Florida Atlantic @ South Florida preview
Raymond James Stadium
Last Meeting ( Oct 6, 2007 ) South Florida 35, Florida Atlantic 23
Two Florida programs that have been in existence for a little more than a decade will get a chance to gauge their progress when South Florida hosts Florida Atlantic on Saturday night.
First-year coach Skip Holtz has watched his South Florida (2-1) squad sandwich a pair of non-conference victories around a high-profile defeat – a 38-14 loss at Florida in Week 2 in which the Bulls were tied at halftime.
South Florida eased past Western Kentucky 24-12 last week while Florida Atlantic (1-2) fell to North Texas 21-17.
The immediate goal for Holtz is to get B.J. Daniels and the Bulls’ passing game untracked. Daniels, a legitimate dual-threat at quarterback, has struggled since throwing for 264 yards and two touchdowns in the opening victory over overmatched Stony Brook.
Daniels has completed 27 of 53 passes to date but has been picked off five times. All five interceptions came in the last two games, when Daniels was 12 of 31 for 141 yards and a touchdown. He did rush for 107 yards on 17 carries against Florida.
The win over Western Kentucky was clearly the running of the Bulls. Three players – Mo Plancher, Richard Kelly and Daniels – scored touchdowns as South Florida churned out 226 rushing yards on 44 carries.
Demetris Murray had a team-high 115 yards for the Bulls, who have averaged 217 yards rushing through the first three contests.
Given the struggles of Florida Atlantic against the run, it might be wise for South Florida to keep pounding the ball on the ground this Saturday.
The Owls - who like Western Kentucky are also from the Sun Belt Conference – are the worst team in the country in rushing defense, surrendering 276 yards per game.
Howard Schnellenberger, who led Miami to a national title in 1983, has been the only coach Florida Atlantic has known.
FAU opened the season with a near-miraculous 32-31 road win against Alabama-Birmingham. The Owls came from 16 points down to go ahead and blocked a potential game-winning field goal by the Blazers on the game’s last play.
Florida Atlantic then suffered back-to-back defeats to Michigan State (30-17) and North Texas (21-17), yielding 257 yards rushing in last week’s loss.
Junior Alfred Morris leads a struggling ground game, having gained 211 yards on the season. Quarterback Jeff Van Camp has thrown for five scores and has hit on 63.7 percent of his passes. He leads the Sun Belt Conference in pass efficiency (146.2).
Senior Lester Jean is the leading receiver for the Owls, having caught 22 passes, and is averaging 14.4 yards per catch. He leads the Sun Belt in receiving yards per game (105.7) and is second in catches per game (7.3).
South Florida is 10-0 against state schools not named Miami and Florida. It is 2-0 against Florida Atlantic, including a 35-23 victory in their last matchup in 2007.