Offensive Plays of the Year

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BOCA RATON – Continuing the award series we move from players to plays. After distributing awards for Newcomers of the Year, Most Improved, Unsung Heroes and Team MVPs, we turn our attention to the best plays of the year. A play can great because of individual effort, excellent design, the impact of the play, or a combination of all three. With that in mind, we’ve selected nine plays – three apiece on offense, defense and special teams – that defined FAU’s season. Today we announce the Top 3 offensive plays of the year.

OFFENSIVE PLAY OF THE YEAR

1. Motor Gets Running – Trailing defending Conference USA champion Western Kentucky 28-20 on the road in the third quarter, Devin Singletary burst through the line for 10 yards, shed a couple of tackles as he cut toward the right sideline, finding daylight. With the help of a block from wide receiver Willie Wright, Singletary made one final tackler miss near the goal line for a 60-yard touchdown run.

Singletary made five tacklers miss on the run, and the ensuing two-point conversion allowed the Owls to tie the score. Singletary scored four times on the day and FAU defeated WKU 42-28. Singletary dazzled with other runs during the season – the 19-yard TD against MTSU where he left half the Blue Raiders grasping at air and the 6-yard TD run late in the first half of the Boca Bowl that put that game out of reach immediately come to mind – but the combination of length and importance make Singletary’s third TD run against WKU the FAU Offensive Play of the Year.

2. Motor Gets Tricky – After trailing by two scores early, Marshall tied the midseason game at FAU in the third quarter and had momentum. Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles called for a trick play. Quarterback Jason Driskel threw a backward pass to wide receiver Kamrin Solomon, who in turn heaved it downfield to Singletary. The 60-yard score – the lone receiving touchdown of the year for Singletary – gave FAU a 23-16 lead, one they never surrendered in what became the tightest victory of the season. The Owls connected on several other trick plays during the season, most notably Solomon’s throwback to quarterback John Franklin for a touchdown in the C-USA title game (a wide receiver, Solomon actually threw more TD passes, two, than he caught this season), but the call against Marshall turned the momentum, keeping an undefeated run through C-USA alive.

3. Wright Takes Flight – The hiring of Kendal Briles as offensive coordinator and the installation of his Baylor offense injected high expectations into FAU’s attack. FAU’s first touchdown of the season served as a preview of things to come. Trailing Navy 7-3 in the second quarter of the season-opener and pinned deep in their own territory, the Owls had Daniel Parr fire one deep down field to a wide open Willie Wright. Playing in his first collegiate game, Wright caught the ball in stride and easily outraced the Navy secondary for a 95-yard touchdown that gave FAU its first lead of the season.