Written By: Manuel DeLeon
Boca Raton, FL – Senior Night at Howard Schellenberger Field didn’t go as planned for FAU (3-7,2-4), as the Owls fall to Old Dominion (8-3,6-1) 42-24. A week after coming back from 11 points down to defeat UTEP 31-35, Florida Atlantic looked out matched and fatigued against the Monarchs, who had their way with the Owls.
Florida Atlantic, basically playing for respect at this point in the season, came out firing scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions, seizing control of the game from the start. The Owls started their first drive on their own 43-yard line and imposed its will against ODU’s defensive line. Junior running back Greg Howell, FAU’s workhorse, scored the first points of the night pounding it in from one yard out, moving him past FAU great and current Dallas Cowboy Alfred Morris for the most rushing touchdowns in a season with 12.
The second drive? Much of the same, but this time with speedster freshman running back Devin Singletary, who found the endzone capping a FAU 77-yard drive. FAU built a 14-3 lead ending the first quarter, and was thought to have full control, but the Monarchs kept it close.
The stars were shining bright against the Boca Raton sky, but the biggest star of the night was ODU senior QB David Washington who threw for 416 yards and 5 touchdowns on 36 attempts, both career highs for the talented senior from Raleigh, NC. 7 Monarchs were on the receiving end of a Washington pass, the biggest recipients were wide receivers Zack Pascal and Jonathan Duhart.
Last year against the Owls, Pascal put up 163 receiving yards, he did one better this time around snagging 178 yards on 9 receptions, good enough for the fourth most receiving yards in a single game for ODU. Helping shoulder the load, receiver Jonathan Duhart secured three touchdown receptions, as he was Washington’s favorite target down in the redzone. Already with a depleted defense FAU, could not find an answer to stopping Washington and the fast paced Monarchs. Some may think this is the best receiving corps in Conference USA, Coach Charlie Partridge certainly thinks so stating ”They are arguably the best wide receiver corps that we faced in the league, and that’s saying something having faced that’s Western Kentucky offense and that unit there, they had a ton of explosive plays in the second half.”
It was a tale of two halves for FAU who took a 21-13 lead heading into halftime and looked to put this game way, but ODU had other plans, taking the lead from FAU 35-24 in the 3rd. FAU’s offense was held to only 51 total yards in the 3rd quarter after putting up 205 yards to close out the half. When the Owls stalled, the Monarchs took off, gashing the FAU defense for 214 yards in the 3rd quarter alone, leaving the Owl faithful wondering; what happened? The problem with the Owls isn’t talent, it’s the lack of depth on the defensive side of the ball, who’s been decimated by injury, especially at linebacker. Sophomore linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair who led the Owls in tackles (12) only took one play off due to injury, noticed the depth or lack thereof saying ”It’s really just fatigue I think, last year I was playing a lot, but this game I think I got out maybe one play. I think it’s just fatigue all around.”
That fatigue carried onto the 4th quarter for FAU, where the Monarchs continued to gas the Owls defense. The energy level could be summed up by one play in the 4th quarter where ODU quarterback Washington hit running back Jeremy Cox on a swing pass out of the backfield and he raced 84 yards untouched for the touchdown; the longest play for ODU since joining the FBS. Its wasn’t the fact that he was untouched that was shocking, it was the fact that no one was even close to him that amazed this FAU crowd. With that score the Monarch put the nail in the coffin 42-24.
I think Al-Shaair summed it up best saying “It’s a long season.” For FAU this long season comes to an end next week as they travel to Murfreesboro, Tenn to take on Middle Tennessee (7-4,4-3) kickoff is at 5:30pm.
Florida Atlantic, basically playing for respect at this point in the season, came out firing scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions, seizing control of the game from the start. The Owls started their first drive on their own 43-yard line and imposed its will against ODU’s defensive line. Junior running back Greg Howell, FAU’s workhorse, scored the first points of the night pounding it in from one yard out, moving him past FAU great and current Dallas Cowboy Alfred Morris for the most rushing touchdowns in a season with 12.
The second drive? Much of the same, but this time with speedster freshman running back Devin Singletary, who found the endzone capping a FAU 77-yard drive. FAU built a 14-3 lead ending the first quarter, and was thought to have full control, but the Monarchs kept it close.
The stars were shining bright against the Boca Raton sky, but the biggest star of the night was ODU senior QB David Washington who threw for 416 yards and 5 touchdowns on 36 attempts, both career highs for the talented senior from Raleigh, NC. 7 Monarchs were on the receiving end of a Washington pass, the biggest recipients were wide receivers Zack Pascal and Jonathan Duhart.
Last year against the Owls, Pascal put up 163 receiving yards, he did one better this time around snagging 178 yards on 9 receptions, good enough for the fourth most receiving yards in a single game for ODU. Helping shoulder the load, receiver Jonathan Duhart secured three touchdown receptions, as he was Washington’s favorite target down in the redzone. Already with a depleted defense FAU, could not find an answer to stopping Washington and the fast paced Monarchs. Some may think this is the best receiving corps in Conference USA, Coach Charlie Partridge certainly thinks so stating ”They are arguably the best wide receiver corps that we faced in the league, and that’s saying something having faced that’s Western Kentucky offense and that unit there, they had a ton of explosive plays in the second half.”
It was a tale of two halves for FAU who took a 21-13 lead heading into halftime and looked to put this game way, but ODU had other plans, taking the lead from FAU 35-24 in the 3rd. FAU’s offense was held to only 51 total yards in the 3rd quarter after putting up 205 yards to close out the half. When the Owls stalled, the Monarchs took off, gashing the FAU defense for 214 yards in the 3rd quarter alone, leaving the Owl faithful wondering; what happened? The problem with the Owls isn’t talent, it’s the lack of depth on the defensive side of the ball, who’s been decimated by injury, especially at linebacker. Sophomore linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair who led the Owls in tackles (12) only took one play off due to injury, noticed the depth or lack thereof saying ”It’s really just fatigue I think, last year I was playing a lot, but this game I think I got out maybe one play. I think it’s just fatigue all around.”
That fatigue carried onto the 4th quarter for FAU, where the Monarchs continued to gas the Owls defense. The energy level could be summed up by one play in the 4th quarter where ODU quarterback Washington hit running back Jeremy Cox on a swing pass out of the backfield and he raced 84 yards untouched for the touchdown; the longest play for ODU since joining the FBS. Its wasn’t the fact that he was untouched that was shocking, it was the fact that no one was even close to him that amazed this FAU crowd. With that score the Monarch put the nail in the coffin 42-24.
I think Al-Shaair summed it up best saying “It’s a long season.” For FAU this long season comes to an end next week as they travel to Murfreesboro, Tenn to take on Middle Tennessee (7-4,4-3) kickoff is at 5:30pm.