Owls Downed by UTSA

Saturday, October 21

Boca Raton, Fla.

6 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

3-4 , 2-1

UTSA

4-3 , 3-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UTSA

Fla. Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

10/21/2023 10:25:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Ben Paul

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University football team (3-4, 2-1 AAC) fell to the UTSA Roadrunners (4-3, 3-0 AAC), by a score of 36-10 on Saturday night.

Photo Gallery

Gallery: (10-21-2023) UTSA at Florida Atlantic

Game Highlights

For the third game in a row, FAU scored on their opening offensive possession. A key 39-yard pass to redshirt senior Je'Quan Burton led to a 37-yard field goal by Logan Lupo.

Later in the period, junior cornerback Daedae Hill became the eighth Owl defender to force a turnover with his first career interception.

On the very next defensive possession, redshirt junior Latrell Jean became the ninth. Jean, a 280-pound defensive tackle, intercepted a deflected pass and ran it into the end zone. He is the first interior defensive lineman for Florida Atlantic to record a pick-six since Owl-turned-NFL player Trevon Coley in 2014.

The Owls recorded their third takeaway of the night early on in the fourth quarter, and by a 10th different player on the year, with sophomore LB Jaylen Wester forcing a fumble that was recovered by Xavier Peters.

Video Recap

Quotable

Hagerty Family Head Football Coach Tom Herman
"Obviously, hats off to Coach (Jeff) Traylor and his crew. That is a well-oiled outfit. You can tell that team has been building something special for the last four years. They came out and outcoached us, outplayed us, out-physicaled us, they out-everythinged us. It starts with me. Somewhere along the way this week, I did not get the message conveyed, although it was attempted vigorously. I can promise you and our fans that, and that message was that this was the litmus test. The last two weeks were good, we needed that, we have certainly showed a lot of improvement over years past… At the end of the day, we have been through this before. The thing that I have seen about this team that keeps me confident is we responded. Every time something like this has happened, we have taken that as a challenge, a kick in the butt. At some point we are going to grow up and not need that. We are not there now and it is my job to get us there as fast as we can and to make sure that nothing like tonight ever happens again. The best thing to happen to us is a quick turnaround, we will get on that plane to Charlotte on Thursday. If I know anything about this team, it is that they respond."

Redshirt Junior Defensive Tackle Latrell Jean
On his pick six
"When I saw the ball, I just saw it up in the air and ran right through it and the end zone was right there. I did what I was supposed to do...big guys don't ever really get that opportunity, so when you do get it, it is fun to have."

Redshirt Sophomore Safety Amari Wansley
On his individual and team performance
"It felt great to be able to go out there and contribute. But it was definitely not the way we wanted to play tonight and we just have to do better in all phases in the game."

Offense

Burton, who while not previously lighting up the stat sheet has been praised by coaches for his effective role in drawing coverage from defenders, led the team with 68 receiving yards on five catches
Senior RB Larry McCammon III was second on the team in yards from scrimmage with 63

Defense

Wansley put forth a career night, logging 12 tackles
Redshirt junior defensive back Darius McClendon added 10 tackles
Hill made four tackles plus his INT
In addition to his pick-six, Jean recorded three tackles and a TFL
The two stars on the forced fumble and recovery, Wester and Peters, added five combined tackles

Special Teams

Lupo's 37-yard field goal tied his season-long
Quarterback Michael Johnson Jr. showcased a new skill: returning kicks. It was an effective return for 25 yards

Up Next

There is no time for the Owls to sulk. Florida Atlantic will have a shorter-than-usual turnaround with a game on Friday, Oct. 27 against Charlotte. Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m., to be broadcasted on ESPN2.

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