A New FAU Era In Conference USA

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The last time the FAU Owls opened the season at home against Middle Tennessee was a day that Michigan Wolverines Football fans certainly would like to forget.

On September 1, 2007, Appalachian State stunned the Wolverines 34-32 in front of 109,208 shocked fans at The Big House.

The rematch will be August 30, 2014.

This same day, I was covering My first FAU contest against Middle Tennessee at Fort Lauderdale's Lockhart Stadium. The Owls defeated Middle Tennessee 27-14. Since that win, FAU has lost five straight games to Middle Tennessee and trail the series 7-3.

Six years later, the Owls have opened at home again against Middle Tennessee, but two major things have changed.

FAU has moved from the Sun Belt Conference to Conference USA.

Three years ago, FAU moved into it's beautiful on campus stadium that faces the Atlantic Ocean. You can see the ocean from the Sixth Floor at FAU Stadium in the Press Box.

Four teams made the switch to Conference USA. Florida International University and North Texas were the first to make their announcements. Months later, FAU and Middle Tennessee followed them.

For the last few years we've seen a lot of conference realignment. Schools like Colorado, Utah, Texas A&M, Missouri, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Nebraska, West Virginia and TCU are acclimating to their new rivals. The Big Ten will add Maryland and Rutgers next season while Louisville is headed to the ACC.

How have the Owls adapted thus far?

After FAU's 42-35 overtime loss to Middle Tennessee, the Owls are 1-3 and 0-2 in the conference. The Owls have now lost six in a row to the Blue Raiders and trail the all-time series 8-3.

FAU's only victory occurred September 14, as the Owls defeated My Alma-Mater the University of South Florida Bulls 28-10 in Tampa.

It's hard to win committing five turnovers as FAU did, in addition to allowing Middle Tennessee to amass 446 yards in total offense.

It's rare to see a team compile 503 yards in total offense and lose. But that's what happened to FAU.

Wide Receiver, Daniel McKinney, a senior from Detroit was FAU's leading receiver. He had nine receptions for 82-yards and a touchdown. This was a career high for McKinney.

Sophomore QB Jaquez Johnson threw for 321 yards, three touchdowns but also had two interceptions.

When the game was over, FAU Coach Carl Pelini said despite the close loss, he's said there is no such thing as a moral victory.

"You're not going to beat a good football team like Middle Tennessee when you constantly shoot yourself in the foot," Pelini said. "I don't think we were very disciplined on the defensive side of the ball, and I think we made a lot of mistakes on the offensive side of the ball. You can't have five turnovers in college football and expect to win games. It shouldn't have come down to overtime."

Pertaining to the turnovers, Pelini added, "they're tearing at the football. You know you saw it, and we just got to be stronger. We practice ball security everyday, so it's unacceptable."

FAU returns to action on Saturday, September 28 at 7 pm as it hits the road to play in the first "Owls Bowl" visiting Rice in Houston, Texas.

There is one thing FAU didn't have to deal with that two other Florida schools had to face Saturday.

The Florida A&M Rattlers were ripped by the Ohio State Buckeyes 76-0 in Columbus.

FAU's rival Florida International University went to Kentucky and was crushed by Louisville 72-0.

After today's offensive display, I'll be curious as to see what's ahead in the coming weeks for FAU. I find it hard to watch a team score 35 points and lose.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.

Home Sweet Home?

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH


How did we get to the New FAU Football Stadium?

On October 15, 2010, ground was broken and exactly one year later, the $70 Million Facility hosted the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers as the start of a new era began in FAU Sports History.

Construction workers worked seven days a week giving up their Sundays to make the Saturday October 15th opener a reality.

This is the only stadium in the United States where you can see the Atlantic Ocean. The campus is 2.1 miles away from the Atlantic Ocean.

Prior to the game, the Star Spangled Banner was sung with a Full-Sized American Flag covering the entire field.

But the road to this Beautiful Venue saw Coach Howard Schnellenberger, Athletic Director Craig Angelos, former President Frank Brogan and his successor Dr. Mary Jane Saunders witness some lopsided defeats to some of the most heralded football programs in the country.

FAU took the guaranteed large payouts to Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Texas, and USF.

There were four notable wins as FAU defeated Hawaii, Central Michigan, Memphis and Minnesota. FAU defeated Memphis in the 2007 New Orleans Bowl and followed that triumph in the 2008 Motor City Bowl defeating Central Michigan.

A year ago, the Michigan State Spartans were supposed to open up FAU Stadium but that never materialized. FAU's home game was moved to Ford Field as the Owls shared a home with the Detroit Lions. FAU lost this game 30-17.

So instead of seeing the Spartans, Owls fans saw their team lose 20-0 to the Hilltoppers in front of 29,103. The score could have been worse for FAU if Western Kentucky would have converted three field goals and an extra point.

But these numbers tell the story!

FAU had only six first downs, 25 rushing and 121 total yards. More importantly, Owls fans would have to wait until Saturday October 22nd against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders to see the first points in the new stadium at 8:07 PM.

On Saturday October 15th, No. 23 Michigan State defeated state rival No. 11 Michigan 28-14 in East Lansing, a place that wasn't kind to the Owls earlier this year. The Spartans whitewashed FAU 44-0 on September 10 in East Lansing.

When the contest was over, there was a huge sense of happiness and relief that the new on campus stadium dream has become a reality.

By the same token, now that the opener is over, reality has set in that FAU dropped to 0-6 and 0-3  in the Sun Belt Conference. The Owls are in last place and know they have to start winning games.

Quarterback David Kooi said, “Our offense was shaky and we put no points on the board. We didn't execute and just hurt ourselves. This was a great atmosphere and we didn't get the job done. I just want to say I'm sorry to the fans.”

Running back Alfred Morris added, “ I'm very disappointed and wanted it so bad. We just couldn't get it together. This was a very exciting atmosphere, it was crazy. We'll try to get them next time.”

Senior defensive back Marcus Bartels was in a somber mood when he said, “I never expected this. We feel like we let everybody down. I want to apologize to the fans.”

Coach Schnellenberger said, I've never been in a situation like this before. We worked so hard and so long to make this stadium. We played badly on the offensive side of the ball. We expected to win this game but yet played so poorly in front of dedicated fans. That's what happened and I have to deal with that. I'm the coach and I have to do fix this situation.”

Former Owls QB Rusty Smith now of the Tennessee Titans came in town due to his teams bye week. On this day, the Owls could have used him in his old No.11 jersey.

But now, the stadium is open for business. The team has to focus on winning since there will be no more hype.

It's all business as the Owls hope to send Schnellenberger out on a respectable note to end his 52-year coaching career
 
Game 2 at the new stadium would produce another loss and it was ugly.
 
The attendance was listed as 16,344 but in actuality, it looked like the crowd was in the 10,000 range.
 
What they saw was a team that fell behind 21-0 as Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee scored 41 unanswered points. The Owls broke the scoring drought with 9:57 left in the second quarter. The Historical Touchdown was a Wilbert Graham to Darian Williams five-yard connection that was set-up by a 48-yard run by Morris.
 
In the first half, Middle Tenessee Sophomore QB Logan Kilgore set a school record with 19 straight completions for a school that's been playing football for 100 years. He used 10 different receivers to set the mark.
 
When the game was over, the Blue Raiders offense gained 479 yards to roll to a 38-14 win. FAU had eight fumbles, five were lost to go along with two interceptions and 55 yards in penalties. Morris did gain 153 yards.
 
At his post-game press conference, Schnellenberger looked like he was trying to figure out the Rubik's Cube.
 
"With all the experience I have, I can't figure out all the problems we have," he said. "It will be harder to teach and an involved process."
 
One thing is certain, FAU will have two weeks to digest the fact that its record has dropped to 0-7, 0-4 as it hosts Arkansas State on November 5th. In the meantime, there will be no bowl game in 2011 and the Owls can only hope for "A Win."
 
I do believe that when they field a competitive team, FAU Stadium will be a fun place to watch a game. It's a beautiful stadium.

But for now, the fallout of the first two weeks have given mixed reviews with plenty of more chapters to be written before we can say this indeed is a "Home Sweet Home."
 
Scott Morganroth's blog can be seen at http://www.scottsports33.com/ and he can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.

Estúpido NBA Lockout

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Are you ready for some Professional Basketball?

If you are, too bad because you won't get any for awhile.

According to all of my sources, it looks like we may have a season without NBA Basketball. The majority of the teams are losing a lot of money and NBA Commissioner David Stern seems intent to take a page out of his buddy NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's book and shut his business down for a year.

That move will likely cause the NBA Players Association to dissolve it's union and we might see some players go bankrupt. There will be some that play overseas and enjoy Europe plus collect a paycheck. Others could get hurt and then their contracts might get voided.

But that's a chance they'll have to take so the players can stay mentally sound due to not being able to play basketball. Plus they can stay in basketball shape and use these teams' trainers. Inactivity could be one's worst enemy.

Don't I know. For the past so many years, aside from working with my writing, my primary occupation Sales & Marketing in South Florida has been difficult for me in many ways. If players are worried about their compensation in the NBA, let them go on numerous dead end interviews as I have and be lied to time and time about inaccurate pay plans.

When My time ends in South Florida in the future, this area will always be remembered for the scams, cons and a reputation known as the "Call Center Capital Of The World."

Honest people are a rare breed. The liars should be sent to the Atlantic Ocean and be fed to the sharks.

So for all of these NBA players that complain about six and seven figure salaries, fellas it can be worse!

While you're not operating, the sports fan will have college football, basketball and hockey will take some of your audience. Nobody pays attention to your sport until after the NFL Season. It looks like the NFL Lockout is just a matter of days before its resolved. I've never taken the NFL Lockout seriously because thus far, no games have been lost. The owners and players know what's at stake and there is a sense of urgency to get a deal done.

Any NBA work stoppage means that if it does last an entire season, this years rookies and next years draft class will have an interesting battle as to who wins Rookie of the Year. Perhaps by the end of the lockout, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons will have head coaches. Although my sources say that Mike Woodson is the front runner for the Pistons job.

In the meantime, all that figures to happen is the media and fans will have plenty to talk about and the players will get no sympathy considering the "State Of The Economy." The longer this insane Soap Opera goes on, the longer it will be to regain your fan base. I'll say the recovery will take at least 10 years.

On the bright side, the Dallas Mavericks will be able to hold onto their title for an extra year, while it will be that much longer before the "NBA Christmas Grinch" LeBron James gets another chance to flounder in the clutch and be title-less.

For now, it's time to pay attention to the baseball pennant races and as fast as this year is flying, it won't be long before we're watching the World Series. Of course there is football and I'll be paying close attention to seeing how quickly Brady Hoke turns around the Michigan Wolverines, how far the Ohio State Buckeyes fall and I'm looking forward to working in FAU's New Football Stadium.

If I need some good material, don't worry NBA, I'll slip in a hard-nosed blog here and there so that I can laugh at you because you haven't learned that these prolonged work stoppages are a Lose-Lose-Situation for everybody. They are estúpido (stupid).

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