By AJ Johnson
What started out as a nightmare, ended up as a huge confidence building, learning experience for the FAU Owls in Death Valley on Saturday night in front of 81,000 Clemson fans. The final score doesn’t tell the whole story in a game of two halves.
The game got out of hand quickly right from the start. Four plays in, Clemson’s cornerback Nate Wiggins broke in front of quarterback Casey Thompson’s pass downfield and weaved his way in one out or traffic 46 yards to the end zone.
Clemson QB Cade Klubnik went 5-of-5 on the Tigers’ first possession, the last throw connecting with Tyler Brown for a 30-yard touchdown and a 13-0 lead.
Thompson’s second interception of the first quarter led to another Klubnik scoring pass of 7 yards to tight end Jake Briningstool.
Thompson took a hard hit in the second quarter and spent several minutes down on the turf. That was the end of his night. Casey returned to the sideline in street clothes for the second half, he did not return to the game.
LaJohntay Wester had a big game with 12 catches and 108 yards receiving setting a new FAU record with 163 career receptions. It was his first ever game with 10+ receptions.
On the other side of the ball, defensive back Jarron Morris seemed to be everywhere on the field. Morris recorded six tackles and busted up 2 passes.
Coach Tom Herman postgame quote: “I know the scoreboard is awful and the way we looked for a lot of the first half was awful and our guys responded for the most part. We are going to really do a good job of accentuating and promoting the guys that upheld our standard and our culture regardless of the scoreboard and also make sure we point out the guys that did not.”
The Owls were out of this one quickly. They made just two of their first 14 third downs and had four turnovers. But they came out after halftime with fire, intensity and determination and played Clemson to a draw in the second half, and score 2 touchdowns in the 4th quarter.
Some people will look at the score and say “Yikes!” I on the other hand saw a team that kept firing when many others would have mentally and emotionally packed it in.
QB Michael Johnson Jr. scored his first touchdown as an Owl on a 2-yard run.
Safety Dwight Toombs made seven tackles
Today’s learning experience will produce many future victories for the FAU Owls. No team can win every game, but if a lose is a learning experience – well, then it’s really a win. The future is bright for this Coach Herman’s Owl team.
FAU Game Stats
Offensive
FAU – Passing
| Player | Cmp | Att. | Yds. | TD | INT | Long | Sack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richardson,Daniel | 18 | 32 | 120 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 2 |
| Thompson,Casey | 7 | 12 | 49 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 0 |
| Posey,Javion | 1 | 1 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| Lupo,Logan | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Totals | 27 | 46 | 210 | 1 | 3 | 33 | 2 |
FAU – Rushing
| Player | Att. | Gain | Loss | Net | TD | Lg. | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis,Kobe | 14 | 58 | 9 | 49 | 0 | 16 | 3.5 |
| Walker,Keyvon | 4 | 26 | 4 | 22 | 0 | 20 | 5.5 |
| Mobley,Zuberi | 6 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 1.7 |
| Johnson Jr.,Michael | 4 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 1.8 |
| Thompson,Casey | 3 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 2.0 |
| Armes,Robert | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2.0 |
| Wester,LaJohntay | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3.0 |
| Richardson,Daniel | 2 | 0 | 18 | -18 | 0 | 0 | -9.0 |
| Totals | 36 | 120 | 37 | 83 | 1 | 20 | 2.3 |
FAU – Receiving
| Player | Rec. | Yds. | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wester,LaJohntay | 12 | 108 | 0 | 19 |
| Price,Devin | 2 | 41 | 1 | 33 |
| Sullivan,Wyatt | 4 | 17 | 0 | 7 |
| Moore,Zeke | 2 | 15 | 0 | 8 |
| Lewis,Kobe | 3 | 14 | 0 | 9 |
| Johnson,Tony | 3 | 13 | 0 | 9 |
| Platt,Jayshon | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Mobley,Zuberi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sumlin,Jackson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hester,Jymetre | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 27 | 210 | 1 | 33 |
Defensive
Inidividual Defensive Statistics Categories:FAU Owls
Fla. Atlantic – Individual Defensive Statistics
| Player | Solo | Ast | Tot | TFL/Yds | Sack/Yds | FF | FR-Yds | INT | BrUp | Blkd | QH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morris,Jarron | 4 | 2 | 6 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | 2 | – | – |
| Williams,Eddie | – | 2 | 2 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | 1 | – | – |
| Ambush,Jackson | 4 | 4 | 8 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Toombs,Dwight | 4 | 3 | 7 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Hill,Daedae | 3 | 2 | 5 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Williams,Jayden | 1 | 2 | 3 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | 1 |
| Wester,Jaylen | 3 | – | 3 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Jerrels,Jarrett | 3 | – | 3 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Merrifield,Jacob | 2 | 1 | 3 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Mungin,Romain | 1 | 1 | 2 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Anderson,Evan | 1 | 1 | 2 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | 1 |
| Tisdol,Desmond | 2 | – | 2 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Antoine,Michal | 2 | – | 2 | 1.0/2 | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Mobley,Zuberi | 1 | – | 1 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Johnson Jr.,Michael | 1 | – | 1 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Jean,Latrell | 1 | – | 1 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | 1 |
| Moore,Josh | 1 | – | 1 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Huff,Jalen | 1 | – | 1 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| McClendon,Darius | 1 | – | 1 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Wheeler,Jaden | 1 | – | 1 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Wansley,Amari | 1 | – | 1 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Peters,Xavier | 1 | – | 1 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Lupo,Logan | 1 | – | 1 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Jones,Chris | 1 | – | 1 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| McBride,Courtney | 1 | – | 1 | 1.0/3 | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | 1 |
| Bradley,Marlon | 1 | – | 1 | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | 1 |
| Price,Devin | – | – | – | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Thompson,Casey | – | – | – | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Platt,Jayshon | – | – | – | -/- | -/- | – | 1/- | – | – | – | – |
| Walker,Keyvon | – | – | – | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | – |
| Hawthorne,Decarius | – | – | – | -/- | -/- | – | -/- | – | – | – | 1 |
Special Teams
Individual Punting Statistics
| Player | Punts | Yds. | Avg. | Long | In. 20 | TB | 50+ Yds. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lupo,Logan | 7 | 286 | 40.9 | 59 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Player | Punts | Kickoffs | Interceptions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ret. | Yds. | Lg | Ret. | Yds. | Lg | Ret. | Yds. | Lg | |
| Lewis,Kobe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Posey,Javion | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
FAU – Field Goals
| Player | Qtr. | Clock | Yds. | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lupo,Logan | 2nd | 07:24 | 46 | MISSED |
FAU – Kickoffs
| Player | No. | Yds. | TB | OB | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davis,Carter | 3 | 189 | 1 | 0 | 63.0 |
FAU – PATs
| Player | Kicks | Rushes | Passes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATT | Made | ATT | Made | ATT | Made | |
| Lupo,Logan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
