Wins and Losses

BOCA RATON – FAU quarterback Jason Driskel says he’s only concerned with one statistic: victories.

“I look at myself in terms of wins and losses,” Driskel said. “This week if we go 1-0 I played quarterback well enough for us to win. Whether we scored seven points or 100 points, if we win the game that’s all that matters to me and that’s all that matters to our team.”

Perhaps.

Winning is the ultimate goal, after all, but for weeks now Lane Kiffin has bemoaned the Owls’ struggles in the passing game – so much so that Kiffin removed Daniel Parr from the starting role and inserted Driskel, last year’s starter.

Kiffin says he’s seeing more confidence from Driskel, but he wants that confidence to yield better play.

“He is, but again we need to make those plays downfield,” Kiffin said. “He needs to make the throws. We need to protect. We need to make the catches too.”

The starting quarterback for the last two games, Driskel is a combined 39-of-58 for 337 yards and one touchdown.

The Owls are 1-1 in games he’s started this season, losing to Buffalo two weeks ago before Saturday’s victory over MTSU. FAU is 3-13 overall in games started by Driskel, though he did come off the bench to lead the Owls to a victory over Rice last season.

This is the first week since last season that he’s entered a game week knowing he is the starter.

Driskel said that knowledge hasn’t affected the way he’s approaching Saturday’s game at Old Dominion. He shied away from saying he felt more comfortable this week compared to previous weeks.

“I think (strength coach Wilson Love) says it all the time – you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable,” Driskel said. “I think that’s true. Your preparation should never waiver. You should never feel safe – especially playing football, you are one play away anyway at any point. But I think the preparation level and the comfort level needs to be the exact same.”

Last year against Old Dominion Driskel completed 15 of 27 passes for 219 yards in a 42-24 loss to the Monarchs. He did not throw a touchdown pass or an interception.