Aug 30th – FAU
Well I’m back for another season of Miami Hurricanes Football and once again I’m going to do the 12 part series on our opponents. The first in the 2013 series is on the Florida Atlantic Owls, our opponent on August 30th (a Friday Night at home at Sun Life Stadium). Gametime is 8 p.m. on ESPNU.
Here’s what you need to know about FAU: Last season, this was a Jekyll and Hyde team. Early in the year, they went 1-5, then finished 2-4. Now you would think not too many changes, right? Looks can be deceiving. They did play hard in the 2nd half of the season, beating Troy and Western Kentucky, (the latter going to the Little Caesars Bowl before losing to Central Michigan in that game), and losing at South Alabama (which won just 2 games last year, finishing 2-11 and 1-7 in the Sun Belt) in overtime and losing another pair by 10 points or less (@Navy 24-17 and vs FIU 34-24), You can see the progression of that team under Carl Pelini, who’s entering Year 2 in Boca Raton.
Its not easy filling the shoes of a legend like Howard and Pelini is going to have to really lean on the experience he obtained under three pretty good coaches in Bill Snyder, Frank Solich and, of course, his brother, Bo. Some more background on Carl Pelini: In 1989, he was a graduate assistant and a restricted-earnings assistant under Snyder at Kansas State, and was part of a rebuilding project that has turned out to be very very successful in the Little Apple. His next stop was on the high school level in both Kansas and Ohio where was for a decade, spending the last three years at the latter. His first real look at the big time came in 2003, when Frank Solich hired his brother Bo to be Nebraska's defensive coordinator; and Bo, brought him in as a graduate assistant.
However, it would not be until 2005, where Carl Pelini would become a full-time college assistant jfor the first time. That would be at Ohio in 2005, when Solich hired him to coach the D-Line. It would not be long before Carl would really be in the big time as an assistant. You see, in 2008, his brother, Bo became the Head Coach of the Huskers, and naturally, he hired his brother, Carl to be the DC, where he the Pelini were pretty successful. It didn’t take too long for some up and coming program to notice that Carl had HC potential. Before the start of last season, Pelini was down to Boca Raton to be the new HC of FAU. Having your brother be the HC at a BCS school like Nebraska and being successful with the Defense there, gave him this shot and now he’s trying to make his own name and make that FAU program very successful, as they go into their 1st season in Conference USA while, at the same time, he oversees the program's continued growth in one of the most talent-rich states in the country, which happens to be Florida and specifically South Florida.
Enough about the coach, lets get to the players on the field that we’ll need to watch.
Offensively: The O-Line is the big question mark here. They only have two starters back from 2012. The leader of that line, is DeAndre Williams, who easily is the most battle-tested lineman on their roster. After Williams, they do have another upperclassman in Senior, Mustafa Johnson, who’s going to play Center on the O-Line. After that, its take your pick. They need Johnathon Ragoo and Stern Vile to step up this season and be the beasts on that line. (Ragoo is an option on the blind side, but that he has yet to do anything of consequence makes putting him at left tackle a somewhat questionable move.) The FAU coaching staff is pretty high on Sophomore Mike Marsaille, who they think could be a very good player for them and could end up as a starter as the season goes on. The O-Line is one of their weak links and that’s not good, especially with them now in C-USA..
The running game, turned out to be a dud last season. That, you can attribute to switching over to OC Brian Wright's spread system. You can also attribute the lack of a running game to the fact that the O-Line was basically ineffective and out of position a lot. These group of backs are now seniors, and they all return in 2013:
· Jonathan Wallace (648 yards) is the leader
· Damian Fortner (313 yards)
· Martese Jackson (224 yards) and Travis Jones right there in the mix.
Wallace separated himself a bit late in the season, to have them get away from the by-committee approach. That said, if Jackson, stays healthy and doesn’t suffer from fumblitis, he’s the kind of back that can break a game wide open with his speed and explosiveness
Their go-to guy in 2012 was Junior WR William Dukes, (who had 63 receptions for 979 yards), despite the lack of offense. He was their main guy and he does it very well too. That’s a very underrated and one to watch this year to see if can get to the next level.
The bottom line is he needs help, because teams are going to double and triple him because the opposing DC’s know there’s no second or third option in the passing game. One player that has to step up and be that 2nd option is senior TE Nexon Dorvilus, who in 2012, was their team's third-leading receiver and its top target in the red zone. Outside of Dukes, they have Seniors Daniel McKinney (48-492 in 2012) and DeAndre Richardson, who led their team in catches back in 2011, but was out all last year with an injury. If Richardson stays healthy, he could that 2nd threat to make opposing DCs have to respect Richardson and not focus so much on Dukes. They would really like to see Junior Marcus Cunningham, step up and produce this year. They also have former Indiana transfer Jay McCants in the core that gives them another tall, lanky option to work with Dukes in the vertical game. When you look at their receiving core, its big, but except for Dukes, there’s not much there to look at that makes you go wow.
Defensively: This is Carl Pelini's baby right here. You’re going to see a team that, given a few years in his system, this is going to be a defense to reckoned with. Right now, this is a work in progress.
With them moving into C-USA, the one area that will be tested right away is the Run Defense. In the Sun Belt, it’s more of a spread league, with finesse valued over size and brute strength. However, in Conference USA, while it’s not the SEC, they’re going to find out that in that league, they’re going to see team that like to run the ball a lot. To that regard, guys like D-Linemen like 225-pound sophomore Trevon Coley (39 tackles) and senior Brandin Bryant (31 tackles, 4.5 for loss) are going to be really tested, especially on the interior. When you add sophomore Derek Butcher and senior Kayvon Sherill to the rotation, it could be another long season in Boca Raton, if they can’t stop the run. At DE, Seniors Martin Wright (28 tackles, 4.0 for loss), Cory Henry (24 tackles) and Andrew Stryffeler, have to step up and produce and show leadership to the DL. Wright is the leader up front on the line. While you have Henry, who switched to DE from LB, who can give this pass rush a much needed boost. While they have trouble rushing the QB, the key for this D is stopping the run consistently as it’s the #1 issue coming into this year.
The LB core lost a big piece due to David Hinds graduation, however, experience wise, they have enough back to still do some damage. They also bring back an experienced secondary, so their back seven is good. At LB, they return some quality starters here in Andrae Kirk (70 tackles), Randell Johnson (21 tackles) and Adarius Glanton (75 tackles, 5.5 for loss). Their best LB here is Kirk, not to mention the fact that he has the most talent of the bunch here, however, keep an eye out for Johnson, who because of an injury, missed most of 2012. In 2011, he was their second-leading tackler with 92 tackles, 14.5 of those for loss. The top reserve, sophomore Freedom Whitfield, who had 12 tackles last year, will see extensive time in certain packages.
Their secondary brings a lot of experience back, sans one major contributor, which would be at SS, where the competition is wide open. A strong candidate to win that job is Senior Winfred Strickland (24 tackles). He would be a good replacement for Brent Harstad (Graduation). They also return senior Keith Reaser (45 tackles) and junior D'Joun Smith at the CB spot. When you look at Reaser, he’s an all-Conference USA contender. When you add Senior Jeremy McKnight at the FS spot, as well as promising sophomore Cre'von LeBlanc (42 tackles) at the nickel, and you have a group – that’s intact and in 2012, they played well from a statistical standpoint. However, you have to factor in that their opponents were able to run the ball effectively and not have to throw as much, considering how terrible FAU’s DL was. Forcing turnovers in 2012 wasn’t a strong suit for them, and that must improve in 2013, especially now going into C-USA.
Special teams: Let’s put it this way, they were just awful. This will be something Carl Pelini focuses on more in 2013 in every aspect. They have RS Senior Travis Jones back to return Kicks/Punts. They also return Mitch Anderson at kicker and Sophomore Sean Kelly back at punter. However, this is a major work in progress here.
At the QB position, there’s really a two-person battle going for the starting job between JUCO Melvin German and Quez Johnson. This is a battle that will go maybe up to just before gametime vs Miami.
In closing, moving into a new league will present some problems, but also an opportunity to see where they are at and how far they need to come in the future. My prediction for FAU in 2013: 4-8
In Part 2 of the series, I’ll talk about the Florida Gators.
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