Staying Wide

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BOCA RATON – When Jason Driskel’s night ended with a comfortable Owls lead midway through Saturday’s fourth quarter, FAU coach Lane Kiffin inserted John Franklin rather than backup Daniel Parr at quarterback.

The decision didn’t signify a change in the quarterback pecking order.

For the past couple weeks FAU prepared a specific Franklin-led QB package but hadn’t had the opportunity to implement it.

“It presented itself in this game, the chance to put him in there,” Kiffin said. “He’s been practicing that stuff for a while. He did a good job.”

Franklin handed off twice before scoring the Owls’ final touchdown of the night on an 11-yard keeper.



A transfer from Auburn late in fall camp, Franklin is a former quarterback who moved to wide receiver after losing a QB battle while a Tiger. The Owls spent the past month attempting to get Franklin up to speed so that the Owls can better utilize his speed.

Franklin ran a 4.25 40-yard dash at Auburn, making him one of, if not the fast player in FAU history.

Franklin switched from quarterback to wide receiver because he felt he stood a better chance of reaching the NFL as the player catching passes as opposed to throwing them.

He maintains that a full-time switch back to quarterback is not in the plans.

“At the end of the day it’s more that just about one person, it’s more than just about me,” Franklin said. “Everybody has personal goals and I want to see my personal goals succeed as well as the team’s. Right now I’ll just keep my head down and focus and work on my game trying to get better because there’s always things to improve on. I’m just trying to become a better receiver through this transition and whatever comes, comes.”

Franklin knew heading into Saturday’s game at Old Dominion that the likelihood of his quarterback play in that specific package was high.



“However I can contribute, if that’s me being at quarterback right now, running the zone reads and throwing the ball out of that package, then that’s what I’ll do to help the team,” Franklin said. “If it’s just me on reverses right now, then that’s it. Me going down the field? Whatever I can do to help.”

The Owls haven’t been able to get Franklin the ball down field this season. In six games Franklin’s caught four passes totaling 35 yards. His three rushes yielded 36 yards.

FAU struck for some big plays in the passing game early in the season with Parr behind center, but since Driskel took over as the starter the longest pass the Owls completed covered only 40 yards, with Harrison Bryant accounting for more than 30 of those yards after the catch.

“I feel like once we get our passing game going I think I could fit in really good as far as a lot of deep routes on the field and the reverses, like (against Buffalo), and also the wildcat package,” Franklin said.