Over in a flash
Stormy weather washes out FAU's scrimmage at FanFest on Saturday, but not before the Owls show off their ground game.
Originally published on
8/18/2012
by
Alyssa Barbieri
BOCA RATON – Senior defensive lineman Jimmy Jean was looking forward to his final scrimmage of training camp at Florida Atlantic.
Looks he’ll have to wait until Sunday.
FAU’s FanFest was cut short due to severe weather that lasted roughly 90 minutes on Saturday. The scrimmage has been postponed until 6 p.m. Sunday.
“We’ve just got to roll with it, re-figure and move on,” said coach Carl Pelini.
The scrimmage started off with the first offense against the second-team defense and then rotated to the second-team offense versus the first-team defense. Pelini was looking to have the first team offense and defense battle it out and then the second teams have a go, but then the lightning sirens sounded and pushed those plans back to Sunday night.
Redshirt sophomore running back Damian Fortner scored the only touchdown of the 18-play scrimmage on a 32-yard dash up the left sideline.
Pelini said he could play four to five running backs based on their skill set and to “befuddle defenses who substitute based on personnel.”
“There’s a lot of things we can do with our running backs because they can catch the ball and run routes,” he said.
Pelini also stressed the importance of not only a balanced offensive attack, but a strong ground game.
“We know we have to run the football,” he said. “We’re not a real deep team defensively and the ability to be able to run and throw it is important for us. But we have to establish a ground game.”