Charles capped a 57-yard drive with a one-yard scoring rush to retake the lead for FAU, 14-7 at the 7:48 mark in the second quarter
Robison was responsible for 44 yards on the drive, going 3-for-3 for 33 yards through the air and running for another 11
The Mustangs once again leveled the score at 14-14, this time on a rush by Xavier Jones, with 2:12 to play in the first half
FAU wasted no time in regaining the lead, as Charles scampered into the end zone from 15 yards out to complete a scoring drive that lasted exactly a minute and gave the Owls a 21-14 edge
Rashad Smith picked off a pass from SMU's Shane Buechele on the next play from scrimmage, returning the ball 22 yards all the way to the Mustang 13-yard line
On the next snap, Robison hooked up with Brandon Robinson for a 13-yard touchdown, extending the FAU lead to 28-14 with 36 seconds remaining in the first half
The first serious scoring threat of the second half came when the Owls advanced to the SMU 22-yard line, but the field goal attempt was no good
After the Owls' defense forced a punt, Robison connected with Robinson on back-to-back plays that covered 39 yards to the SMU 32-yard line
Robison connected with John Raine from 18 yards out to stretch the Owls' lead to 35-14 with 6:23 remaining in the third quarter
The FAU defense got in on the scoring on SMU's next possession, when Smith recovered a fumble and returned 34 yards for a touchdown, making the score 42-14, FAU
The score didn't change again until Vladimir Rivas connected on a 38-yard field goal attempt giving FAU a 45-14 lead with 13:09 to play in the game
SMU scored on its next possession, but the Owls responded immediately when Nick Tronti hit Javion Posey with a 23-yard touchdown pass, pushing FAU's cushion back out to 52-21 at the 3:17 mark of the fourth quarter
The Mustangs scored a touchdown on what proved to be their final possession to account for the final score

Stats and Records

Robison ended the season with 291 completions and 3,701 passing yards, passing Rusty Smith, who set both records during the 2007 season
The FAU defense forced 33 turnovers extending their school record in that category
With the win, the Owls match their record from the 2017 season
FAU improves its all-time bowl record to 4-0