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Football Extends Wishes and Weathers the Heat
8/27/2020 4:55:00 PM | Football
BOCA RATON, Fla. – At a time when the overall theme is one of blessings – blessed to have our health, blessed to come to work each and every day, and blessed that the Florida Atlantic University campus is open for classes and taking one more step towards the pre-COVID way of life. On Wednesday, the Owls put together a solid practice on a warm day as a way of extending head coach Willie Taggart birthday wishes.
The day began with the offensive line working on fumble recovery drills while the tight ends worked on ball protection, and the defense focused on sprinting to the ball. The Owls then moved into individual work, followed by specials teams and several "team sessions"
Coordinator Corner
Opening statement from Co-Offensive Coordinator/QBs Clint Trickett:"Camp has been great now that we're getting back into school. Getting back out there on the field with this staff for our first time was phenomenal, especially when we got into pads. Getting out there with the kids playing ball was like Christmas."
What can fans expect from this offense?
"We're going to try to utilize our personnel to the highest capability. We have a lot of great athletes on both sides of the ball, but as far as offense, trying to get the best people the ball in the best situations, spreading them out, putting athletes in space. Not always necessarily playing fast but using tempo to our advantage when necessary. All of those things and of course still taking care of the ball. That's one thing that we've been great at in the past three years and we need to continue that this year as well."
The four guys that are competing (at quarterback), would you say they have different skill sets, or are they similar in some ways?
"They all have things that they can do different, but all do things well at the same time. All four of them. I'm very pleased with them. No one has really separated (themselves), but they all have things that they bring to the table. Utilizing those when each of them are in, you don't necessarily have to have a different offense, but each player does bring a different asset to it."
Sideline Celebrations
- Redshirt junior quarterback Justin Agner found redshirt freshman wide receiver Eyin Cole deep while freshman receiver LaJohntay Wester and redshirt junior running back Daniel Leconte also found themselves on the day's highlight tape with receptions
- 7-on-7 drills saw freshman linebacker Chris Jones record an interception, his first of several big plays on the day
- Sophomore running back Larry McCammon III had knocked down a pass with one hand and followed it to the ground to secure the reception for a gain of 10-plus yards
- Freshman quarterback Willie Taggart, Jr. hit Willie Wright for a 30-yard gain
- The lines continued to use the 7-on-7 time to square off against each other, honing fundamentals
- FAU moved to field "B" to work on spread option where Leconte broke through the line into open space
- Jones had his first of several sacks on the day
- The backs were instrumental in several explosive plays, the first was a run by senior BJ Emmons who beat his defenders, hit a second gear, and ran it into the end zone. Three or four plays later, it was Leconte doing the same thing
- Redshirt junior quarterback Nick Tronti put his shoulder down and used his size to block on a reverse to give the offense an additional few yards
- Senior safety Jordan Helm was credited with an interception, redshirt senior running back James Charles used his feet to dance around defenders for a big gain, and Tronti hit redshirt junior Brandon Robinson to move the ball 25 yards, to the 12. The defense held to prevent the red zone score
- The Owls then moved into two-minute, where the defense came out as the victors. The offense began by moving the ball, but two sacks put them at 4th-and-long, which produced a pass into triple coverage
- Redshirt senior Leighton McCarthy, a defensive lineman from Apopka, Florida, had a big day as well with three sacks
Tickets
Tickets for the 2020 season are on sale and can be purchased by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or online HERE.
Players Mentioned
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