It was Family Weekend in Boca Raton and FAU put on a show in front of the Owls faithful. FAU found a way to push past 3 first half turnovers, shutting out Wagner 24-0 in the second half ultimately going on to win 41-10.
For the first time this season, FAU came out of the gates with energy, scoring in just 2 plays on the first drive of the day, a drive which included a 71 yard pass from Cam Fancher to Omari Hayes. The Owls jumped out to an early 17-0 lead, however that lead shrunk down to a touchdown following a slew of penalties and some struggles from Kasen Weisman during his first extended action of the season.
Weisman took over on the Owls first drive of the second quarter and following a Fancher thumb injury he remained in for the rest of the game. Weisman had 2 turnovers towards the end of the first half, but he wasn’t going to let those mistakes phase him.
Ultimately finishing 7 of 12 for 98 yards, Weisman led 4 scoring drives, 3 touchdowns and 1 field goal. Weisman also added 15 yards on the ground, including his first career TD which came on a 4 yard carry early in the 4th quarter.
Weisman was able to settle in and command the offense in the second half because he was aided on the ground by CJ Campbell (Pictured above via Angelina LaBelle) who rushed for 145 yards and 2 scores, also getting 77 yards and a score from Zuberi Mobley. Through the air, Fancher and Weisman were able to connect with 8 different receivers, led by Omari Hayes who finished with 6 catches for 137 yards.
Defensively, FAU was able to record 13 tackles for loss from 9 different players, getting a big day from Chris Jones who finished with 4 tackles, 2 TFLs, 2 QBh, a PBU and a sack.
All in all it was a bounceback performance for FAU, as they held Wagner to only 20 yards rushing after allowing over 400 a week prior and found explosiveness in the offense that has been missing all season. Most importantly for FAU Coach Tom Herman, his team found a way to battle through adversity, moving past last week’s game and the struggles that occurred early on against Wagner.
“I want to start off by, paying respects, to the team that we just played, they gave us all we wanted, not just in the first half, but that first drive of the second We took a step, and I know who we were playing, but I also know that we got our butts kicked last week. And the last time we were in this stadium, we put about two good quarters together, the first and fourth being awful, the second and third, last time we were here, were pretty damn good. And then obviously, in this one we came out and started fast, especially offensively, that was really good to see. And then for some reason, we stopped doing our job the way that we’re trained to do, and we got hit with quite a bit of adversity in the second quarter, and our guys responded.”
“I couldn’t have scripted this better. The young quarterback goes in, does not play well in his first couple drives, but he responds at halftime. The entire team that second quarter. Our defense gave up 132 yards, 102 of them came in that second quarter, so our defense gave up 30 yards in three quarters. But they all count. So that’s it’s always good when you win by 31 to have a spot that you can say, hey, that wasn’t good enough but again, really proud of our guys for growing. The last time we played well and then got hit with adversity, we crumbled, we didn’t tonight. We bought our backs at halftime. We came out in the second half, and the offense didn’t punt or turn the ball over, and the defense didn’t give up any points. So really, really happy with the way our guys responded. We’re going to celebrate this win. But we also know that the competition gets really, really stiff from here on out, North Texas is a good team. They’ve got, I think, the most newcomers in the country. So watching last year’s film is probably not going to be much good. But the good thing is, we’ll have four games on them, or five games, however many they played. I think they have by week coming into us as well. So we know we’ve got to get better, but we took the necessary step, especially having slipped a little bit in the second quarter, but we found it again, that was important to me,” Herman said.
Game Recap
FAU started out the game looking like a team who was trying to make a statement, getting their longest passing play of the season, a 71 yard strike from Cam Fancher to Omari Hayes and they quickly capitalized, as CJ Campbell JR took it 4 yards up the gut to put the Owls up 7-0 just 32 seconds into the game. Prior to today, the Owls had started every game this season with a 3 and out, so after the game Fancher acknowledged how important of a series that was.
“We haven’t been able to start fast the whole beginning of the season, so getting that first explosive play on that first drive, that was huge for us,” Fancher said.
The defense came out with the same level of energy, as Wagner picked up a short gain on their first play of the day before Devonta Davis stuffed their run in the backfield on second down. On 3rd and long Wagner QB Jake Cady completed his first pass of the day but Phil Dunnam and Buggs Brown converged on Mark Didio Jr short of the sticks, to force a 3-and-out and a Wagner punt.
FAU rode with momentum on their next possession, as on the second play of the drive CJ Campbell JR. took it 30 yards advancing it past mid-field. Fancher converted a 4th and 4 with his legs for a gain of 7, but on the tackle he fell on his left thumb which was an injury that lingered throughout the rest of the game. On the next set of downs the drive stalled and FAU sent out Carter Davis (Pictured Above Via Angelina LaBelle) for the teams longest field goal attempt since 2017, he converted from 51 yards, which was his career long, and put FAU up 10-0 with 8:54 remaining in the first quarter.
Although Fancher was able to finish out the rest of his scripted drives, he suffered a sprained finger on his throwing hand, which FAU will approach cautiously, but according to Fancher it’s something he doesn’t believe will keep him out very long.
“Just taking it day by day, it doesn’t seem like something that will keep me out too long, but we’ll see when we go get the MRI and X-Rays, hoping for the best, and want to get back as soon as I can,” Fancher said.
FAU’s defense came to play early, as with a 10-0 lead to work with they weren’t going to squander that, as on the next drive Cady who has been relatively accurate to start this season started with 2 incompletions before he found Teree Mcdonald short of the sticks on 3rd down which resulted in another 3 and out.
Omari Hayes had a 43 yard punt return following that 3 and out, which set up FAU 1st and 10 from the Wagner 19 giving the Owls a chance to go up 3 scores early. Fancher was able to find Wyatt Sullivan for a gain of 15 on a TE screen on the first play of the game, however 2 plays later he telegraphed a pass to the outside of the endzone which Zach Ricci intercepted in the endzone.
Wagner picked up their first first down of the day on the ensuing drive, as Cady found Christian Tait for a gain of 10, extending the play with his legs, however the FAU defense bounced back as on the next set of downs, Jaden Wheeler recorded a TFL and Chris Jones recorded a sack, shutting down the Seahawk drive and giving FAU the ball back with 2:15 to go in the 3rd quarter.
Fancher and the Owls went back to work quickly, closing out the first quarter by connecting with 4 different receivers, Leon Washington JR. for a gain of 7, Marlyn Johnson for a gain of 6, Zuberi Mobley for a gain of 15, and Milan Tucker for a gain of 4, finding a way to move the ball through the air despite an injury to his thumb.
The Owls continued to move the ball through the Air to start the second quarter, as Fancher found his 5th different receiver in as many targets connecting Omari Hayes for a gain of 9, before Mobley took over. Mobley picked up a first down on back to back runs of 4 and 6 and following a Johnson gain of 18 through the air, Mobley took a carry 22 yard to the house putting FAU up 17-0 early into the second quarter. Both Mobley and Campbell averaged over 7 yards per carry and found the endzone, but their big days may have been due to the fact a little friendly competition was in store.
“We push each other really hard every practice and we competed tonight to see who can score more or have more yards,” Campbell said.
Wagner responded on their next drive, going 81 yards in 10 plays, with Cady finding Jaylen Bonnelli for the first time and connecting with Mcdonald for a gain of 43, ultimately marching into the red zone where Cady found Chase Stafford from 6 yards out which got Wagner on the board, making it 17-7 with 8:22 to play in the half.
Kasen Weisman took over on the first drive of the second quarter, which was the plan headed into the week. The Owls started backed up following a false start, however on 1st and 15 CJ Campbell gained 10 to bring up a 2nd and 5 where Wesiman escaped a sack rushing out of bounds for no gain and on 3rd and 5 he completed his first pass to Sullivan for a gain of 4, short of the sticks and forcing the Owls to punt.
Wagner built on their success on the previous drive, getting helped by 30 yards in penalties from FAU, but also getting 30 scrimmage yards from Ricky Spruill, setting the Seahawks up for a 25 yard field goal to make it 17-10 with 2:07 to play. Those penalties on FAU were brutal at the time, allowing Wagner to pickup long 3rd downs and keeping the defense on the field longer they should have been and mistakes like that are plays that Owls DL Chris Jones says the defense has to move on from after they occur.
“Just keeping the guys calm on the sideline and when they make it (penalties), have amnesia, let it go, because there’s a lot of times where when you hit adversity, it throws you off for the rest of the game so you got to keep everybody’s head in the game. 1-0, next play mentality,” Jones said.
Kasen Weisman went back to work for the Owls now only with a touchdown lead, finding Omari Hayes for a gain of 11 and a first down, however on the next set of downs he was hit with a bit of young QB struggles, as he was hit with an intentional grounding penalty and on the ensuing 2nd and 24 he took off to run, ultimately finding a slew of Seahawk defenders who forced a fumble which was recovered by Wagner at the FAU 28.
The Owls were helped by 20 yards in penalties following that turnover, and after a Chris Jones (Pictured below via Angelina LaBelle) PBU at the line of scrimmage shut down a 3rd and 20, Wagner punted back to FAU with 53 seconds remaining, squandering a turnover which put them inside the Owls 30.
FAU’s defense limited Wagner to 20 yards on 26 carries and were consistently in the backfield making things difficult for the Seahawks offense. Although it’s against an FCS opponent, Jones says a performance like this felt great as the team played together as one.
“It felt great. We all came together.We knew what we were supposed to do, like I said, it was all getting back to doing our job, doing our 1-11 basically, once everybody does their job, it’s really hard to beat us,” Jones said.
The next drive started quickly for the Owls, as Campbell picked up 14 on the ground and Wesiman found Washington JR for a gain of 11 and Omari Hayes for a gain of 26, but on the next play he was under pressure and threw an errant pass which was intercepted by Christian Jones with 1 second remaining, essentially ending the half with FAU holding a 17-10 lead.
Weisman was struggling in the second quarter but ultimately bounced back and led 4 scoring drives, and part of that was because he realized he needed to move on from his mistakes and look to bounce back in the second half.
“I was hitting some good throws. I was like, I’m making the right reads. I was like, you just have to be smart. We’re driving in a two minute situation, and I make a dumb throw. I can’t do that’s the young part of me coming out, we live and we learn though. Halftime, Coach Frye and Coach Herman talked to me, he’s telling me I’m good. Just keep your head down, keep going, let’s have a big second half.”
Wagner started with the ball in the second half, finding some success getting inside the FAU 40 with 21 yards from Derek Burrell, however the drive stalled out at the FAU 37 which forced a Wagner punt early in the quarter.
CJ Campbell started the Owls first drive of the second half with 3 carries for 32 yards and following that Weisman began to get going, connecting with Dom Henry twice in 4 plays for 31 yards. They marched down to the 11 yard line having it 4th and 3, but rather than play aggressively Herman opted to go up 2 scores and Morgan Suarez converted on a 29 yard field goal to go up 20-10 with 6:18 to play in the 3rd.
FAU’s defense forced a 3 and out on the next drive, and the CJ Campbell show began from there. On ensuing Owls drive, Campbell rushed it 5 times for 53 yards, scoring his second TD of the day on an 11 yard scamper which put FAU 27-10 with 1:51 to play in the quarter.
Campbell broke out in this game, scoring twice and rushing for a season high 145 yards and after the game he spoke on not getting enough opportunities early in his career, but being ready for the one he has now.
“It is all coming full circle. I put in a lot of work, even whenever I didn’t get those opportunities, I was just being patient, trying to wait my turn and continue to work. Whenever I felt like, there wasn’t much going there, going for me, I felt I needed to make a move. And this move is working out pretty well for me, just making the most of my opportunity.”
Wagner was able to pick up a first down on their next drive, however they needed to put something together trailing 3 scores and on a 4th and 2 from their own 34, Julio Tatis rushed up the middle where he was stuffed by Jaden Wheeler which resulted in a turnover on downs which set FAU up in plus territory.
The Owls capitalized, as Mobley picked up 25 yards on 3 carries and following a defensive penalty FAU was set up first and goal from the 4. Weisman called his own number on the goal-line, lowering his shoulder and carrying a defender into the endzone for a 4 yard score which put FAU up 34-10 with 12:53 to go.
Weisman did his best Fancher impression on that run, bullying a seahawk into the endzone and although he wasn’t trying to replicate Cam, Weisman has taken a few pointers from the veteran.
“Cam weighs a lot more than me, but I came around the corner and I was like, Oh, he’s sitting right here, so I’m gonna have to drop the shoulder, but yeah, me and him have a great relationship. It’s been really good for us so far,” Weisman said.
Wagner was unable to do anything on the next drive in a must score situation if it wasn’t one already, and FAU took over with 10:49 to play which gave them a chance to get some young players reps.
The Owls rushed it 9 straight times on their ensuing drive, getting 26 yards from Gemari Sands, 28 from Xavier Terrell and 17 from Weisman, ultimately capping it off with a 1 yard score from Sands on 4th and goal from the 1, his first career TD, which put FAU up 41-10, which was the score they ultimately went on to win by.
Although it was against an FCS opponent, this was a much needed game for the Owls as they shut down Wagner entirely during the second half and found consistency offensively that has been elusive so far this season.
Both Cam Fancher and Kasen Weisman commanded the offense with confidence, moving past struggles to each lead multiple scoring drives. Weisman particularly impressed, playing nearly 3 full quarters and leading 4 scoring drives, making an impact with his legs and through the air connecting with 6 different receivers.
It was ultimate domination, as the Owls out gained Wagner 567 to 132, while out rushing them 310 to 20, and the big play was working for the Owls, as FAU finished averaging 8 yards per play, while Wagner averaged 2.3.
The Owls will now head into their bye at 2-3, but now with a boat load of momentum and a potential budding star in Kasen Weisman. Not all of the questions have been answered as although Weisman bounced back in the second half, AAC play will bring a whole different level of challenge. It will be something to watch over the next 2 weeks if FAU leans into a 2QB system, or if either Fancher or Weisman establish themself as the number 1.
FAU will take on North Texas on October 12th following the bye week and it will be a serious test for the Owls as they look to make a push towards bowl eligibility during AAC play.