Loss Ends Schnellenberger Era

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The Howard Schnellenberger era is officially over, as the only coach in FAU Football History leaves the program with a 58-74 mark.

Schnellenberger's all-time record in 27 years of coaching college football is 158-151 with a National Championship for the Miami Hurricanes in 1983. He is 6-0 all-time in bowl games including a 2-0 mark with FAU.

The Owls can thank the UAB Blazers to avoid going winless this season as FAU pulled out a 38-35 win Saturday, November 26, thanks to Senior Running Back Alfred Morris' 198 yards and four touchdowns.

Morris became the first person in Schnellenberger's career to surpass 1,000 yards twice in his career. He finished with 1,186 yards in 2011 with a 72-yard effort against ULM. In 2009, he amassed 1,392.

The embarrassing defeat by UAB led to the firing a few days later of its' Head Coach Neil Callaway, who had a 3-9 season and was 21-51 in five years.

On Saturday, the 1-10 Owls were unable to build on their Thanksgiving Weekend momentum as they dropped a 26-0 decision to the University of Louisiana-Monroe (ULM) Warhawks.

ULM improved to 4-8, 3-5 while FAU dropped to 1-11 and 0-8 in the Sun Belt Conference.

FAU trailed 19-0 at half-time and Morris was held to 29 yards. ULM dominated the half by out gaining FAU in total yards 260-78. ULM added one more touchdown in the second half. For the contest, ULM outgained FAU 424-148 offensively.

Punter Mickey Groody had seven for 295 yards with a 42.1 average. Quarterback Graham Wilbert was limited to 79 yards passing.

When the game was over, FAU sent Schnellenberger out with a fireworks display. He also gave a game ending speech thanking everyone in the stadium for their support.

It took him longer to address the media because he spent extra time talking to his players. At the end of the press conference, the popular coach was busy signing media members press passes.

Schnellenberger said, “This is the first time I've turned a football team over in this type of situation. But I want the players to know that I value them being here. I didn't want these players to go out as losers. There are a lot of good football players on this team.”

But Schnellenberger was pleased that his retirement would turn out differently than legendary coaches like former Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden and Penn State's Joe Paterno by leaving on his own terms.

“I talked to Bowden about this and with the way coaches are getting disposed, and I didn't want to leave like that. I wanted this to be a seamless transition. I've never missed a day of work in 52 years of coaching and I'm glad that I can retire, relax, spend time with my wife Beverlee, children and grandchildren,” Schnellenberger added.

“I'll be moving out of my football office Sunday and into a new one in the administration building Monday helping out any way I can but won't be in the way of the new coach.”

My time with Coach Schnelleberger dates back to our days with the Miami Hurricanes in the early 1980's. It will be different without my friend in the future, but the UAB win meant so much that it would have been a major in justice for him to end his final season as the only winless team in NCAA Division I FBS.

Thankfully, it didn't happen and once again, and I'm pleased he left on his own terms.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can also be seen at www.scottsports33.com. 

Jim Kelly Vs Rusty Smith

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH


When the FAU Owls open up their 2009 season Saturday in Lincoln against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, QB Rusty Smith will try to do what Jim Kelly did on Nov 3, 1979.


He'll try to defeat a national power on the road in hostile territory. Kelly (6-3, 217) pulled the trick when he defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 26-10. For Kelly, it was an opportunity to show Nittany Lions Coach Joe Paterno that he should have offered him a scholarship to play quarterback and not linebacker.


While Coach Howard Schnellenberger compares the skill level of Smith to Bernie Kosar because the two signal callers are intelligent, similar in size and delivery, that's where the comparisons end. Even though Kosar led Schnellenberger to his lone national title in 1983, it was Kelly who put the Hurricanes football program on the map and took the Miami football into national prominence with this historic win in Pennsylvania.


Kelly amassed 5,233 yards and threw for 32 touchdowns. If he didn't sustain a season ending shoulder injury in 1982 against Virginia Tech, who knows what his final statistics would have been.


But like Kelly nearly 30 years ago, Smith represents the latest star pupil for his 75-year old coach. These two quarterbacks are both program builders.


It was Smith who sent Schnellenberger out a winner in his mentors final game at the Orange Bowl on Nov 24, 2007 by blasting the Florida International University Golden Panthers 55-23. This victory led to a season ending three-game winning streak which was culminated by a 44-27 win over the Memphis Tigers Dec 21, 2007 in the New Orleans Bowl in FAU's first-postseason appearance.


FAU's second bowl victory occurred in Detroit as the Owls defeated Central Michigan 24-21 at Ford Field on Dec 26, 2008 in the Motor City Bowl lifting Schnellenberger's bowl record to 6-0. He is 2-0 with Smith at the helm and 1-0 with Kelly as the Hurricanes defeated Virginia Tech 20-10 in the 1981 Peach Bowl.


Before the Penn State game, Schnellenberger used his past experiences in the NFL with the Baltimore Colts to dictate when he wanted Kelly to see his first real game action.


"It was my feeling that I didn't want to start Jim Kelly's record prior to the time that our offensive football team had to learn the offense and have enough practice where he had a legitimate chance to win, " Schnellenberger said. We had a good spread out mobile quarterback named Mike Rodrigue and I let him take the first seven games and we were 3-4. We had beaten some minor teams and got killed by the better ones. But the time eventually came and in the eighth game at Penn State and I kept it a secret from the team, from my coaching staff, my wife Beverlee that I was going to start him in that game.


"I didn't in fact tell him until the pre-game meal which was four hours before kickoff that he was going to start the game and the game was going to be his. We started the game with a conservative game plan and threw 20 times and completed two thirds of those and two were for touchdowns. Low and behold, we had a win against mighty Penn State in State College in Happy Valley. Jim went on to go 2-2 his first year following losses to Alabama and Notre Dame but with a season ending victory over Florida in Charley Pell's first year.


"But this sent a message that Jim Kelly was going to be the quarterback of the future and that we can win a lot of football games with him at the helm. I praise my good Lord it was a rainy, windy day and the underdog had a better chance to win. We finished 5-6 in that first year and the win over Penn State certainly gave us great hope for the coming years."


Schnellenberger compared Kelly and Smith as,"very similar and Jim is bigger strong guy with a strong arm. He's less escapable than Rusty but can get out of the pocket and run with it. The only time I remember him escaping was when he got hurt against Virginia Tech in 1982. They tackled him outside, when he was running outside they chased down and someone fell on top of him and separated his shoulder and knocked him out the rest of his senior year. Rusty is faster and we'll see how Rusty measures up to Jim in the next 5-7 years."


When I talked to Schnellenberger about these two quarterbacks and put him on the spot about which one did more for his respective program, this is one time it was tough for him to go out on the limb. But he acknowledged that Smith has done wonders for FAU's football program.


"Rusty has been with us since the time we've been in the Sun Belt Conference, has taken us from a dormant to a champion and has led us to two bowl wins, " Schnellenberger added. "Now he looks in his senior year to have a chance to beat Nebraska, South Carolina, our conference schedule along with Wyoming. The first game against Nebraska we'll be prohibitive underdogs, yet we have an outside chance to get ahead at games end. If that would happen then of course he would be immortalized here in the State of Florida. "


If the Information Management Major doesn't win against the Cornhuskers then I'm sure if Smith uses his information management of game film and the playbook to keep this game competitive, Schnellenberger would be pleased with that outcome.


It happened before that a South Florida based football team played a national power and emerged when Schnellenberger was 45-years old so anything is possible nearly 30 years later.


Going into this season, Smith, 6-5, 230, has appeared in 38 games, has thrown for 62 touchdowns and amassed 8,197 yards. Reaching 10-11,000 career yards with an outstanding season and many offensive weapons is attainable.


But one thing is for certain, Kelly and Smith have built these programs in their own way and while Kelly never was able to get an on campus stadium built, his bust hangs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, while Smith has an excellent chance to be the first player in Owls history to be drafted in the NFL and the major reason there will be an on campus stadium set to open in 2011.


So let the comparisons between Kelly and Smith continue.


Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com

FAU's Insurance Policy

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

If there was ever a time that I learned how valuable a backup quarterback was, the year was 1979.

The Detroit Lions had high hopes going into the season with Gary Danielson locked in as their starter. When the Lions lost Danielson and backup Joe Reed to injuries before the first regular season game, they were forced to use ninth round draft choice the late Jeff Komlo out of the University of Delaware.

Detroit finished the 1979 season with a 2-14 mark and a season filled with hope turned into a disaster.

While everything seems to be going fine with FAU quarterback Rusty Smith, Coach Howard Schnellenberger is pleased with his backup signal caller. Should Smith get sidelined, FAU has redshirt junior Jeff Van Camp as its "Insurance Policy"

The 6-5, 210 pound native of Gulf Breeze, Fla., saw action in three games in 2007 and four games in 2008. Much of his playing time occurred when the Owls were getting routed and Schnellenberger was looking to get him experience.

During spring practice, Van Camps performance reinforced the confidence his coach has in him as the Owls attempt to reach their third consecutive bowl game.

“In the spring game, Rusty was pretty good, Jeff was probably better and the other two were struggling,” Schnellenberger said. “I like the progress of Jeff Van Camp. He's had a very good spring and we know now we can win games if he were pressed into action.”

Van Camp said he's prepared to take over if necessary and just wants to be a major contributor.

“I feel I've done a good job this off-season learning the offense better,” Van Camp said. “I'm always excited about getting in the game but once I get in there, I'll try to do my best to get it done. I'm just trying to get better so I can start in 2010. My primary goal sir is to start in 2010 and if the coaches call on me then I'll do my best and be there to get it done for them. When I do get in the game I just want to make sure there is no drop off from Rusty to myself, keep the game going and keep winning for the team.”

The History major said he's learned this spring to “Be a little bit more confident on the field, know the offense, just have fun and just make the plays. The only goals we have as a team this year is we're playing some pretty good teams so we just want to go out there and do our best and hopefully, we can win.”

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com

FAU's Jason Harmon Is 100%

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When FAU senior tight end Jason Harmon was injured on the first play in spring practice in 2008 on the track and field, it was a silent moment.

After practice, Terry Mohajir, Associate Athletics Director External Relations and I walked off the field and I let him know my feelings disliking spring practice scrimmage because of the fear of a major injury could impact the following season. Mohajir still defended the benefits of having the spring game as he should because he felt it was a good way to market the program and did say that injuries can happen anywhere. While that may be true, to this day, I still bite my nails and chew my lip watching these games.

Nevertheless as we approach the 2009 season, Harmon was redshirted last year and he is back after tearing his (ACL) and meniscus. He ended up spending hours in the training room during his rehabilitation.

In two years, the 6-3, 215 pound native of Tampa, has 89 receptions for 1,086 yards and seven touchdowns.

My memories of Harmon's 2007 performance was watching him hurdle over tacklers gaining the extra yards. Now FAU fans will have a chance to see him barrel through them again.

Harmon is glad to be back for his senior year as he and Smith look to have excellent seasons in their final campaigns.

“A lot of people are grateful that they moved the spring game to our regular practice field because on the turf field, you may run faster on it but there are a lot of injuries on it because cleats get stuck,” Harmon said. “It was rough last year and I felt helpless at all of the games watching them knowing I can't do anything about it. I wanted to so bad though.”

Harmon did have the opportunity to travel to the Motor City Bowl in Detroit on Dec 26, 2008, but decided it was in his best interests not to participate.

“I wasn't going to ruin my year of eligibility but I went as an equipment manager,” he said. “I didn't do much with the team until the day of the game.”

The Public Management major said the he's looking forward to his final hurrah with his quarterback.

“Hopefully, this is our big blowout year for Rusty and I, “ Harmon said.”We have a lot of seniors on this team as far as offensive starters. Hopefully this is the year we go undefeated.”
Harmon said the thing he tried to accomplish in spring practice is “I'm just trying to get my timing back with Rusty and make sure everything is all right with that. I tried to work all the kinks out since I missed a year. I think I'm 100% healed and my knee is stronger than it ever was.”

Coach Howard Schnellenberger is pleased to have Harmon back.

“He's an experienced player and he'll be ready for the opening game,” Schnellenberger said. “I expect him to be back to the level that he was. The difference is now is he has two teammates that are right in the same category with him. Each of them do something better than the other. If you add up their different skills and divide by three, they're about equal.”

Outgoing President Frank T. Brogan said that the rewards outweigh the risks when evaluating the need for the spring football games.

“Yes, Jason Harmon was a great illustration of somebody who went down in spring who was out all season,” Brogan said. “But coaches will tell you that even Jason Harmon is going to come back a better man. He has had a marvelous spring, he's looked loaded and ready for this year.

“So even though we missed him last year, no doubt about it, all the additional days that came along with spring practice will come along with summer practice, and even come along with having a bowl game, even gives you more preparation for the bowl.

“If you put all this together, all of these things far outweigh the element of risks associated with injury. Injuries are going to happen and sadly, it's a part of the game.”

You can bet Harmon is gearing up for the opener September 5th At 7 PM. When the Owls travel to Lincoln, Nebraska and face the high flying Cornhuskers where the passionate Big Red fans will be very visible and rowdy at Memorial Stadium.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com

FAU Football's Business Plan

     By Scott Morganroth

     We all know how much college football is big business because the NCAA doesn't have a playoff system due to the revenues of the bowl season.

     In my two year association with FAU, I've spoken to Owls President Frank T. Brogan and Athletic Director Craig Angelos about the need to schedule guarantee revenue games to build the athletic department.

     Over the past few years, FAU has endured lopsided losses to Texas, Oklahoma State, Florida, South Carolina, Clemson, Kentucky, Louisville, Minnesota and the University of South Florida to gain the extra revenue. This season, Nebraska and South Carolina will be on the schedule.

     Coach Howard Schnellenbger has watched his hair and mustache turn white and silver with these routs but has felt that these "Advance Training" contests have built character in his players to perform against the best competition in order to become better football players.

     That philosophy has worked because now FAU is sending players to NFL and CFL teams.

     Despite being the whipping boys to these national powers, FAU was won back-to-back bowl games.

     The Owls defeated Memphis in the 2007 Now Orleans Bowl 44-27 on Dec 21 and nipped Central Michigan 24-21 on Dec 26 in the 2008 Motor City Bowl. The carry over effect as to what transpired in Detroit occurred on Saturday April 18, as a record crowd of 2,011 fans watched a Spring Practice Game at the Oxley Center to get a glimpse of the 2009 squad.

     Because of FAU's success of building a program, former University of Miami Hurricanes Coach Larry Coker, 60, has contacted Schnellenberger to gain advice for his latest challenge at the University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners, who begin play at the Alamo Dome in 2011.

     There is one avenue Schnellenberger didn't use to build a program and that's the one which the Delaware State University Hornets are utilizing. The Hornets, a Football Championship Series (formerly Division I-AA) team out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, has forfeited its Oct 17 contest against North Carolina A & T, to accept a $500,000 payout to face the University of Michigan (U-M) Wolverines at the "Big House" for the opportunity to play in front of 100,000 plus.

     Whether Delaware State can duplicate the success of what transpired on Sept 1, 2007 when Appalachian State University (ASU) pulled off the biggest upset in college football 34-32, remains to be seen. But the Hornets don't mind going into the season 0-1 facing a U-M program coming off it's worst season in it's 100 years plus history with a 3-9 record.

     But if the Hornets do pull off the win, one thing is guaranteed and that Coach Rich Rodriguez job status would place him on the hot seat. You can rest assure that the Wolverines and their fans will not take Delaware State lightly. There will be plenty of cardiologists at Michigan Stadium if the Hornets sting the Maize & Blue due to the rash amount of heart attacks that another monumental upset could create.

     As the NCAA has added that 12th game which leads to another non-conference game, it will be interesting to see if FAU and Michigan do meet. The Wolverines do know about the Owls since FAU lost a 17-0 decision to rival Michigan State in East Lansing on Sept 13, 2008.

     The Owls can thank Michigan's poor season which prevented the Wolverines from reaching their 34th straight bowl game. FAU's spot in the Motor City Bowl would have been taken by Michigan and there is no doubt that 65,000 would have packed Ford Field.

     I do know that the payouts for a guarantee game start at $500,000 and go even higher depending on the opponent. But the price of exposure especially if a team faces let alone wins against the all-time winningest program on college football history is priceless.

     Just ask ASU.

     Nevertheless, FAU's business plan with an old school architect coach is still sound even if some teams still take somewhat different paths where a loss before the season is a financial win at the end of the fiscal year.

     Scott Morganroth can be reached at Scottsports33@aol.com

FAU'S FRANTZ JOSEPH OAKLAND RAIDERS HIDDEN GEM

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
As the FAU Football program develops with two bowl victories over Memphis and Central Michigan giving the Owls a 2-0 record in the post-season, there is one area which the school hasn't broken through.

The 2009 NFL Draft on April 25-26 had the potential to possibly see an Owl get selected but once again the school was shutout at the podium. Prior to the draft, ESPN aired a feature on FAU linebacker Frantz Joseph. It mentioned that Joseph accepted a scholarship to Boston College but was forced to drop out and he returned to South Florida to help out his family financially.

After becoming FAU's all-time single season and career tackles leader, it appeared as though Joseph would be the Owls best chance at getting drafted especially after having his own pro day in front of 19 scouts and 16 teams on February 25.

But this didn't happen. The most dysfunctional franchise in the NFL signed Joseph to a two-year $700,000 free agent contract a couple hours after the draft.

Over the years, the Oakland Raiders have gained a reputation for taking other players whom other teams have kicked to the curb and found a way to win with them. The best example was former Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett, who was the top selection in the 1971 NFL Draft by New England and he played for the Patriots from 1971-75. Plunkett played for the San Francisco 49'ers from 1976-77 before joining the Raiders in 1978-86 where he would lead this franchise to a pair of Super Bowl titles when the team was located in Oakland and Los Angeles.

In 1980, Plunkett was named the MVP in the Raiders 27-10 Win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV. In 1983, Plunkett was the Raiders back-up signal caller but an injury to Marc Wilson thrust him back into a starting role and he proceeded to lead the Raiders to a 38-9 waxing over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII.

But Plunkett is just one of many examples about how the Raiders and Owner Al Davis find away to give players and coaches opportunities to revitalize or start their careers.

If the NFL Draft would have been longer than seven rounds, then Joseph's name would have been called. What's interesting about the Raiders 2009 draft class is that Oakland was ripped in the media for some of it's early selections.

Top pick wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey was the seventh overall pick out of Maryland. He was projected by draft experts as a late first round pick. Oakland's second round choice was safety Michael Mitchell out of Ohio University, the 47th pick overall. He was projected as a second day selection.

Oakland finished the 2008 season with a 5-11 record. In 2007, the Raiders were 4-12 while in 2006 they finished 2-14. The 2005 season saw Oakland compile a 4-12 mark, in 2004, the Raiders were 5-11 and in 2003 they were 4-12. The last winning season for the Silver and Black was in 2002 when they finished 11-5 and lost to the Tampa Bay Bucs in the Super Bowl 48-21 on Jan 27, 2003.

Can Joseph help the Raiders out? Judging by the Raiders poor results since their last Super Bowl, he's definitely in the right place with a team that desperately needs him.

During the 2007 New Orleans Bowl, Joseph recorded 10 tackles including six solo and two tackles for a loss of five yards. In 2008, Joseph was named to the All-Sun Belt Team after recording a school-record 154 tackles. In 2007, Joseph had 131 tackles in 13 games and in 2006, Joseph amassed 61 in 11 games.

The scouts who saw Joseph were aware that Joseph returned an interception for 26 yards and a fumble for 32 yards in an All-Star Game with the Nation versus Texas to set up scores giving the National Team a 27-24 win over Texas on Jan 31 in El Paso before 37,054 at the Sun Bowl.

While scouting departments are expected to get the higher selections correct, the hidden gems are found on the second day of the draft as well as un-drafted free agents. These are the players that have the most motivation to prove their doubters wrong. Now Joseph is in the right place to do this.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at Scottsports33@aol.com