Football’s Defense Comes up Big in 24-3 Win over UTSA

Saturday, October 31

Boca Raton, Fla.

12 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

2-1 , 2-1

UTSA

4-4 , 2-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UTSA

FAU

10/31/2020 4:38:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Gallery: (10-31-2020) FAU vs UTSA 10-31-20

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University football team bottled up the leading rusher in FBS, defeating UTSA going away on Saturday afternoon at FAU Stadium, 24-3.

Quotable

Head coach Willie Taggart:
"Great win for the Owls. First of all, it was good to have back-to-back games, it was good to be back here at home and playing a game. Really excited about the way our defense played. I thought they were lights out today. They did great job of shutting down (UTSA's) run game. On offense, we made some plays here and there, wasn't as consistent as we'd like to be, but we made plays when we needed to. It was good to see our guys come together to get a much needed win. We talked all week about how important it was to win this ballgame. It was a much needed win. Our guys took on that challenge and came through."

The Turning Point
FAU (2-1, 2-1 C-USA) scored the first 10 points of the game and never really looked back, eventually taking a two-touchdown lead into the locker room.

The Finish
The only score after the break came courtesy of the Owls, with 2:35 to go. The FAU defense held UTSA (4-4, 2-2 C-USA) to 2.8 yards per rush overall on the day, and just eight yards on 15 carries in the second half (0.5 per).

Quick Hits

The very first play from scrimmage was a Malcolm Davidson run up the middle for 28 yards. The Owls got on the board with a 24-yard field goal by Vladimir Rivas nine plays later
After holding the Roadrunners to a three-and-out, again the Owls embarked on a 10-play drive, this one to the end zone
Twin 15-yard runs by Davidson and James Charles preceded a 27-yard scoring pass from Nick Tronti to Aaron Young
After an apparent UTSA touchdown was wiped out on a hold, Leighton McCarthy came up with a big 3rd down sack – for a loss of seven – to force a punt
Another 3rd down stop, this by freshman Chris Jones on a UTSA trick play, made for a 10-yard loss and forced the Roadrunners to settle for a field goal
And yet again, on the next Roadrunner drive, the Owl defense clamped down on 3rd, as a Jaylen Joyner sack necessitated another UTSA punt
A late second quarter score came when FAU put it on the doorstep with a Tronti 36-yard completion to TJ Chase, and two plays later, Tronti kept it himself from two yards out
Joyner then came up the middle untouched for a nine-yard sack (again on 3rd down) to take UTSA out of the red zone and end the half. FAU took a 17-3 lead into the locker room
Neither team scored in the third quarter
Davidson eclipsed the century mark with a 30-yard rush early in the fourth quarter
Midway through the fourth quarter, an FAU drive started with good field position, as LeJohntay Webster returned a punt for 27 yards to near midfield
Jones posted his first sack on the subsequent UTSA drive, after the previous TFL
And two plays later, Joyner recorded his third sack to force a turnover on downs
The Owls took over on the UTSA 19-yard line with 3:38 to go. Davidson rushed for nine to the 10, Tronti kept it for four yards to make it 1st-and-goal, Davidson took it to the two, and then Charles took it in
Jones added his second QB sack with just under two minutes left, ahead of another UTSA punt

Video Recap

Stats and Records

The Owls have now won six straight at FAU Stadium
UTSA's Sincere McCormick had rushed for 165 yards and three touchdowns last week and earned C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honors, and came into today first in the NCAA with 867 yards on the ground (123.9 per game and 5.6 per carry). The FAU defense held him to 54 yards on 16 carries, or just 3.4 per tote
Davidson set a season high with his 115 yards on the ground, his first 100-yard game of 2020 and fourth of his career (last was Dec. 7, 2019 against UAB)
He averaged 8.2 yards per rush (14 for those 115)
Tronti's connection with Chase in the second quarter was the longest pass completion of his FAU career
Young led the way with 54 yards receiving
FAU's defense recorded 10 tackles for loss and seven sacks, again, three of which were by Joyner
The leading defender in tackles was Jordan Helm with eight. Ahman Ross added six, and Joyner five

What's Next

The Owls are home next weekend as well, hosting WKU on Saturday, Nov. 7 for a 6 p.m. kickoff. The game will be carried again on STADIUM Network, and tickets are available by visiting FAU's football tickets website or by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.