Going Mental

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BOCA RATON – Pleased with Chris Robison’s physical play at Ohio St., Lane Kiffin now wants to see the mental aspect of Robison’s game progress.

“I think mentally he could have done some things better but I thought physically, especially for that environment with some really good players, he threw the ball well,” Kiffin said of Robison’s season-opening performance.

Robison completed 22-of-36 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown against the Buckeyes. He didn’t commit a turnover.

Three early dropped passes prevented Robison and the Owls from moving the ball early, but Robison did lead the Owls on two fourth-quarter touchdown drives and four total point-yielding drives.

Kiffin cited some faulty decision-making by Robison as contributing to the Owls’ first-half struggles.

“Overall, I think that I have a lot of work to do,” Robison said. “Saw some glimpses of good things here and there, but overall I need to get better throughout the season.”

A starter of 11 games last season as a redshirt freshman, Robison won a three-way quarterback battle in fall camp, persevering over Indiana transfer Nick Tronti and former Kent St. quarterback Justin Agner.

Agner essentially fell out of the competition when he missed the final two weeks of camp with an illness.

He return to practice for the week leading up to the Ohio St. game and somewhat surprisingly moved ahead of Tronti on the depth chart.

On Saturday Agner completed three of his five passes, covering 30 yards. He also tossed the game’s lone interception.

Life after the Owls’ 45-21 loss to No. 5 Ohio St. doesn’t get much easier. No. 18 Central Florida comes to Howard Schnellenberger Field on Saturday, the first time a ranked team will play in Boca Raton.

Kiffin, Robison and the Owls called an audible for Tuesday’s practice. With Hurricane Dorian lingering off the Florida coast and Palm Beach County still under a tropical storm warning, the Owls moved their practice south, making use of the Miami Dolphins indoor practice bubble in Davie.

The Owls will need a better game out of Robison than the one he had in last season’s 56-36 loss to the Knights when the then-redshirt freshman completed 13-of-26 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. He also threw three critical interceptions – one of which still bothers him.

“I literally saw the guy run into my throwing lane and I still threw it,” Robison said. “That’s why it sticks out to me so much.”