Winning Streak

BOCA RATON – The biggest problem that the Florida Atlantic football program has suffered from in Charlie Partridge’s three years is week-to-week consistency. Regardless of the aspect or phase, the Owls have lacked what it takes to repeat their successes in back-to-back games.

After 34 games, the Owls may have finally discovered the key to consistency: doing the little things.

Freshman Devin Singletary put on another show in the rushing game, the defense overcame turnovers that put them in bad starting positions, and Jason Driskel led a fourth quarter comeback as the Owls won their second straight game with a 35-31 final against the University of Texas-El Paso Miners.

“Watching them sing the fight song is awesome,” said Partridge, referring to the team’s locker room tradition following victories. “As a coaching staff, one of our goals here is that the logo and this university and this area means something to the team. It’s something we’ve talked about from day one and they sing that song with pride for the school and it’s sincere. When you’re working to build a program, that logo matters.”

FAU trailed by 11 with less than five minutes remaining before charging back.

A Buddy Howell 2-yard touchdown run, and the subsequent two-point conversion drew the Owls within three.

A Trey Hendrickson tackle-for-loss on third down got the ball back for the offense with less than 3 minutes remaining.

Taking over at his own 4 yard line, Driskel took the Owls all the way down the field with a 10 play, 96 yard drive in which he went seven-of-eight for 68 yards. With less than 30 seconds remaining he lofted a 7-yard pass that Nate Terry snagged in the back of the end zone for the winning score.

Ocie Rose sealed the victory on UTEP’s first play from scrimmage by intercepting Ryan Metz, sending the FAU bench into jubilation and give FAU it’s first winning streak under Partridge.

“You saw some kids grow up and resolve and they found a way to make plays,” Partridge said.

For the second straight week, Singletary led the way on the ground, rushing for 145 yards and two touchdowns against a UTEP defense that allowed 476 yards of total offense. After averaging 25 yards a game in his first six collegiate games, the freshman affectionately referred to as ‘Motor’ has exploded for 397 yards and six scores since the October 15 loss to Western Kentucky.

His second touchdown on Saturday gave Singletary seven on the season, setting a freshman record at FAU.

After being replaced by Daniel Parr as the Owls’ starting quarterback last week, Driskel made the most of his return to the starting lineup against UTEP. Within the first three minutes, Driskel had the Owls up by a 7-0 score after a 77 yard drive.

Not all was pretty for Driskel, however. After being picked on the next drive, Daniel Parr entered for his scheduled series. Three plays into the drive, though, Parr threw an interception of his own, giving the Miners two consecutive drives that began within their own 40 yard line.

Driskel returned after that series and finished the game having completed 20 of 25 passes.

Interceptions weren’t the only problem for the Owls on Saturday, as Jalen Young muffed a punt return in the second quarter that gave UTEP the ball at FAU’s own 20. Young then was flagged for targeting on that drive as officials decided he hit Miners quarterback Ryan Metz in the head as the latter slid after a two yard gain. The call carries with it an ejection from the game.

While the Owls did give up 31 points and 229 rushing yards to Aaron Jones, this was far from a poor performance from defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni’s players. Each of UTEP’s first three scoring drives came because of the Miners getting great field position after turnovers, not because of the long passes or missed tackles that have become a habit this season.

With their third win of the season, the Owls match their total from each of the past two seasons.

Game Browser: FAU (3-7, 2-4) 35, UTEP (3-7, 1-5) 31

TURNING POINT
Down 11 points with a little more than 7:30 remaining in the game, Jason Driskel took the Owls offense 75 yards down the field in less than 3 minutes to make it a 31-26 game. It was a successful two-point conversion, however, that made it a three point game and gave the Owls a bit of breathing room if they could hold the Miners scoreless on the next drive. They did, Driskel led a 96 yard drive with under three minutes left, and the rest is history.

TRENDING TOPICS

• At the rate he’s going, attendance rise at FAU home games in 2017 solely so that can people can watch Devin Singletary. There was so much hype surrounding the American Heritage product and as a true freshman rushing behind a makeshift offensive line, there’s a realistic chance Singletary could finish within 100 yards of 1,000 on the season despite having more than seven carries once in a game before October 15. Fire up Motor behind an offensive line that has all five starters, what kind of numbers would he be putting up? It’s early, but Singletary is already turning out to be one of the better recruits of the Partridge era.
• Whatever defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni told his players after the 52-3 massacre to Western Kentucky two weeks ago has clearly paid off. Since that blowout, there’s been a difference in the way the Owls defense is approaching plays, almost like they’re really trying to go for the fundamentals – wrap a guy up here, deflect a pass there – instead of going for the highlight play like a massive hit or trying to snatch the ball for a pick six. People will point to Trey Hendrickson’s five game sack streak as to why the defense is playing better and while that’s true, so much more goes into it than the star defensive end getting to the quarterback. When this defense does the little things right, they keep the game close rather than letting it spiral out of control like against Miami or FIU.
• Two games of a quarterback merry-go-round and two straight solid performances from Jason Driskel. Is that enough for the redshirt sophomore to earn the starting spot for the final two games against Old Dominion and Middle Tennessee barring a horrific performance next week? With how few plays Daniel Parr is actually getting in these games despite the merry-go-round, Driskel seems to have sealed the starting role to conclude the season, but the lack of chances for Parr despite him being named the starter against Rice and getting first quarter snaps against UTEP is both surprising and concerning.
• FAU’s offensive line suffered another blow on Saturday with the loss of guard Roman Fernandez to an undisclosed injury. Redshirt freshman Richard Williams, primarily a center, replaced Fernandez for the final three quarters.

KEY STATS
4 – Carries for Buddy Howell.

5 – Third down conversions each by the Miners and the Owls.

80 – Percentage of passes completed by Jason Driskel, as the redshirt sophomore went 20-25

229 – Rushing yards from UTEP’s Aaron Jones.

312 – Total yards by Jason Driskel, with 79 of those coming on the ground.

476 – Total offensive yards for the Owls.

UP NEXT
For the final time this season, the Owls will play at home as they host Old Dominion on Saturday evening. Kickoff is currently slated for 6:00 p.m.