It was all good in paradise, until it wasn’t. FAU led 37-27 with 4:21 remaining and it was looking like the Owls were closing in on their best win of the season, but then it all fell apart. UNT marched down the field twice, scoring on consecutive possessions and putting a sour note on what was the best FAU offensive performance of the season. Cam Fancher (Pictured above via Angelina Labelle) completed 22 of 31 passes for 351 yards and 3 TDs, also picking up 69 yards on the ground and FAU rushed for 168 yards as a team, getting 89 yards on 18 carries and score from CJ Campbell Jr. Campbell also had 74 yards receiving, while Omari Hayes had 89 yards receiving and a score on 5 catches, and the Owls were clicking offensively in full force for the first time this season. But the Owls ran out of gas, and ultimately UNT capitalized late, getting multiple veteran led drives from Chandler Morris who finished with 336 yards and 4TDs, connecting with their star receiver DT Sheffield all throughout and they found a way to win when the odds were stacked against them. This FAU team has made serious strides in just a few weeks, but they haven’t found a way to win consistently and with only 6 games remaining they will have to win 4 to make a bowl, something which is a goal of the program and the fanbase. Although the outcome of the game wasn’t how they wanted, the team has found something to work with offensively and now the next step will be to put everything together and find a way to win at minimum 4 games over the final stretch of the season. After the game, FAU Coach Tom Herman talked about the strides his team has made, however noting despite the success there is still a lot of work to do and that the team has to wipe the slate clean of this game after 24 hours. When you win one like that on the road, you’ve got probably one of those special seasons going and I’ve had that feeling before, and they they played, I’m sure, not up to his standard, but did enough to win there at the end, and that’s a really good football team. And I told our guys after the game I wanted them to understand I’m not mad. For huge periods, huge stretches that we played tonight, you know, like a championship American Athletic Conference team should play, and I was really proud of that, Herman said. We hadn’t seen that in a year and a half guys against a really, really good team to play that well for an extended period of time. I was really proud. Now, a long way to go. Obviously, I’d rather get beat by 50, because its hard to be that close and yet still know we got a lot of work to do. So I am. I’m really proud that that team on the other sideline tonight is really good, and they’ve got something special. They got a hell of a quarterback, a hell of a coach, and they’ve got something brewing, and for us to be in the position that we were, that’s a team I feel like we really haven’t seen in our two years here. So I was proud of that, but I would expect them to move on probably even faster had we won, Herman said. If you’re going to celebrate the wins for 24 hours, you’ve got to mourn the losses for 24 hours, because I don’t even know who won or lost in our conference today. Don’t really care, but I do know one thing, UT San Antonio, under the guidance of Jeff Traylor, is not going to care how we lost, whether we lost. We got a job to go do in seven days, and we’ll get up tomorrow. We’ll lick our wounds. And I think probably the most hopeful part of the evening is if, if that’s the upper echelon of this conference, which it appears we played two teams or two conference games, we havent been to a bowl game around here in a while, and we’re going to have six more, just like that, and all we have to do is improve and grow so, infinitesimally small,. We have to grow just a little bit to over the edge in games like that, like tonight. But if we do, which I think we will, we have six winnable games in front of us and six loseable games. So it’ll be up to the guys in that locker room how they want to attack this week, Herman said. Game Recap 1st Quarter Florida Atlantic won the toss and deferred to the second half, North Texas received the football to start the game and sent their explosive offense to work. UNT was stuffed on their first play of the game, as Eddie Williams stopped a run play for a loss of one, but on the second play from scrimmage UNT did what they do and Chandler Morris dropped a dime to his big tight end Oscar Hammond over the middle and he hauled in for a gain of 19 and a few plays later Morris took off with it for a gain of 17 and set up UNT inside the FAU 30. After a false start made it 1st and 15 from the 32, Morris connected with DT Sheffield for 2 short gains, got 2 short runs from Mckenzie McGill including a 4th down conversion and on the ensuing set of downs, Morris found Dalton Carnes for a 19 yard score to go up 7-0 with 10:29 to play in the 1st. FAU got to work quickly on their first drive of the day, showing some of the explosiveness they had against Wagner, as on the first 3 plays CJ Campbell JR recorded 35 rushing yards and a gain of 13 through the air which set them up 1st down past midfield. Zuberi Mobley carried it 3 straight times on the following set of downs, getting 13 yards total and a first down setting FAU up inside the red zone. On the ensuing 1st down, Fancher dropped back and found a wide open Omari Hayes in the back of the end zone to tie it up at 7 with 6:32 to play. North Texas took over at the 25 following the touchdown and got a gain of 15 from Seth Porter on the first play of the drive to set them up 1st and 10 at their own 40. The Owls defense stood up following the big gain, as on the next 3 plays they forced 3 incompletions and forced a punt, however on the punt Hayes fumbled and UNT recovered at the FAU 25. Just one play later Morris dropped back and found a wide open Nick Rempert in the end zone from 25 yards out to go up 14-7 with 5:04 to play in the first. After the special teams collapse cost them 7, the FAU offense went back to work needing a response and got one from Cam Fancher, he picked up 39 yards on 2 run plays to get FAU past midfield with a first down. The Owls found themselves backed up 3rd and 18 and things were looking bleak, however Fancher remained poised as the pocket collapsed, stepped up and found Wyatt Sullivan deep over the middle for a gain of 38 inside the UNT 10. 2nd Quarter The Owls were stuffed on 3 straight plays following the huge gain and settled with a 26 yard Morgan Suarez FG to make it 14-10 Owls with 14:19 to go in the first half. The defense needed a stop after settling for a field goal, and they got one stuffing 2 run plays for only 4 yards total and getting a dropped pass off the hands of DT Sheffield which gave the Owls the ball back 1st and 10 at the FAU 27 following a clean punt recovery. After only getting a field goal after getting inside the red zone, the Owls wanted to make a statement on this drive and they came ready. The Owls got chunk plays on 2 out of the first 3 getting a 15 yard pass to Jabari Smith JR. and a 10 yard Fancher carry, which set them up right at midfield. The Owls followed that up with 5 straight run plays between Fancher and their backs, before Fancher found Omari Hayes for a gain of 10 on 3rd and 7. On the ensuing first down the Owls brought out the magic, handing it off to CJ Campbell who ran right, stopped in his tracks and tossed it back to Fancher who found a wide open Wyatt Sullivan (Pictured above via Angelina LaBelle) in the end zone for a score, giving the Owls their first lead of the day 17-14 with 7:34 to play in the half. For Sullivan, that was his first career TD and after the game he spoke on the hard times in his life went through his mind after the score. “I remember my freshman year, I had a hip surgery, and it definitely brought me down the depth chart. I had to work my way up. And just remembering where I was, here around Christmas, getting surgery by myself, and just remembering everything I had to go through to get to where I was, where I am, Sullivan said. UNT came out guns blazing trailing for the first time all day and Morris found Wyatt Young for a gain of 39 deep over the middle on the first play of the drive and a gain of 11 to Blair Conwright which set UNT up 1st down inside the FAU 30. The Owls defense bounced back following that however, as they stuffed UNT on 3 straight plays, including a sack forced by Prince James Boyd which resulted in the Mean Green settling for a field goal which made it 17-17 with 4:40 to play. The FAU offense was feeling themselves early in this one as once again tied up they made quick work of a UNT defense that was on the field quite a bit, as Fancher connected with Omari Hayes for a gain of 21. After a few plays got them past mid field, Fancher once again found Hayes, this time for a gain of 22 which set them up first and goal from the 10. 2 plays later, Fancher dropped back and found Jabari Smith JR in the back of the end zone for a his first career TD to give the Owls a 24-17 lead with 1:20 to go. Smith Jr has saw his role increase throughout the season, and that is because of the work he has put in during practice and he spoke on that work after the game. “You can always build on your mistakes like tonight, I didn’t play the first couple games, but always just kept working in practice, keeping my head up and going hard,” Smith Jr. said. UNT started at the 25 following the Owls TD and got a gain of 11 on the ground from Seth Porter, however the drive stalled and FAU got it back right near midfield after UNT failed to convert on 4th and 4 from the FAU 48 with 30 seconds to play. On the first play of the FAU 2 minute drill the Owls got a gain of 37 on a pass to CJ Campbell Jr, that got them into field goal range and with 2 seconds left, Suarez converted on a 32 yard FG to put the Owls up 27-17 at the half. Campbell Jr has become a feature piece of this FAU offense with chunk plays like the 37 yard one on this drive and he says that is because the trust factor of the team has increased as the season has progressed. “It was more of a trust factor, We have guys over there that we all go to work together with. And I just work real hard. They work real hard as well, but just being able to show them that, you know, I’m able to be trusted. I knew my job, I knew my assignment, I’ll be there, and I’m a guy you can rely on. But, you know, that’s something we all work on. We always try to be the same way, you know, be able to do anything that coaches ask us to do, and that’s what we take pride in,” Campbell Jr said. It was the Owls best offensive performance in any half of football this season, as Fancher completed 15 of 17 passes for 225 and 3 TDs, while the team rushed for 132 yards total, 66 of them from Fancher on the ground. It was an explosive showing, however UNT isn’t going to roll over and the Owls need to carry momentum into the second half. With Fancher looking better than he has all year, after the game Herman explained that albeit a loss this performance was one Fancher needed. “I saw a guy that knew he was one of, if not the best player on the field, and he went out and was that, and that was really fun to see. He needed a game like this,” Herman said. 3rd Quarter The Owls picked up right where they left off, as they started with the ball to start the second half and moved with a purpose. Campbell picked up 3 yards on 2 carries, and on 3rd and 7 Fancher found Omari Hayes for a gain of 22 to set up FAU past midfield at the UNT 40. On the next set of downs, Fancher found Khalil Brantley for his first catch of the season which resulted in a gain of 5 however, it set up a 4th and 5 which the Owls were unable to convert, turning it over on downs at the UNT 35. UNT got the ball back needing a score and they looked like a new team on their first drive of the second half. They started with 13 scrimmage yards from Shane Porter, 1 on the ground and 12 through the air and on the ensuing play Morris found DT Sheffield for a gain of 37 down the left side, going out of bounds at the FAU 15 giving UNT serious momentum. They capitalized on the big gain, as 4 rushing plays later Makenzie McGill punched it in from 3 yards out giving UNT the response they needed, cutting the deficit to 27-24 with 9:21 to play in the 3rd. FAU looked to have found some of the first half explosiveness once again on their second drive of the second half, as on 3rd and 9 on the first set of downs of the drive, Fancher found Milan Tucker for a gain of 52 deep over the middle. However, they took a big step back on the following play as a bad snap resulted in a loss of 17 which made it 2nd and 27 and they were unable to recover, gaining 17 total yards but that only got them back to the original line of scrimmage, ultimately missing a 51 yard FG which set UNT up with positive field position 1st and 10 at their own 33. UNT looked to be flipping momentum, however Morris left a floater over the middle which Jackson Ambush intercepted and returned down to the 12 yard line. Just one play later, CJ Campbell bulldozed defenders into the end zone scoring from 12 yards out and giving FAU a 34-24 lead with 5:06 to play in the 3rd quarter. The Mean Green found success on their next drive with chunk plays, getting 4 plays of 10 yards or more and after the 4th, a gain of 10 to Blair Conwright, UNT had first and goal inside the 10. The FAU defense held, as a pair of UNT penalties pushed them back and erased a potential TD and the Mean Green had to settle for a 40 yard FG to make it 34-27 which was the score at the conclusion of the quarter. 4th Quarter The Owls started their first drive of the 4th quarter with some positives, getting a gain of 11 from Campbell on the ground and Fancher finding Marlyn Johnson near the sideline on 3rd and 6 for a first down, but after that the drive stalled out. On the ensuing first down, FAU started with a false start and a loss of 4 on the ground, on 2nd and 19 Fancher found Milan Tucker for a gain of 17, however, on 3rd down Fancher was sacked and the Owls punted. UNT got a few big plays on their next drive, with Morris finding Rempert for a gain of 14 and McGill picking up 13 on the ground, but on the next few plays the Owls defense stepped stopping a run for a loss of 4, getting a PBU from Daedae Hill and on 4th down Wilky Denaud brought serious pressure and forced the turnover on downs. The Owls took over in plus field position at the UNT and Fancher found Jabari Smith JR for a gain of 10 on 3rd and 8, but were unable to punch it in the end zone, settling for a 32 yard field goal from Morgan Suarez and putting FAU up 37-27 with 4:21 remaining. It was do or die time for the Mean Green with under 5 minutes remaining and Chandler Morris went to work getting big gains from Morris to Sheffield, 48 yards in 2 plays total and after a late hit penalty on Wilky Denaud put UNT on the 8, Morris found Sheffield in the end zone and brought them within 3, 37-34 with 2:38 remaining. The Owls needed 2 first downs to ice the game and they got 11 yards on 2 carries from Campbell, but after that they were stuffed on 2 runs and on 3rd down after the 2 minute warning Fancher passed to Jabari Smith on a screen and it fell incomplete. Following a 27 yard punt return from Sheffield, UNT had the ball back with 1:43 remaining and a chance to take the lead. The Mean Green moved quickly, getting a gain of 19 from Morris to Sheffield and Shane Porter picked up 34 on a carry which moved them deep into FAU territory. Sheffield caught 2 consecutive 3 yard passes, on 1st and goal from the 6 and then 2nd and goal from the 3 and on the second he scored, taking the lead 41-37 with 58 seconds remaining. After the game, FAU Coach Tom Herman gave his thoughts on what led to the defensive mistakes in the final 2 drives. “We had some really, really poor tackling. And I know it’s hard to tackle when it’s wet. I mean, we broke a lot of tackles on offense too. I’m sure Coach Morris is up in arms about how many tackles they missed. So I get that that’s a really good quarterback, but we still have just enough of the old us in us that when it shows up, it shows up in some, some really bad ways. So we had some guys in the wrong gap. We had some guys taking the running back when they should have taken the quarterback or vice versa, but yet, they did it perfectly well 10 other times throughout the course of the game. So we’re still learning that every play is the play of the game, and you need to be that dialed in and that focus on your assignment. We talked today about the three things you can control on that field: your effort, your assignment, whether you know what to do or don’t know what to do, and then your technique. And so if you play with great effort, you know what you’re doing, and you play the way your coach to do, I told them you’re not going to win every one. You could do everything right. And I think that’s where maybe we struggled in the past, was with this whole belief of how we do things, that it was almost, well, see, Coach, I tried it your way, and I got beat. I know, our way only gets you in the door. You know, it gives you an opportunity. And I told him, going into this game, we’re not going to win every battle tonight, but, if we win enough and we keep battling, you know? And we did, we didn’t win quite enough, but I saw a bunch of guys out there for really, really long periods of trying time, trying to do it the way we want it done, Herman said. Fancher scrambled for 14 on 1st down, however on second he was intercepted and following a knee from UNT, the final was 41-37 with UNT completing a 10 point comeback, scoring twice in 4 minutes and 21 seconds to get their 5th win of the season. A loss like this can turn the season in a negative or a positive way and although the team is frustrated with the outcome captain Jackson Ambush says the team knows what they are capable of. “P*ssed, you’d rather get blown out than lose like that, you know? I mean, that’s just honesty, but we saw how good we can be, and that’s it,” Ambush said. Final Thoughts FAU showed what they are capable of during the first 3 quarters of action, however a late collapse cost them their best win of the season and now it is back to the drawing board. The offense looked as good as it has during the Herman era, but in the end a career day from Cam Fancher was not enough to stop the Mean Green’s ferocious comeback. Penalties were hurting the Owls on both sides of the ball, and small mistakes like that, if the Owls are going to turn this ship around and manage 4 wins over the final 6 weeks to make a bowl, have to be eradicated as fast as possible. Cam has found his mojo at QB, CJ Campbell JR and Zuberi Mobley are in-sync as a duo at RB, while Omari Hayes continues to establish himself as a #1 target in this offense, however all of the progress will be spoiled if FAU can’t find a way to win consistently. The defense allowed 41, but they forced a late turnover on Chandler Morris and were consistently putting pressure on him which led to some errant throws. There are 6 more games remaining this season, and the path to a bowl game is right in front of them, however they have to learn how to win and with half a season remaining, time is running out on the Owls to find their consistency and get their squad to bowl eligibility for the first time since 2020. FAU will take on UTSA from the Alamodome in San Antonio, which will be a must win matchup for 2 squads looking to turn their season around before it is too late.
