VOL.19 | #13 | 03.13.2018 UPRESSONLINE.COM
SPECIAL SPRING FOOTBALL EDITION
Off the field, FAU football’s historic 2017 season of success boosted everything from enrollment to game attendance. Now, all eyes are trained on the Owls to see what they do next. PAGE 16
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VOL.19 | #13 | 03.13.2018 UPRESSONLINE.COM
SPECIAL SPRING FOOTBALL EDITION FACEBOOK.COM/UNIVERSITYPRESS @UPRESSONLINE
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ON THE COVER: Ocie Rose
PHOTO BY ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ
2 UNIVERSITY PRESS 03.13.2018
BY RYAN LYNCH
This spring feels different than past year’s.
A
YEAR AGO, no one knew what to expect from the FAU football team. Despite the hiring of Lane Kiffin, he wasn’t seen as an instant fix for a team that went 3-9 for three straight years. The Owls came into the season with a lot of potential, but not much to indicate how they would perform. Not to mention the slow 1-3 start that didn’t help with this uncertainty. And then the Owls started winning. With that came national media coverage, a coach whose social media presence is larger than life (excuse the rat poison), and revitalized interest in a team struggling to redefine its image. Now, all eyes will be trained on the Owls when they play Oklahoma, one of the top four programs last season, in their first game. Talk about things coming to a head early. From its players to its coaches, writers Wajih AlBaroudi and Matt Brown give a look at the team’s new faces ahead of that first game. Some of the names in the positional breakdown (page six) you’ll have seen before last year, while others will be new to even the most seasoned fans.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR AlBaroudi and Brown will run you through everything from Kiffin’s impact on the team to what’s expected of the Owls this season. With that, you’ll be able to start spring off knowing who your favorite player is or who you may be drunkenly cheering for in the stands. Either way, this issue has something for everyone, from the die-hard fanatic to the casual fan. Whether you only attend the tailgates or never miss a game, everyone knows how weird it is to come into an FAU football season optimistic. But with this year’s team, you may just have plenty to cheer about for the foreseeable future. PHOTO BY JOSHUA GIRON
TABLE OF CONTENTS
UP STAFF
SPECIAL ISSUE EDITOR Ryan Lynch SPECIAL ISSUE WRITERS Matt Brown, Wajih AlBaroudi SPECIAL ISSUE DESIGNER Ivan Benavides EDITOR IN CHIEF Kerri Covington MANAGING EDITOR Katrina Scales
9 RECRUIT RUNDOWN Seeing how Lane Kiffin’s first two recruiting classes stack up against each other.
4 PREVIEWING A PROGRAM A rundown of where the Owls are headed over the course of the next few months.
10 MAPPING IT OUT FAU football will have an easier travel schedule this year than Lane Kiffin’s first season.
5 STAFFED UP Meet the coaches making up Lane Kiffin’s new staff.
12 POSITION-BY-POSITION BREAKDOWN FAU looks to pair new talent with established playmakers.
BY RYAN LYNCH
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Celeste Andrews WEB EDITOR Richard Finkel NEWS EDITOR Alexander Rodriguez
BY WAJIH ALBAROUDI
FEATURES EDITOR Hope Dean PHOTO EDITOR Joshua Giron
BY MATT BROWN
COPY EDITORS Alexis Wilt, Asuka Takahashi
BY MATT BROWN
BY UP STAFF
BY WAJIH ALBAROUDI
16 OUTSIDE THE LINES Off the field, FAU football’s historic 2017 season of success boosted everything from enrollment to game attendance. Now, all eyes are trained on the Owls to see what they do next.
SENIOR DESIGNER Ivan Benavides BUSINESS MANAGER Ryan Lynch DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Benjamin Paley
BY WAJIH ALBAROUDI
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Matt Brown, Wajih AlBaroudi ADVISERS Neil Santaniello, Ilene Prusher, Michael Koretzky
2 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Special Issue Editor Ryan Lynch gives his thoughts on the Owls’ future.
18 SUNDAY STARS? Checking which FAU players could continue on to play in the NFL. HARRISON BRYANT
BY MATT BROWN
PHOTO BY ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ
03.13.2018 UNIVERSITY PRESS 3
PREVIEWING A PROGRAM A rundown of where the Owls are headed over the course of the next few months.
S
BY WAJIH ALBAROUDI
SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE MARCH 2018
20
TUE
22
THUR
24
SAT
27
TUE
29
BOCA CAMPUS
THUR
31
SAT APRIL 2018
3
TUE
5
THU
BOCA CAMPUS
7
CARTER PARK
THU
12
BOCA CAMPUS
14
HADLEY PARK
19
THU
BOCA CAMPUS
21
TBA
SAT
10
TUE
SAT
17
TUE
SAT
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FT. LAUDERDALE
MIAMI
PRING FOOTBALL is around the corner for the FAU Owls as the team carries sky-high expectations under second-year head coach Lane Kiffin. The Owls return to the field Tuesday, March 20 and will hold practices every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, culminating with the spring game set for April 21. Practices at the Boca Raton campus will begin at 9:30 a.m. while start times for the satellite practices and spring game have yet to be determined. FAU will hold two practices in its neighboring counties, returning to Carter Park in Fort Lauderdale for the third straight year and practicing in Miami’s Hadley Park for the second straight year. The practice at Carter Park is scheduled for Saturday, April 7, and the practice at Hadley Park is scheduled for the following Saturday, April 14. The spring game has been held at FAU Stadium every year since its construction in fall 2011, but according to a report by Owl Access, construction of the nearby Schmidt Family Complex for Academic and Athletic Excellence may force the game to another location. FAU has hit the ground running in preparation for the 2018 season with its “4th Quarter” offseason conditioning program, headed by strength and conditioning coach Wilson Love. “The biggest thing about this year is that 2017 is done,” Love said in an interview with Inside the Owls’ Burrow. “2018 is a new team...we don’t even have an identity yet, and that’s what we’re trying to accomplish right now.” Redshirt senior safety Andrew Soroh reiterated Love’s focus on looking toward the future. “2018 season we ain’t come here to participate; we came to take over,” Soroh said in a video produced by Inside the Owls’ Burrow. ESPN SportsCenter commentator Steve Coughlin got a behind-the-scenes look at one of
the Owls’ workouts and came away impressed. “Went to watch @FAU_Football and the “4th Quarter” program workouts this past week while on vacay.” Coughlin said in a tweet. “There isn’t a person in America with more energy than their strength coach, Wilson Love. Awesome to see the staff assembled by Lane.” In the 2017 spring season, the Owls had to adjust to a new offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator in Kendal Briles and Chris Kiffin. With both of them moving on after a single season at FAU, the Owls will be under the same learning curve in 2018. FAU ran a 4-2-5 defense last season (four defensive linemen, two linebackers, and five defensive backs), and it remains to be seen whether the scheme will be changed following the hiring of new defensive coordinator Tony Pecoraro. First-year, 24-year-old offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. will be calling plays for the first time in his life this spring, as he looks to duplicate FAU’s offensive success from a season ago where the Owls scored 40.8 points per game (No. 8 in FBS). Last spring, the defense stymied the Owls offensive attack, winning the scrimmage 6233. According to Sun Sentinel reporter Matthew DeFranks, who covered last season’s scrimmage, the offense followed a traditional scoring system and the defense scored as followed: drive and stops, fumble recoveries, and interceptions each accounted for three points, whereas three-and-outs and defensive touchdowns were scored at five and six respectively. After capping off the 2017 season on a 10game winning streak, FAU gained the respect — and heightened expectations — of the national media. Sports Illustrated reporter Chris Johnson wrote, “Anything less than another Conference USA championship in 2018 would register as a disappointment for Florida Atlantic.”
STAFFED UP Meet the coaches making up Lane Kiffin’s new staff. BY MATT BROWN
T
HE OWLS coaching staff heads into this spring looking to improve upon the best season in school history. After starting the year off 1-3, they amassed 10 straight wins to finish 11-3, their best record since also finishing 11-3 back in 2003 when they were still part of Division I-AA. That is the longest such streak since the Owls joined Division I back in 2005 and good enough for second longest in the country. They also won their first bowl game since 2008 in a 50-3 beat down over Akron on their home turf in the Boca Raton Bowl. That 47-point margin of victory was the third largest in all bowl games since 2000. “When you start winning, people are going to come take your coaches so that’s a good problem to have,” head football coach Lane Kiffin said. If that’s the case, then the Owls have a great problem this offseason, having the task to replace both coordinators along with two position coaches. Here we give a rundown of who the Owls have to help them aboard the “Lane Train” in preparation for another season.
HEAD COACH LANE KIFFIN Train conductor Lane Kiffin is heading into his second season as head coach of the Owls full steam ahead. Before shocking college football fans by accepting the head coaching position at FAU, Kiffin made a name for himself by helping lead the University of Southern California dynasty back in the early 2000s. After his time there as a tight ends coach and wide receivers coach, he guided the Trojans to a 23-3 record as the offensive coordinator from 2005-06. He then accepted a position as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, becoming the youngest head coach in NFL history at the time. But after a disappointing 5-15 record in less than two seasons, he was fired. He made his return to the collegiate ranks as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers for one season before returning to USC as their head coach. He posted a 28-15 record overall with the Trojans before being fired on the airport tarmac after a 3-2 start to the 2013 season. He became an offensive coordinator once again, this time with the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he helped them win a national championship in 2015. Prior to facing Clemson in the 2016 National Championship, Kiffin was let go of his duties as coordinator to focus on his job as the newly appointed head coach of the Owls. In just his first season as head coach, Kiffin has already accumulated 11 wins, which is the second most in program history, only trailing program founder’s Howard Schnellenberger’s 56. That is more wins in his first season than the previous three combined (nine). It’s his most wins in a season as a head coach after previous head coaching jobs at Tennessee and USC. Overall, Kiffin has a head coaching record of 46-24 in college. The Owls’ eight-game win improvement, going from three wins to 11, was second in the nation behind Fresno State’s nine-win improvement. They finished undefeated in conference play, which had only happened just six other times in the previous 22 seasons of C-USA. In another
program record, 19 players were named to the C-USA all conference teams, including seven on the first team. OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR/QUARTERBACKS COACH - CHARLIE WEIS JR. The youngest coordinator in Division 1 in football this year, and possibly ever, has some big shoes to fill. Charlie Weis Jr., 24, is used to that though, as he is the son of former Notre Dame head coach, four-time Super Bowl champ, and longtime NFL assistant Charlie Weis. He is tasked with taking over an offense that was led by Kendal Briles, who left for the same position at the University of Houston. The offense averaged 40.6 points per game last year, which was eighth most in the country among FBS teams. Despite being so young, he comes to the Owls with a lot of previous experience. He first started out when he was 18 years old in 2011 as an offensive quality control coach for the University of Florida, where his dad was the offensive coordinator at the time. He then followed his father to Kansas after he received the head coaching job for the next three seasons to be a team manager, where according to his biography on AtlantaFalcons. com, he “assisted the position coaches in practice by administering and directing drills.” He then spent that summer with the New England Patriots as a summer volunteer intern, learning under five-time Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Belichick and his staff. Following this, he was hired to be an offensive analyst for two seasons from 2015-16 for the University of Alabama to help Lane Kiffin, who was the offensive coordinator at the time. He was a part of the staff that helped Nick Saban and company defeat Clemson 40-35 to win the national championship in 2015. Kiffin apparently liked what he saw from the young coach as Weis Jr. was shortly hired after the 2016 season to join Kiffin in Boca Raton as the tight ends coach. He never got to take part in spring practice though because shortly after accepting the job, he left to join another former Alabama offensive coordinator and USC head
03.13.2018 UNIVERSITY PRESS 5
LANE KIFFIN
CHARLIE WEIS JR.
WILSON LOVE
PHOTOS COURTESY OF FAU ATHLETICS
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coach in Steve Sarkisian to be an offensive analyst for the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons. While there he helped the Falcons accumulate a 10-6 record and reach the divisional round of the 2018 NFL playoffs. He was then hired back to FAU this past January to be the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He looks to improve upon an offense that not only led the conference in scoring but also total offense (498.4 yards/game) and rushing offense (285.3 yards/game). While Conference USA MVP and Associated Press All-American running back Devin Singletary is returning, he is tasked with finding a new starting quarterback, as two starters in Daniel Parr (transfer to Duquesne) and Jason Driskel (retirement) are no longer with the program. DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR/ LINEBACKERS COACH - TONY PECORARO While the Owls locked up their offensive coordinator shortly after the departure of Kendal Briles, it took a while to find the replacement of Lane Kiffin’s younger brother, Chris, who left to become the pass rush specialist with the San Francisco 49ers. Less than two weeks before the start of spring practice, it was announced that Tony Pecoraro would take Kiffin’s place, coming over from the same position at C-USA rival Southern Miss. Pecoraro worked his way up to be the defensive coordinator for two years at Southern Miss. He started out in 2002 as a student assistant for Florida State working with the quarterbacks. He then became a graduate assistant at Webber International from 2004-05 before being promoted to his first full time coaching position working with the defensive line while also serving as recruiting coordinator. Later, he returned to Florida State where he was the defensive quality control coach for three seasons. He then earned his first defensive coordinator position, serving as such at North Alabama for two seasons, leading them to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Pecoraro also served as defensive coordinator at Alcorn State for four seasons, earning
two Southwestern Atlantic Conference championships in his time there before becoming defensive coordinator at Southern Miss prior to being hired at FAU. While at Southern Miss, Pecoraro helped the defense finish 20th in the nation in total defense, allowing just 331.9 yards per game. They also gave up just over 24 points per game, ranked 45th in the country. He will have a lot of momentum going with the Owls after what Kiffin did in his brief year with the program. In just one year, Kiffin, according to his bio on FAUsports.com, helped the Owls defense rise “from a total defense rank of no. 124 to no. 63 nationally. In total, FAU was ranked in the nation’s top third in five categories: passes intercepted (second), pass efficiency defense (20th), red zone defense (23rd), team sacks (24th), and scoring defense (34th). FAU also was ranked No. 57 in rush defense as compared to 119th the previous season.” The defense as a whole had 20 interceptions, a single-season program record, and tied for second most in the country. Pecoraro will have the opportunity to work with last season’s Conference USA single season tackles leader, linebacker Azeez AlShaair. He’ll also work with two other first team all-conference players in safety Jalen Young and cornerback Shelton Lewis. ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/ HEAD STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH - WILSON LOVE Wilson Love is headed into his second spring season with a new title. Along with remaining the head strength and conditioning coach, he was promoted to assistant head coach. After graduating from Alabama in 2013, the three-time All-SEC Academic selection defensive end remained with the Crimson Tide as a graduate assistant in 2014. He was then hired as the Tide’s assistant football strength and conditioning coach for two seasons where he worked under the highly acclaimed Scott Cochran. Kiffin brought him away from Alabama last year to be the head strength and conditioning coach where he implemented the “Fourth
Quarter” program. It must have helped, as the Owls 11 victories came by an average margin of over 26 points a game, with only one of those victories being within single digits. Love seems to be with FAU for the long haul, as Kiffin reported that he turned down a “big offer” to coach elsewhere and that he stated he “can’t leave you guys.”
ERIC MATHIES
JOHN GARRISON
JARON FAIRMAN
DEFENSIVE LINE/ RECRUITING COORDINATOR - ERIC MATHIES Eric Mathies has two decades of coaching experience under his belt. He first started back in 1998 as a coach at Murray High School in Kentucky, where he helped the Tigers advance to the second round of the playoffs where they finished with a 7-4 record. He then joined the collegiate ranks in 1999 with Midwestern State where he remained for four years as an assistant coach. While there, he had a multitude of tasks as the defensive line coach and head strength and conditioning coach. He also handled recruiting duties. Mathies left for Tennessee State in 2003 for two seasons, where he once again worked with the defensive line while also handling recruiting. He departed in 2005 to join Western Kentucky, where he would remain for eight seasons until 2012. He coached the defensive line for all eight seasons, where he helped Quanterus Smith earn the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year award in 2012 after he accumulated 12.5 sacks that season (the third most in the nation). Mathies was promoted to recruiting coordinator in his final three seasons, where he had a top two recruiting class in the Sun Belt all three seasons, according to Rivals.com. He followed head coach Willie Taggart to USF in 2013, where he remained the defensive line coach all three years along with recruiting coordinator during his final season before departing for FAU. Mathies joined the Owls staff in January 2017 as defensive line coach before being named recruiting coordinator by the end of spring practices. In his first season, he led the line from being ranked No. 81 the prior year to No. 24 in the
nation in sacks with 38 for the year. Each starter on the defensive line earned Conference USA honorable mention for their play. OFFENSIVE LINE/ RUN GAME COORDINATOR - JOHN GARRISON John Garrison joins the Owls after three seasons as the offensive line coach/run game coordinator at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He pulls the switcheroo with last year’s o-line coach Garin Justice, who ended up at UNLV after his anticipated hiring at Arizona fell through. Garrison brings seven years of experience coaching offensive line to a team who just produced one of the best rushing offenses in the country last season that rushed for nearly 4,000 yards at an average of 6.01 yards per rush. In his last season at UNLV, the offensive line allowed a school-record 10 sacks while also paving the way for 240 rushing yards per game, good enough for 15th best in the country. He will attempt to duplicate the success without center Antonyo Woods and left guard Roman Fernandez though, as they have graduated. They are two of three Owls starting offensive lineman named to first team allconference last year along with rising redshirt senior Reggie Bain. SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR - JARON FAIRMAN After being named player development assistant in spring of last year, Jaron Fairman was promoted to special teams coordinator in January of this year. He comes with prior special team’s experience from his time at Fairman College back in 2008 where he served special team’s assistant along with wide receivers coach for three seasons. He then briefly spent time at both Western State College and Crespi High in 2010 and 2011, assisting with special teams before he served as an offensive graduate assistant for three seasons at USC until his arrival at FAU. He is the first ever assistant in the program’s 18-year history to be solely assigned to work with special teams. He has his work cut out for him though with
03.13.2018 UNIVERSITY PRESS 7
the departure of both his placekicker Greg Joseph, and punter Ryan Rickel. Joseph, the 2017 Lou Groza Award semifinalist, leaves the Owls with a multitude of records. Not only does he have the longest field goal make at 54 yards, but he is also the programs field goal and PAT kicks leader. Coming back though is kickoff return man rising redshirt junior Kerrith Whyte. He set a school record against Louisiana Tech when he became the first ever player to return a kickoff for a touchdown in over 800 kick returns after he went 98 yards to the house in the second half. Not only did that week’s C-USA special teams player of the week return two kicks for 128 yards, but after the season, he was also named honorable mention all-C-USA as a kick returner. Fairman will use this spring practice not only to replace his punter and placekicker but also to improve upon the No. 8 kick return defense, along with No. 16 in net punting and No. 23 in punt return defense. WIDE RECEIVERS - GARY HARRELL Gary Harrell is entering his second season as the Owls wide receivers coach. Prior to his arrival in Boca Raton, he made several stops along the way, including five seasons as head coach at his alma mater Howard University. His collegiate coaching experience started off back in 2002 at Howard, where he spent three seasons as the wide receivers coach. He then departed to take over as wide receivers coach at Texas Southern for another three seasons. He left to become the quarterbacks coach in 2009 for one season at Morgan State. Harrell later left for the position of offensive coordinator for one year at Bowie State before returning to his alma mater to become the head coach for five seasons. He accumulated a record of 20-36 as head coach before joining the Owls in 2017. In his first year, he helped then-freshman Willie Wright earn C-USA all-freshman team nods with 56 receptions for 657 yards and six touchdowns.
8 UNIVERSITY PRESS 03.13.2018
He does have to replace the production of Kalib Woods though. After being suspended the first six games of the season and not receiving any playing time until the team’s ninth game, Woods went off in the final six games of the season. In those six games, he caught 24 passes for over 600 yards and four touchdowns. CORNERBACKS - KEYNODO HUDSON Keynodo Hudson joined the Owls in January 2017 as cornerbacks coach after serving as a defensive administrative assistant with the USC Trojans from 2011-16. While there, he helped in an off-the-field role that included recruiting, where he assisted the Trojans in securing six straight top two recruiting classes in the Pac-12, according to 247sports.com. Prior to his time at USC, he was the defensive coordinator at Mainland High school in Daytona Beach, Florida from 2007-10, along with serving as a coach for the secondary at the University of Charleston from 2004-06. He helped first-team All-Conference USA member rising senior Shelton Lewis grab four interceptions along with a team-high eight pass breakups. Fellow cornerback rising junior Chris Tooley also added four interceptions. SAFETIES - WES NEIGHBORS Neighbors takes over a position left by Corey Batoon, who left in December to become the defensive coordinator at Hawaii. He joins his brother Connor Neighbors, who was named the assistant football strength and conditioning coach in February 2017. The former Alabama safety got his first gig of his coaching career as a student assistant at his alma mater from 2011-13. During this time, he focused his efforts on special teams and running scout practices. He then moved to defensive intern for one year before eventually becoming a defensive graduate assistant (2014-15) where according to his biography on FAUsports.com, he “assisted the defensive coordinator, worked with the linebackers and helped to develop Butkus winner and All-American Reuben Foster and All-American Reggie Ragland.”
Neighbors will have the help of rising senior Jalen Young, who had seven interceptions last season, tied for second most in the FBS. RUNNING BACKS - KEVIN SMITH Kevin Smith didn’t have much coaching experience prior to being named running backs coach last season. He was more known for his playing time at UCF, where he ran for a thenC-USA record 29 touchdowns in his last season as a Knight. He was subsequently drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2008 in the third round, where he played for five years before returning to his alma mater as a coaching intern in 2015. He was then promoted to quality control administrator until he came to FAU as running backs coach, his first stint as a full-time assistant. Needless to say, it turned out better than expected, as he helped Devin Singletary run for nearly 2,000 yards and 32 touchdowns, breaking his own TD record set back in 2007. Singletary’s 32 rushing touchdowns are the third most all time in a single season, trailing only Barry Sanders (37) and Montee Ball (33). The running back trio of Singletary, Gregory Howell, Jr., and Kerrith Whyte were the leaders of the No. 6 rushing team in the nation with 285.3 yards per game. The Owls also scored an FBS-high 52 times on the ground. TIGHT ENDS - CLINT TRICKETT The former Florida State quarterback Clint Trickett returns for his second season coaching the Owls. After serving as quarterbacks’ coach for two seasons at East Mississippi Community College, Trickett followed his former quarterback De’Andre Johnson to the Owls after current offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. left to join the Atlanta Falcons. In his first coaching experience at the FBS level, Trickett helped then-sophomore Harrison Bryant earn second team All-ConferenceUSA honors. Bryant was third on the team with 32 total receptions while catching five touchdowns. Trickett returns three of his four tight ends, who caught 46 balls last year, which is 20 percent of the team’s production in the air.
PHOTO BY ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ
T
HE LANE KIFFIN ERA at FAU started off strong during the coach’s first season. Along with earning the No. 1 ranked recruiting class, the Owls finished as undefeated conference champions and won their first bowl game in almost a decade. With that success in mind, let’s see how Kiffin’s second recruiting class stacks up to his first.
RECRUIT RUNDOWN Seeing how Lane Kiffin’s first two recruiting classes stack up against each other. BY MATT BROWN
FIRST CLASS: 2017 Following former head coach Charlie Partridge’s departure, it was announced Kiffin would be taking his place in December 2016. He then had less than two months to not only assemble his staff, but also recruit players for his team. Ultimately, both his and his coaching staff’s work paid off, as the Owls earned the top ranked class in Conference USA for the first time in program history. Overall, 17 of the 24 signees were ranked at least three stars. Kiffin soon made headlines when he landed a couple of well-known players from East Mississippi Community College, the focus of Netflix documentary series “Last Chance U.” The school lets players taken off Division I rosters play at the junior college level. The players consisted of former Florida State quarterback De’Andre Johnson and former Louisville defensive end Tim Bonner. Bonner recorded eight tackles in his limited playing time, while Johnson was sidelined for the majority of the season due to blood clots. Another former EMCC Lion decided to come to FAU for his final collegiate season, transferring from Auburn. John Franklin III converted to play wide receiver where, in his first season at the position, he caught seven passes for 95 yards. He did most of his damage in the conference championship game, where he had one catch for a season-high 22 yards and his lone receiving touchdown. Franklin did run for over 230 yards and two touchdowns while playing quarterback out of the wildcat formation.
Kiffin also recruited former three-star wide receiver Willie Wright. In his first season as an Owl, the freshman from Raines High School in Jacksonville, Florida led the team in receptions (56), receiving yards (657), and receiving TDs (six). SECOND CLASS: 2018 The Owls had the chance to find out who some of their new players were a little earlier than usual this recruiting season due to the first ever early National Signing Period that took place Dec. 20-22. Of the 16 FAU commits overall, five signed their letters of intent during this time, including 3-star Charles Cameron from Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Mississippi. In his nine games at the junior college level, the 6-foot-2, 290-pound defensive tackle tallied 48 tackles, including four sacks. He chose FAU over other offers from Louisville, Texas Tech, Colorado, and Kansas, among others. Cameron is currently attending classes on the Boca Raton campus and plans on taking part in spring practice. He will have the opportunity to fight for a starting job in the spring and join a defensive line that recorded a C-USA-leading 38 sacks last season. While the Owls did drop from first to fourth overall in class rankings, 13 of the 16 players that signed are rated at three stars, giving the Owls the highest rating per recruit in Conference USA. Sixteen recruits came from seven different states: Florida, California, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, and Texas. Kiffin expanded his recruiting overall by signing half of his class with students who played high school ball outside of the Sunshine State. One of these players, Nero Nelson, graduated from Simmons High School in Hollandale, Mississippi before playing two years at CopiahLincoln Community College. During his time there, the 6-foot, 180-pound wide receiver was rated the No. 3 junior college wide receiver and No. 34 overall prospect. Despite not signing as many players as his first class, Kiffin was able to attract players to fill holes and supplement the pieces he already had.
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NORMAN, OKLAHOMA SEPTEMBER 1
University of Oklahoma 1,459 MILES AWAY • Furthest opponent this season
DENTON, TEXAS NOVEMBER 17
University of North Texas 1,311 MILES AWAY
TOTAL MILES IN 2017
6,420
TOTAL MILES IN 2018
4,861
DIFFERENCE IN MILES 1,559
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HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA OCTOBER 20
Marshall University 1,004 MILES AWAY
MURFREESBORO, TENNESSEE SEPTEMBER 29
Middle Tennessee State University 840 MILES AWAY
ORLANDO, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 21 University of Central Florida 191 MILES AWAY
MIAMI, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 3
Florida International University 56 MILES AWAY • Closest opponent this season
MAPPING IT OUT FAU football will have an easier travel schedule this year than Lane Kiffin’s first season.
W
ITH LANE KIFFIN’S first time around, the Owls didn’t play a single away game in Florida. That led to nearly 6,500 miles worth of flights to everywhere from Madison, Wisconsin to Norfolk, Virginia. This year, the Owls will travel to the University of Central Florida and Florida International, knocking down some of their travel time. Check out where they will be charting frequent flier miles with our map.
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F
AU HEADS INTO spring football with preseason expectations at an all-time high for head coach Lane Kiffin’s Owls following a school-record 11 wins and a 2017 C-USA Championship. Here is a look at the positional breakdowns and things to watch out for in the Owls’ spring practices and scrimmages.
JASON DRISKEL
QUARTERBACK Redshirt junior De’Andre Johnson was Florida’s Mr. Football in 2014 after a dominant season playing for First Coast High School in Jacksonville. Johnson transferred to FAU last season after stints at Florida State and East Mississippi Community College. He missed most of the 2017 season due to blood clots, but he has since been fully cleared for football activities. Sophomore Chris Robison signed with Oklahoma after a prolific high school career in Texas — but an off-field incident led to the Sooners cutting him loose in August 2017. If Robison wins the job this spring and maintains it in fall camp, his first career collegiate game would be against his former team in Norman, Oklahoma. PHOTO BY ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ
POSITION-BY-POSITION BREAKDOWN FAU looks to pair new talent with established playmakers. BY WAJIH ALBAROUDI
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Johnson is a dual-threat quarterback who can take off and make plays when the pocket collapses whereas Robison is more of a traditional pocket passer. Whoever becomes the starting quarterback for the Owls will have large shoes to fill; former FAU quarterback Jason Driskel led C-USA in passing efficiency last season (153.5). RUNNING BACKS Junior Devin Singletary returns after a phenomenal 2017 season where he led FBS in rushing touchdowns with 32 and was fourth in FBS rushing yards with 1920. Singletary capped off last season with the C-USA MVP award and became the first FAU player to earn AP All-American honors with his third team nomination. Singletary’s unique running style mixes both elusiveness and power. When he hits the open field, defenders are put on their heels because the running back can use his short burst quickness to go around them, or lower his shoulder and run through them. Last season Singletary forced 83 missed tackles and rushed for 1,154 yards after contact, according to Pro Football Focus. Depth behind Singletary is something to watch this spring following the departure of Greg Howell. With redshirt junior Kerrith Whyte Jr. being the only proven backup, Singletary may be tasked to carry the rushing load even more this spring. WIDE RECEIVERS Slot receiver Willie Wright blazed on to the scene last season as a freshman for the Owls, leading the team in receiving touchdowns (6), receiving yards (657), and receptions (56). Former FAU offensive coordinator Kendal Briles manufactured touches for Wright in multiple ways last season: sending the speedy receiver out on vertical routes to stretch the field, tossing the ball out on bubble screens to get him the ball in space, and giving him handoffs on end-arounds to force defenses to play sideline-to-sideline.
MUST-WATCH MATCHUP BATTLES
TRACKING THE MOST IMPORTANT POSITION CHANGES THIS SPRING. QUARTERBACK Two former four-star recruits compete this spring to gain an edge in becoming the Owls’ signal caller in 2018.
DE’ANDRE JOHNSON
OFFENSIVE LINE There will be three new starters up front for FAU following the departures of Roman Fernandez, Antonyo Woods, and Jakobi Smith. DEFENSIVE LINE The Owls look to plug in a new defensive tackle into a talented unit that saw all four starters receive All C-USA honors in 2017. WIDE RECEIVERS FAU begins the search to find playmakers on the outside to pair with sophomore slot receiver Willie Wright. SPECIAL TEAMS FAU’s new-look kicking game will debut this spring due to kicker Greg Joseph and punter Ryan Rickel having exhausted their eligibility.
PHOTO BY ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ
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The Owls look to find perimeter receivers to pair with Wright to replace the production of Kamrin Solomon and Kalib Woods. The duo combined for 1,007 yards and five touchdowns last season. Woods was named the 2017 C-USA Championship game MVP as he hauled in an FAU single-game record 208 receiving yards on six grabs. Junior Kyle Davis transferred to FAU in January 2018 and figures to be a large part of the Owls’ passing game. Davis signed with Auburn as a four-star recruit coming out of high school, but was dismissed from the Tigers football team last October after violating team rules. Miami native and junior Jovon Durante is another new face on FAU’s offense after transferring from West Virginia last summer. Durante hauled in seven touchdowns over his first two collegiate seasons for the Mountaineers. Senior DeAndre McNeal caught 23 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns last season and will compete for a starting position this spring. With a blend of highly touted transfers to go along with returning playmakers like Wright, the wide receiver unit looks to be one of the strongest areas on the team heading into this spring. TIGHT ENDS Junior Harrison Bryant was a redzone weapon for the Owls last season. He finished second on the team in touchdowns with five scores. Something to watch this spring will be how first-year offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. implements Bryant into his offense. Last season Bryant often found success lining up as an H-back rather than tight to the line. It remains to be seen whether Bryant will play more of an inline role this spring. Kiffin showed confidence in Bryant by not signing any tight ends to the 2018 recruiting class. Junior John Raine appeared in 11 games last
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season, catching six passes for 50 yards. Raine is expected to be the primary backup to Bryant this spring. OFFENSIVE LINE One of the biggest positional battles to watch this spring is the offensive line. Last season the Owls paved the way for 3,994 rushing yards (No. 4 in FBS) and 52 touchdowns (No. 1 in FBS). FAU will have a brand new interior offensive line after Jakobi Smith, along with AllConference performers Roman Fernandez and Antonyo Woods, graduated last fall. Communication will be something first-year offensive line coach John Garrison harps on this spring with his three new starters in the middle. Offensive line play is reliant on all five up front knowing each other’s tendencies and habits. And with three new starters in the middle, there will be some growing pains to work through this spring to become a cohesive unit. Some players that will be competing for a starting role this spring are redshirt juniors Richard Williams, Will Tuihalamaka, and Tarrick Thomas. Bookend tackles in redshirt senior Reggie Bain and junior Brandon Walton will anchor the Owls’ offensive line this spring. DEFENSIVE BACKS The Owls’ ballhawking secondary led FAU to swipe 20 interceptions last season (tied for No. 2 in FBS). The DB unit remains largely intact heading into spring and is going to be relied on again for blanket coverage and playmaking ability. One of the reasons FAU DB’s had so much success last season is they often had the benefit of playing from ahead, forcing teams into must-pass situations. Senior safety Jalen Young picked off seven passes (tied for No. 2 in FBS) and led FAU’s DB unit with 77 tackles in his first-team All C-USA
campaign last season. Junior cornerback Chris Tooley played the ball aggressively last season, as he reeled in four interceptions on the year. Senior cornerback Shelton Lewis returns to the field following a 2017 first-team All C-USA season where he led the Owls in pass breakups with eight on the year. Sophomore safeties Zyon Gilbert and Quran Hafiz both contributed as freshmen to what was a stellar FAU defensive backfield last season. Gilbert started his freshman year strong in 2017, leading the team in solo tackles through the first four games (18), but his playing time started to slide come midseason. He looks to prove to the coaching staff he is capable of consistency over the course of a full season. Gilbert still finished second in the DB unit with 52 tackles last season. Hafiz racked up 36 tackles in 2017, with four of those stops coming from behind the line of scrimmage. Redshirt senior Andrew Soroh transitioned to linebacker by necessity last season after Gilbert won his starting safety job early in the year. Soroh took the challenge in stride, having the best season of his career in a versatile hybrid safety/linebacker role. Soroh was an All C-USA honorable mention in 2017. Senior nickelback Herb Miller returns to the field this spring after recording 35 tackles and four pass break ups in his junior season. LINEBACKERS Senior Azeez Al-Shaair flew all over the field last season, as he was third in the FBS with 147 tackles. Al-Shaair also added three sacks in his first-team All C-USA season in 2017. Junior Rashad Smith led FAU with 12 tackles for loss in 2017 and was tied for the most sacks on the team with six. For most of the 2017 season the Owls played in a nickel defense — meaning a fifth defensive back took the place of a third linebacker on the
field, thus leaving Al-Shaair and Smith as the lone starters of their unit. Some names to look out for that will compete to earn playing time behind the two aforementioned linebackers are redshirt senior Kain Daub and senior Khantrell Burden. Daub transferred to FAU from Florida State last season and is far and away the biggest linebacker of the group, standing at six-footfour and weighing 240 pounds. If Daub can finally put it all together, it will be hard for the coaching staff to keep his size and athleticism off the field. DEFENSIVE LINE Last season, the Owls defense line wreaked havoc on opposing offenses. The entire front four received All C-USA honorable mentions in 2017. Three of four starters return this spring — the only departure being defensive tackle Jeremiah Taleni. FAU’s high-scoring offense didn’t just help the defensive backs in 2017, it also benefited the defensive line. By playing with a lead, FAU’s defensive linemen were able to pin their ears back and rush the passer more frequently than in previous seasons. Redshirt senior defensive end Hunter Snyder was tied for the team lead in sacks last season with six. Eight of his 57 tackles came behind the line of scrimmage. Senior defensive tackle Steven Leggett was a run-stuffer inside for the Owls in 2017, taking up blocks so linebackers could make plays. He had five and a half tackles for loss in 2017. Redshirt sophomore defensive end Leighton McCarthy notched nine tackles for loss and four and a half sacks for the Owls in his 2017 season. Defensive tackles that could take over this spring in Taleni’s absence are redshirt senior Ray Ellis, junior William Davis, and junior Kevin McCrary.
SPECIAL TEAMS The Owls’ special teams unit will be brand new this spring with changes at coordinator, kicker, and punter. First-year special teams coordinator Jaron Fairman will rely on sophomore Vladimir Rivas to replace the reliable Greg Joseph. In his final year of eligibility, Joseph nailed 15-of-21 field goal attempts and earned All-Conference honorable mention honors. FAU does not currently have a punter listed on the roster. Kerrith Whyte Jr. is expected to retain his role back deep for the Owls this spring after receiving an All C-USA honorable mention as a kick returner in 2017.
DEVIN SINGLETARY
PHOTO BY ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ
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OUTSIDE THE LINES Off the field, FAU football’s historic 2017 season of success boosted everything from enrollment to game attendance. Now, all eyes are trained on the Owls to see what they do next.
BY WAJIH ALBAROUDI THE OWLS CELEBRATE DEC. 2, 2017 AFTER DEFEATING NORTH TEXAS 41-17 FOR THE C-USA CHAMPIONSHIP. PHOTO BY ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ
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I
N A SEASON where FAU head football coach Lane Kiffin led the Owls to a program record 11 wins and a 2017 Conference USA championship, the biggest victory may have come off the field. Throughout Kiffin’s rollercoaster coaching career, he has always been a headline grabber. After a record-breaking first year at FAU, it’s safe to say the media attention followed him down I-95 to Boca Raton. Since Kiffin’s arrival in December 2016, attendance, merchandise sales, out-ofstate applications, publicity value, and most importantly, wins, have all skyrocketed. “You need to enjoy it. This is not a normal story,” Kiffin said in November. “You don’t go from three three-win seasons and the media, no one picked us to win the conference let alone even the division. We’re in the middle of a really unique story and we need to keep it going.” Kiffin brought legitimate star power to what was once a seldom known commuter school; drawing celebrities such as former MLB manager Joe Girardi, rapper Snoop Dogg, former Detroit Lions star receiver Calvin Johnson, and Miami hip-hop legend Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell to the Boca Raton campus last season. Campbell — a former Miami Hurricanes superfan — was enamored with Kiffin upon meeting him. He described Kiffin as a “rock star.” However, it wasn’t just celebrities flocking to FAU Stadium to watch the Owls play. Students, fans, and alumni packed the stands, nearly doubling the attendance for the 2016-17 season (18,948) compared to the previous year (10,073). FAU had the third-highest average attendance increase among FBS schools last season, according to the NCAA.
Kiffin’s Twitter account is, to put it lightly, outside the norm of ordinary, cliche-ridden accounts of most college football coaches. From joking about covering a point spread in a win against Marshall to trolling Tennessee’s scrutinized coaching search by posting a meme of Kim Jong-un donning the Volunteer Orange, his account is one of the most colorful in the sport. His tweets were met with polarizing reactions, and as a result, followers — lots of them. The attention Kiffin garnered last season made his profile the third most followed Twitter account (411,455) among Division I head football coaches, ranking behind only Jim Harbaugh of the University of Michigan and Urban Meyer of Ohio State University. Kiffin’s individual social media success bled over to the university’s online presence as well. Assistant athletic director Katrina McCormack said FAU football and FAU athletics’ social media accounts increased its followers 55 percent and 30 percent respectively. “Viewership and mentions were at all-time highs in the history of our social media,” McCormack said via email. “Four of the Top 10 most viewed pieces of content of all-time came from this past season.” And the university soared in publicity value in the 2017 fall semester, according to Joshua Glanzer, FAU Media Relations assistant vice president. Through FAU’s monitoring software Cision, Glanzer found that athletics’ publicity value shot up 701 percent to $75,790,000 million and that the school in total rose 159 percent to $96,950,000 million. “Cision’s publicity value calculations are based on length of the story, the type of media in which it appeared, and the number of
“AND WE HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING ELSE DIFFERENTLY, SO IT HAS TO BE LANE. HE JUST GETS IT, BOTH AS A FOOTBALL COACH AND BEING ABLE TO ATTRACT ATTENTION TO OUR UNIVERSITY.” JOHN KELLY, FAU PRESIDENT
impressions for the individual article (not the site as a whole, since that can be misleading),” Cision said on its website. “This assigns a dollar value to publicity so it ties to business outcomes very closely.” The massive increase in publicity value shows that with each of his signature “rat poison” or “Come to the #faU” tweets, dollars don’t fall too far behind. FAU President John Kelly attributed a 35 percent hike in out-of-state applications for the 2018 fall semester to Kiffin’s social media presence in an interview with ESPN. “And we haven’t done anything else differently, so it has to be Lane,” Kelly said to ESPN in December 2017. “He just gets it, both as a football coach and being able to attract attention to our university. I laugh just about every day at something he puts on Twitter and understand that he’s about the good of the institution and is thinking about what appeals to a 17-year-old kid and not a 60-year-old guy.” Kiffin and the FAU football’s team’s success made Owls gear a hot commodity. McCormack said merchandise sales from licensed vendors have increased 22 percent following the 2017 season. And the head coach was rewarded with a 10-year contract extension in December 2017, keeping the 42-year-old coach signed until 2027, according to an ESPN report. With a historic first year in the books, Kiffin and his return this spring could potentially propel FAU’s ascension into the national spotlight even further. After a blowout 50-3 victory over the Akron Zips in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl, Kiffin shared his outlook for the program: “We expect to play this way, and we’re just getting started.”
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DEVIN SINGLETARY Count all of that, along with his Twitter antics this past year, and he can sometimes cast a shadow over his players. Luckily, his headlines did more good than bad, bringing attention to high-quality players who would not have gotten such respect if Kiffin weren’t telling everybody and their mother to #cometothefaU. Here we take a look at some of those players who, thanks to Kiffin, got to show college football fans what they are made of and one day might get the chance to show the NFL
SUNDAY STARS? Several Owls could make the jump to the pros in the next couple of years. BY MATT BROWN
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HEREVER LANE KIFFIN ends up, he is bound to make headlines. He was the youngest head coach in NFL history during his time with the Oakland Raiders, later leaving Tennessee fans spewing with rage when he left the head coach position after one season to take over the University of Southern California program. Roughly four years later, he was famously fired from his USC dream job on the airport tarmac and then finally relieved of his duties as offensive coordinator at Alabama just one week before the team was to take on Clemson in the national championship.
OFFENSE RUNNING BACK DEVIN SINGLETARY What else can be said about rising junior Devin Singletary other than he is the best offensive, if not best overall, player in school history. To put in perspective how good Singletary was this past season, former Owl and current Dallas Cowboys running back Alfred Morris ran for 27 touchdowns from 2008-11 in his four-year career at FAU. Singletary ran for 32 touchdowns in just this year alone. That’s the third most in a single season in FBS history. Only two people, Singletary and Wisconsin running back Montee Ball, have rushed for that many touchdowns in a single season in the last 25 years. Along with setting a C-USA single season record in rushing touchdowns (32), and overall touchdowns (33), Singletary was fourth in the country in rushing yards (1,920). In addition to the countless number of broken records, he added a ton of hardware in the offseason as well. Along with being voted first team-all conference and C-USA MVP, the rising junior was named third team Associated Press All-American, the first player in FAU history to be voted an All-American. He can potentially add NFL player to that list of accomplishments in the near future, but for now, he will just have to settle with being the greatest football player in FAU history. WIDE RECEIVER JOHN FRANKLIN III Although the stats might not be there, the talent is for newly implemented receiver John Franklin III. After first making stops in
PHOTO BY ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ
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college at Florida State University, East River Mississippi Community College, and Auburn, the former three-star dual threat quarterback converted to wide receiver for his final season of college football at FAU. In his first season, Franklin ended up catching seven balls for 95 yards and one touchdown. That averages out to a respectable 13.5 yards per catch. He was also implemented in certain situations as a wildcat quarterback where he got to utilize his break-away speed, running for nearly 230 yards on just 16 carries. While rushing for over 14 yards a carry, he was able to add two touchdowns on the ground. Despite not having a large amount of playing time, he got to show off his speed to scouts recently in Indianapolis. At the National Scouting Combine he ran a 4.3 40-yard dash. This came just a few days after a video was posted of Franklin running a 4.19 during a training session. If it had been official, it would have been one of the fastest recorded times ever. Be on the lookout for Franklin on your TV screen on Sundays, because you can teach a football player many things, but you can’t teach speed. THE OFFENSIVE LINE Without the contributions of rising junior Brandon Walton, Jakobi Smith, first team AllConference members Antonyo Woods, and Roman Fernandez, and rising redshirt senior Reggie Bain, the Owls offense would not have been nearly as successful as it was this past season. It’s hard to pick one when all five of them started all 14 games this past year. When you’re part of a consistent offensive line that helps pave the way for over 285 rushing yards a game, which is fifth best in the nation, it’s difficult to point the finger at one particular player. These linemen were the backbone of the offense that rushed the ball over 650 times for nearly 4,000 yards and an FBS-leading 52 rushing touchdowns. They also only allowed 16 sacks all year, which averages out to just 1.14 per game, the 12th lowest in the country.
Look for one, if not all of these players to be making “pancakes” on a Sunday very soon. DEFENSE LINEBACKER AZEEZ AL-SHAAIR Azeez Al-Shaair wasted no time in making his decision to return to the Owls, announcing it in the locker room moments after the defense allowed just three points in a 50-3 beat down over Akron in the Boca Raton Bowl. “If you start something you’ve got to finish it,” the rising senior said after the game. “That’s what I’ve been taught. My mom taught me that at a young age. For me everything that I’ve been able to do here over the past three years, it’s only right out of respect for all the people that gave me the opportunity to do it…that I be loyal and true to that.” In that bowl game, he recorded 13 total tackles. That is dwarfed by the nine other times he recorded 10 or more total tackles in the team’s fourteen games overall, one of which he missed due to injury. He accumulated 147 tackles this past season, third most in the nation. He also had a C-USA best in solo tackles (77) and average tackles per game (11.3). Heading into his final season as an Owl, the C-USA first teamer will be looking to add to his already record total of career tackles of 354 at FAU. He then may be able to tackle his dreams of heading to the NFL. SAFETY JALEN YOUNG Rising senior Jalen Young was a catalyst for a defense that had 20 interceptions on the year, seven of which came his way. It set a single season program record and was the second most in all of the FBS. He personally tied the school record for most interceptions by a player in a game with three against Marshall. He recorded five or more tackles in eight of the team’s games, while recording at least two tackles in all 14 games. He totaled 77 tackles for the season, third most on the team, including a season-high 14 against Wisconsin. The versatile safety also returned nine punts
for a total of 112 yards. Look closely these next couple years, because you might get the chance to see Jalen Young make an impact in multiple facets of the game. CORNERBACKS SHELTON LEWIS AND CHRIS TOOLEY Both of these players had a key role in a greatly improved defense. Of the single season program-high 20 interceptions recorded, 10 of them went to the cornerbacks. Of those 10, eight were made by either Lewis or Tooley, who each had four apiece. Rising senior Shelton Lewis had a span of three straight games of recording one interception and recorded his fourth in a fivegame span. He also tallied 47 total tackles, 31 being solo, along with forcing a fumble. The first team C-USA corner also added six pass breakups. Not to be outdone, the C-USA honorable mention Tooley had a similar output. The rising junior’s four interceptions all came within the team’s first seven games of the season. He added a total of 34 tackles, 21 of which were solo. He returned a fumble for a touchdown along with forcing one. Tooley also had three pass breakups on the year. The two were an integral part in a defense that only allowed 22.7 points per game, third best in the conference. This came just one year after allowing a league-worst 39.8 points per game. All in all, Lewis and Tooley should find success in the National Football League, coming to a “No Fly Zone” near you.
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GRAPHIC DESIGNERS WANTED VISIT US EVERY FRIDAY AT 2 PM STUDENT UNION BLDG RM 214, BOCA CAMPUS