For Florida Atlantic seniors, this could be their last game as an Owl. With Middle Tennessee (5-6, 3-4 C-USA) coming to town, it’s a must-win game for them to keep their hopes at a bowl game and the careers of their seniors alive. Win and stay alive, lose and go home. “This game is just about going out as winners,” cornerback Zyon Gilbert, who will be playing in his program record 60th game on Saturday said. “We don’t want to go out with a loss. We want to go out with a win so we can be bowl eligible and win a bowl game.” FAU (5-6, 3-4 C-USA) will close out its season at home, where they had won 12 straight games before dropping a critical game against Marshall on Nov. 6. If you can’t make it to FAU Stadium, the game will be broadcast on Stadium and on The CW locally at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 27th. Midweek Mashup One Quarterback, Two Quarterback, Red Quarterback, Blue Quarterback MTSU features a two-QB system, with Chase Cunningham and Nick Vattiato splitting snaps. “I think with (quarterback) one, they lean a little more on quarterback read plays, sweeps, read the quarterback runs.,” defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. “They show up with the other quarterback as well, but he’s more likely to hold the ball more. We have to be prepared for those quarterback-type runs.” Williams Stepping Up With cornerbacks Diashun Moss and Romain “Smoke” Mungin out last week, freshman cornerback Jayden Williams put up four tackles against WKU. Veteran corner Zyon Gilbert was impressed. “I thought the kid played extremely well. I think he competed,” Gilbert said. “He wasn’t overwhelmed by the situation. Those are all positives in your first game like that on the road, throwing him in there. Baptism by fire. I’m really pleased with the way he handled everything. He’s been a mature kid. He shows great instincts on the field. I thought he did, for his first game, extremely well and it’s something to build off. I’m pleased with his play.” Scouting Report on MTSU’s Defense Senior running back James Charles (photo) offered a scouting report on the Blue Raider defense. “They’re going to fly to the ball. They’re a defense that wants to hit you,” he said. “They want to play physical. They send a lot of pressures, try to get a little exotic with it, try to catch people off guard, try to catch the running back in a bad pass protection. I’m expecting all of that. I’m expecting their best and their hardest because they’re in the same position we are. They’re trying to get to that bowl game too for their seniors and their program. I’m expecting a little bit of everything.” Charles on His time at FAU “Me and Korel Smith talk about that all the time. When we were coming in, me and Korel were the first two people committed to FAU. We were committed our junior season. Guys just like John Mitchell and [Jordan] Helm. Helm was a little guy before he got here. Now he’s just grown to one of our best players and a great guy on defense. Everybody’s just made their role and no matter the ups and downs or adversity, they always put the program first. They always put FAU football first before themselves and that’s what winning football is: when you care about the team and the guys to the left and right of you. That’s what winning football is. All of those guys and myself just took it day-by-day, year-by-year. Some good things came out of that.” Gilbert on His time at FAU “Myself and the other guys who came here with me helped to bring the program from a little to a lot. [Lane] Kiffin’s first year winning the championship, winning bowl games, winning another championship in 2019, just to see the people in the community and the fans happy for us. That we get a chance to do that for them every year, every season is just real fun.” VideoPlay Head Coach Willie Taggart, Offensive Coordinator Michael Johnson, running back James Charles, Defensive Coordinator Mike Stoops, and cornerback Zyon Gilbert headline this week’s VideoPlay.
