BOCA RATON – FAU is on the verge of having a player lead the nation in a statistical category for the second consecutive year.
Once again, it’s a special teams category.
A review of Old Dominion’s field goal attempt in the closing seconds of the first half on Saturday showed that Trey Hendrickson managed to get a finger or two on Brad Davis’ 38-yard field goal attempt, which ultimately clanked off the left upright.
FAU sent the statistical change to Conference USA and the NCAA earlier this week.
The block is Hendrickson’s fourth of the season, tying him with Oklahoma St.’s Vincent Taylor, who, too, was credited with a block on Saturday.
It also allowed Hendrickson to tie the single season program record, set by Michael Lockley in 2010.
Hendrickson will have one more game to attempt to pull ahead of Taylor, that coming when the Owls end their season on Saturday at Middle Tennessee.
Taylor will likely have two chances to break the tie. Oklahoma St. concludes its season on Dec. 3 against Oklahoma. The Cowboys are also bowl eligible, and the NCAA includes postseason football stats in its year-end totals.
The preseason Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, Hendrickson is currently second in C-USA with 9.5 sacks. He may not claim the Defensive Player of the Year honor, but Hendrickson will likely get consideration for the C-USA Special Teams Player of the Year award.
If Hendrickson takes home that award he would be the second-consecutive FAU player to do so. Dalton Schomp was the NCAA’s leading punter a year ago, propelling him to the 2015 C-USA Special Teams Player of the Year and the preseason pick for the award this season.
Schomp averaged 48.0 yards per punt last season. This year that average has dropped to 42.5 in part because he’s now handling shorter pooch punt duties. That’s still good enough for the No. 2 spot among C-USA punters.
The senior is coming off one the best punting efforts of his career, having boomed punts of 68, 63 and 62 yards.
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