2010 Florida Atlantic Owls Football Preview

2009 Results: 5-7, No Bowl

Head Coach: Howard Schnellenberger (10th year @ FAU, 36-37 @ FAU, 136-114-1 Overall)

Home Venue: Lockhart Stadium (20,500), Boca Raton, Florida

The patriarch of football in south Florida was the driving force behind the creation of the football team at Florida Atlantic and the progress that Howard Schnellenberger has made in a decade has been impressive. Entering their 10 th year of existence, the Owls have played in two bowl games and have established themselves as a contender in the Sun Belt. Can Schnellenberger take the Owls back to the postseason after falling short in 2009?

OFFENSE

Florida Atlantic enters 2010 with the fewest returning offensive starters in the entire conference, with only three. Senior quarterback Jeff Van Camp (1372 yards, 12 TD, 2 INT) started the final five games last season and was excellent in leading the Owls to a 3-2 closing kick. He’ll be joined in the backfield by the Sun Belt’s leading rusher and All-Conference selection Alfred Morris, who rushed for 1,392 yards and 13 TDs in 2009. Completing FAU’s big three is senior receiver Lester Jean, who snagged 38 passes for over 500 yards and 4 TDs last fall.

That’s where the good news ends. The rest of the receiving corps has virtually no experience and the entire offensive line has to be rebuilt from scratch! Not one single starter is back up front and FAU could start a line composed entirely of underclassmen, a formula that is rarely a prescription for success. Needless to say, there are some serious concerns up front.

With two great players in the backfield, FAU definitely has the potential to be a surprise offensive squad this year. It is also important to remember that a line built from scratch could still turn out to be a decent line, so if the Owls can find any consistency up front then this could be a similar offense to last year’s, which averaged nearly 28 points per game. But having a solid O-Line is the key to any good offense, so I’m very tentative in predicting too much success.

DEFENSE

FAU’s offense can be summed up as inexperienced but featuring very talented returning players. The defense is the polar opposite: There are nine returning starters but they formed the core of a unit that allowed over 33 points per game last season! Thus Schnellenberger has to hope for some major improvement this season or it will be another long season.

But with a lot of returning experience, I would expect that he’ll get it. His line returns three upperclassmen starters who should be much better this season, especially the junior DE tandem of Kevin Cyrille and Jamere Johnson. This line should allow a good linebacking corps, led by senior Michael Lockley (97 tackles in 2009), to make a lot of plays. The Owls also return the entire secondary, which will likely feature three senior starters. Led by safety Marcus Bartels, the team’s top tackler in 2009 with 112 stops, there is some good talent on hand. However, this group needs to find a way to actually force some turnovers and if it can’t then FAU won’t make the necessary strides forward.

So how will this defense perform? With so much returning experience and a few promising players reaching their potential, the Owls are ripe for improvement. While their best case is a slightly above average defense in the Sun Belt, there will be noticeable improvement.

> Buy Florida Atlantic clothing & apparel and find a great selection of college Fathead helmets online through College Sports Fans!

SCHEDULE

The Owls have a daunting schedule this year with only four home games. Their non-conference slate is also quite difficult, featuring trips to Texas, South Florida, Michigan State and UAB! To make matters worse, their visit to Texas preceded their final two contests of the season, which come against league favorites MTSU and Troy. This is one of the league’s toughest schedules.

OUTLOOK

The Owls have a lot of question marks going into 2010. Can their offensive line give QB Van Camp time to make some plays? Will their defense improve this season? Can the very real possibility of a 0-4 start through a schedule that only has four home dates deflate their season from the outset? I believe that Florida Atlantic will find some rhythm on their offensive line and that will allow them to be two dimensional offensively. I also think that their defense will be improved this season. However, I also think that they’re facing an uphill climb with their schedule and are no better than a middle of the pack team in the Sun Belt. Thus, I’m afraid that the Owls will miss the postseason for the 2 nd consecutive year despite an even conference record.

PREDICTED RESULT: 5-7 (4-4 Sun Belt)