BOCA RATON – Jacob Douglas knows what it looks like when losing teams transform themselves into winning teams before.
At Jacksonville-Mandarin high school, he took part in such a transition.
“My freshman and sophomore year of high school, freshman year we went 0-10 and then sophomore year we went 3-7; and then when those changes happened we started winning,” Douglas said.
Douglas is doing his part to speed FAU’s turn-around.
A starter of one game last season as a true freshman, Douglas returned to the starting middle linebacker spot two games ago after Nate Ozdimer suffered a season-ending foot injury.
He tied for third on the team with seven tackles in FAU’s win over Rice; then played a crucial role – both mentally and physically – when FAU defeated UTEP on Saturday.
UTEP’s offense features constant pre-snap motion that challenges a defense’s ability to decipher and adapt. In FAU’s defensive scheme, the responsibility of ensuring the Owls are in the proper alignment falls on the middle linebacker.
“When they’re moving multiple guys followed by a motion, there’s a lot that happens,” FAU coach Charlie Partridge said. “The (middle) linebacker is right in the middle of that. He did a great job on Saturday night.”
Along with making the calls, Douglas played a crucial role on the game’s most important defensive play.
With UTEP leading by three in the closing minutes and facing a third-and-four, Douglas fired into the backfield and delivered a blow behind the line of scrimmage on Walter Dawn. Douglas didn’t make the tackle – Trey Hendrickson finished off the play, forcing a Miners’ punt – but he ensured the Owls would get the ball back.
“It was honestly instincts because earlier in the game (Dawn) actually beat me because I didn’t realize how fast he was the first time and he beat me on a similar play,” Douglas said. “So this time I saw him come in motion I was just like, get to him fast – whether you are right or wrong, get there fast. And I was right.”
Following the punt, FAU marched 96 yards, scoring the game winning touchdown with 25 seconds remaining.
“Trey ended up getting credit for the tackle, and I’m glad he did, but Jacob’s the one who made that play happen,” defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said. “It was a great play by him.”
Douglas expects to make those kinds of play more frequently now that he understands what it takes to be a successful collegiate football player.
Nowhere is that growth more apparent than in the film room.
Douglas credits graduate volunteer Andrae Kirk, a former Owl linebacker with a reputation for being a titan in the film room, with teaching the basics of game week film study.
“Instead of really just watching it, it comes down to, I really understand it – what I’m doing, how (opponents) play, what different players do, what are their instincts, stuff like that,” said Douglas who now has 27 tackles on the season.
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