Known Commodities

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BOCA RATON – Andrew Soroh can still go places in Boca Raton where people don’t know his name.

When he’s wearing an FAU football shirt, however, they know a little something about him.

“Last year we weren’t even getting this much recognition,” said Soroh, a starting safety for the Owls. “Now I go to the mall, it’s like, Hey, good job with the championship. People are starting to come along.”

A redshirt junior, Soroh’s Owls didn’t offer the community much of a reason for interest during his first three years, posting three consecutive 3-9 records.



That changed this season. After a 1-3 start, FAU (10-3) rolled to nine consecutive victories to claim its first Conference USA crown.

“When you walk around campus you get congratulations and all that,” defensive end Leighton McCarthy said. “Even on social media you get congratulations. People you don’t even know let you know they’re watching. They’ll tell you around campus, the mall, basically everywhere you go around Boca.”

The Owls can tie a program record for wins in a season with a victory over Akron (7-6) in the Dec. 19 Boca Raton Bowl.

The bowl appearance will be FAU’s first since 2008 and gives the Owls another opportunity to show South Florida how much they’ve grown under first year coach Lane Kiffin.

“It’s a great opportunity to play in the bowl game,” Soroh said. “A lot of people are disappointed that we’re playing in the Boca Bowl but to me a bowl game is a bowl game for us. We haven’t been to a bowl game in a long, long time. It’s a great opportunity for us to go out with a bang and just end this thing right.”



A combination of coaches leaving town to recruit, final exams for players and the weather limited the Owls to scaled down practices since winning their Conference USA title on Dec. 2.

FAU players had Tuesday and Wednesday off, but will return to the practice field on Thursday with a focus on Akron.

Off-the-field Boca Bowl activities begin in earnest on Friday with a 6 p.m. team welcome party at the Boca Raton Resort.

“I don’t want it to get over too fast,” McCarthy said. “Just letting it sink in, because you have never been here before.”