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BOCA RATON – Through the early days of fall camp coach Lane Kiffin is seeing a growth in the maturity of prodigal redshirt sophomore quarterback Chris Robison.
“I think that he’s throwing the ball really well,” Kiffin said. “He seems to have a little more composure, which I don’t know if that’s from [his spring suspension] or if that’s because of just being a sophomore instead of being a freshman.”
Robison missed all of spring because of a suspension stemming from a night of offseason partying. The layoff doesn’t seem to have done much damage. He’s looked sharp thus far in camp.
On consecutive plays during the early seven-one-seven red zone portion of Tuesday’s practice, Robison showed touch in finding Jeffty Joseph in the corner of the end zone, then zipped a pass to the slant-running Dante Cousart for a score.
But the highlight of Robison’s day came in the full squad scrimmage portion later in the practice. With the defense keying on the running backs, Robison faked a hand-off, sprinted around left end and raced 60 yards untouched for a score.
“It was awesome,” Robison said. “I have to give all the credit to my tight ends, though. The hole was so huge that all I saw was grass. I just ran as fast as I could and hoped that no one caught me.”
Despite being the incumbent, missing spring forced Robison to fall into a three-way quarterback battle for the starting spot on Aug. 31 at Ohio St.
Indiana transfer Nick Tronti and former Kent St. quarterback Justin Agner both made plays of their own Tuesday, but all three also tossed interceptions that weren’t really their fault.
Ballhawking safety Teja Young ripped a ball out of Rahmod Smith’s arms to pick off an Agner pass. Armani Adams nabbed a deflected Robison pass. Ladante Harris made the easiest interception of his young cornerback career when Tronti’s pass intended for the fallen-down Rasaan Lewis hit Harris in the stomach.
“I think the quarterback competition is going well,” Kiffin said. “They seem to all be doing good things and limiting turnovers.”
HARD KNOCKS AT THE OX: Tuesday’s Practice Report
Position Spotlight: FAU’s defensive backs aren’t afraid to talk, and they don’t seem happy about all the praise heaped on wide receiver John Mitchell this fall. Tuesday featured plenty of jawing between corners and receivers, particularly Mitchell. One play even ended with a minor scuffle between Mitchell and Meiko Dotson. All cornerbacks seem to enjoy new defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer’s more physical scheme. The cornerback depth chart is worthy of some talk. Korel Smith appears to be challenging Chris Tooley for a starting spot, particularly in the red zone. And Harris received time with the second string at quarterback, particularly with Diashun Moss sidelined for much of the second half of practice.
Trending Topic: FAU practiced for the first time this camp in full pads, but that didn’t mean the Owls did a lot of tackling. Like most coaches across the nation, Kiffin is trying to strike the proper balance between giving his defenders enough tackling practice to ensure their sharpness to start the season and not tackling so much that players begin suffering injuries. FAU’s tackling in last year’s season opener at Oklahoma was spotty at best. Kiffin promised that the Owls will tackle more this fall camp than they did last year.
Tracking the Depth Chart: Linebacker John Francois, a former Charlotte signee who transferred to FAU during the offseason, saw some work with the third team on Tuesday, showing well in pass coverage. He broke up a pass over the middle, then accidentally delivered a good hit along the sidelines during seven-on-seven drills. …When the Owls add a third linebacker to seven-on-seven drills, making them, effectively, seven-on-eight, defensive end David Belvin is the second-team player who drops into the middle linebacker spot. Leighton McCarthy does the same with the starters. …With Pico Harrison once again sidelined, USF transfer DeAngelo Antoine is now working with the first team as an outside receiver.
Making Plays: Wide receiver Rasaan Lewis continues to show good hands. On one sideline route he leaped and took the ball off the back of Diashun Moss. …Running back Malcolm Davidson caught a swing pass, showed a defender a dead leg, then scooted into the end zone untouched.
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