FAU loses to Marshall 31-7: Instant Reactions

In a game that would have kept FAU in contention for their second straight Conference USA Championship, FAU’s offense played their worst game of the Lane Kiffin era. I’m emphasizing the offense here because rest assured, they lost this game. Despite a defense that played inspired football to honor team-captain Azeez Al-Shaair, who was lost for the season with a torn ACL, FAU was unable to overcome five turnovers in their 31-7 loss to Marshall.

You read that right folks. 5 turnovers. 5. Marshall started on FAU’s side of the field seven times. The fact that they only managed to score 31 points today is a testament to how well the defense really did perform. The Owls out-gained Marshall 359-335 but lost the turnover battle 5-0.

Instant Reactions

• Chris Robison is the best QB FAU has and that’s pretty damning. Robison continued his poor play on the road this season, going 18-of-35 for 223 yards with 4 interceptions. We finally got a glimpse of De’Andre Johnson and Rafe Peavey and both showcased why they are Robison’s backup, as they missed easy throws and made poor reads in their brief showing, respectively.
• The special teams were terrible as usual. This isn’t exactly a revelation but the game was pretty much toast when Vladimir Rivas missed a 30-yard field in the middle of the third quarter to cut Marshall’s lead to 14. His second short missed field goal of the game.
• I can’t believe Lane Kiffin decided to go for it on 4th & 1 at his own 13-yard line. The play-call was terrible (a toss play to Kerrith Whyte Jr.) but the decision to go for it was was worse. Period. Anyone who thinks otherwise is insane. The Owls were down 17-7 and the defense was playing good enough for FAU to remain in the game. A few plays later Marshall scored a touchdown to extend their lead to 17 points.
• This offensive line is terrible. Chris Robison was harassed for much of the day. They only allowed 2 sacks because they were called for holding on the plays that would have definitely resulted in a sack.
• If you need more indicators of how bad this offensive line is, Devin Singletary rushed for 39 yards on 16 carries and failed to score a touchdown. If Motor isn’t having a monster game, this offense is completely unwatchable.
• Two weeks to prepare for the biggest game of the season to date, and FAU was blown out. Think about that. Lane Kiffin was unable to develop a game-plan to out-coach Doc Holliday. Disgusting. This is the worst game of the Lane Kiffin era by far.