FAU Sports

Dreaded Summer Doldrums; Skin In The Game

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:16:26 GMT

Geez, the Dreaded Summer Doldrums already?

Well, with No. 1 seed FAU baseball losing to No. 5 seed Louisiana-Monroe on Thursday in the conference tournament, today’s game is meaningless, as the Warhawks have already clinched a spot in the championship game by winning the pool and FAU’s season is over after they play SoBama today.

Over as in over, since it is unlikely the Owls will get an at-large bid, given the poor Belt RPI and no notable win and bowing out too early in the conference tournament.

There will be news in the upcoming months – mainly the hiring of a new AD, who steps into an interesting situation. An athletic program primed to take off, but needing a lot of work before it truly can.

Money needs to be raised, teams have to get more competitive across the board, and the stadium needs to be filled.

SKIN IN THE GAME

As you know, I am a full-time student at FAU. I am taking 16 hours this semester.

My tuition was $2,924.44. (Not including books, but it is too painful to add that up.)

I bring this up because today the FAU Board of Trustees is going to hike the athletic fee another 5 percent, from $16.45 per credit hour to $17.27, effective in the fall.

What that means is that this semester $263.20 of my tuition is going to athletics, and that will rise to $276.32 in the fall, if I take the same amount of hours. (I am scheduled to take 19 hours as part of the Accelerated BSN program, but I don’t want to think about that right now.)

Bottom line is I now have skin in the game, so I will be watching how my pennies are being spent.

Given that there are no athletic events scheduled this summer, meaning I can’t use my Owl Card to get in free, the athletic department is getting pure profit from me and all the other summer students.

Is that fair?

Later…

New FAU AD needs to find more money and wins

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:42:13 GMT

So, let's see, FAU needs an AD who can generate millions in donations and get all the sports competitive on the field, court or whatever surface they play on.

No problem, right?

Maybe that is why the search is expected to carry into July, because finding someone who can do all that is not going to be easy. Unless Prez MJ already has the person picked out, but needs to wait until July before the candidate becomes available.

We shall see, but in the meantime, the stadium sits there with a huge blank spot on the top of the tower, awaiting a Big Bucks Sponsor, while FAU is languishing near the bottom in the Belt in the all-sports category.
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I didn't realize how grim things were until I checked some of the standings -- volleyball went 0-16 in the Belt this year, women's golf came in last place at the conference tournament. Looks to me like the only two sports that were competitive were baseball and women's basketball.

Former AD Craig Angelos had four pillars of success for each coach -- stay within budget, do well in the classroom, follow NCAA rules, and win.

He never really held coaches to that final pillar, and put up with a lot of mediocrity, which helps explain his exit and why Con-USA didn't look FAU's way when it was seeking new members.

For the new AD, some of the heavy lifting is done. He/she doesn't have to hire a football or women's basketball coach, as that has been done for him/her.

But he/she does need to pay attention to what has happened in the other programs.

I would expect some offices to be cleaned out after the new sheriff comes to town.

And now that I have skin in the game, via my athletic fees, which I will add up at a later date, I say go for it. Bring in some new blood.

A LOOK BACK

Not to get personal with you all, but this is a special day for me. 30 years ago today, me and Connie The Wonder Woman tied the knot.
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All I can say is this: Finding the right woman is the key to a good life. Looking back across three decades, I realize how lucky I was to have made that decision.

Later...

Baseball the highlight of a grim 2011-12 for FAU

Sun, 20 May 2012 17:42:29 GMT

Football goes 1-11 and is embarrassingly bad in the process.

Basketball goes from Belt champ to chump.

Soccer, golf, volleyball, softball...

Baseball does come through, though, winning the conference regular season title for the second time in three seasons.

That gets them the top seed in the tournament, but what does that mean?

Well, they have to play host and No. 8 seed Western Kentucky in the first round of pool play, and somehow the top seed is forced to play three games in three days before getting a day off.

The Belt uses the round-robin format, ensuring each team of three games, one each against the other teams in the four-team pool.

The winners of the pools play in Sunday's championship game.
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First baseman Mark Nelson
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To get all the games in there are four days of pool games, with each team getting one day off during those days.

FAU's doesn't come until Saturday, which is nice if you win the pool and then can rest before the championship game.

But if you go deep into your bullpen in any of the pool games, you are in deep trouble, since you don't have a day off to recover.

If FAU wants to get back into a regional, they really need to win the tournament.

Various RPI rankings have them between 61 and 64, which is very much on the bubble, and the Owls do not have a signature win this season that could help their cause when the selection committee picks the field of 64 teams.

Losing prior to the championship game will likely kill their chances.

Tournament sked:

Wednesday: Noon -- (5) Louisiana-Monroe vs. (4) South Alabama; 4 p.m. - (7) Middle Tennessee vs. (2) Arkansas State; 8 p.m. – No. 1 FAU vs. No. 8 WKU

Thursday: Noon -- (6) Troy vs. (3) FIU; 4 p.m. FAU vs. (5) Louisiana-Monroe; 8 p.m. -- (4) South Alabama vs. (8) Western Kentucky.

Friday: Noon - FIU vs. Middle Tennessee; 4 p.m. -- Arkansas State vs. Troy; 8 p.m. -- FAU vs. South Alabama.

Saturday: Noon -- Troy vs. Middle Tennessee; 4 p.m. -- Arkansas State vs. FIU; 8 p.m. Louisiana-Monroe vs. Western Kentucky.

Sunday: Championship game at 2 p.m., Pool A winner vs. Pool B winner.

Later...

Baseball one win away from Belt crown

Fri, 18 May 2012 14:07:50 GMT

Nice win for the hardballers, especially since it was over FIU.

The rain stayed away for a change, and the Owls trounced the Kitties 12-2 on Friday, cutting the magic number to one, as in one more win or one more loss by Arkansas State to give FAU its second Belt regular season title in the last three seasons.

Ryan Garton improved to 9-3 in the final regular season start of his career.
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Garton’s ERA is 3.13 and he leads the Owls with 79 strikeouts
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Current standings:

FAU 18-1 (30-20)

ASU 17-9 (30-21) – FAU holds tiebreaker

FIU 15-13 (31-22)

FAU hosts FIU tonight and Saturday, in the season finale. Arkansas State is at Arkansas-Little Rock.

Unfortunately the Owls will still have to win the Belt tournament to get into a regional, unlike 2010, when they were regular season champs, lost in the tournament, but got an at-large bid.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH SOFTBALL?

Used to be FAU softball was a powerful program, winning the Atlantic Sun title year after year and going to regional after regional. But since moving to the Belt in 2007, the program has been in a decline, and this year it really tanked.

The Owls went 15-39 and 5-18 in the Belt, and barely got into the tournament FAU hosted, and then was two-and-out. A team ERA of 4.49 in a sport where runs are few and far between is responsible for the dismal record.

Coach Joan Joyce used to be able to coach up her players and have a competitive team year after year, but those days appear gone.

Later...

The End Is Near....And A New Beginning

Thu, 17 May 2012 18:42:20 GMT

My humble apologies for not posting in a record number of days.

Things like that can happen when you are tying up loose ends in a job you’ve been at for a while and are starting a new adventure.

As I have hinted, my time at the Sun-Sentinel is about to end. I started there in 1982, so you can to the math – 30 years.

The last 11 of those have been spent covering FAU athletics, along with other assorted duties.

Loved my job, loved the Sun Sentinel, where new challenges were always available and kept me there for so long.

But when the earth started to shift under the newspaper business, and then progress a stunning rate, with none of it good, I began to look for a Plan B.
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Who could hate this job?
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So in August of 2010 I started my Plan B by taking on-line classes at Palm Beach State College. Anatomy and Physiology, Nutrition, Psychology, Human Growth and Development, Microbiology, and the list goes on.

Thus I have been leading a double life for a while, part-time student, full-time journalist.

That double life is thankfully ending soon -- May 29 is when my time with the Sun Sentinel officially ends.

But unofficially my new career has already begun, as I am a full-time student in the Accelerated Bachelors of Nursing program at – yes – Florida Atlantic University.

I have my Owl Card, and have already used it at the Rec Center, which is quite a facility. And I will use it to get free into athletic events, since I am paying a lot in student athletic fees. (Yes, I now have skin in the game…)

The accelerated program gets me out in one year, so in May of 2013 I will graduate, and, as long as I pass the state licensing test, will be a Registered Nurse.

Nursing? I could give you a very long and detailed answer, but trust me when I say I did the research and this is going to work out well for me.

And I am proud to have been admitted to FAU's College of Nursing, which has built a national reputation for its innovative philosophy and quality of its faculty.

The only downside is that to survive the compressed schedule of the accelerated program, I have to commit to my studies full-time and go unemployed for a year, thus Failure Is Not An Option. (Or Connie The Wonder Woman will kill me).

This is like jumping off a cliff, but it does feel good and is the right thing for me this time in my life.

NOT DISAPPEARING

Now some of you are probably thinking. “It’s about time. I won’t have to put up with his drivel anymore.”

Fine, but I am not going to disappear.

While someone will be filling my shoes at the SS, and probably taking over this blog, I will be starting a new blog over at fauwowlsnest.com, the first, finest and only totally free web site for FAU sports.

You didn't think I would abandon the Dance Team and leave Digger all alone on Thursday’s at the Busch Wildlife Refuge, did you?

I will be on campus a lot, most of the time spent at the nursing building, which is pretty palatial and not a bad place to spend a year. But I will be over at The Oxley and the Rec Center, where you can see the football stadium while working out in the weight room from the swimming pool.

So I plan on continuing covering FAU sports, but now from the inside, as a full-time student.

I’ll still be on this site until the 29th, so see you at fauowlsnest.com come June.

Later….

Baseball stumbling down the stretch: More looking back

Sun, 13 May 2012 12:47:53 GMT

Well, baseball had been a bright spot, but the Owls are fading down the stretch.

A three-game losing streak has the Owls now tied at the top of the standings at 16-8 with Arkansas State. FAU does hold the tiebreaker over the Red Wolves. At stake is the top seed in the Belt tournament.

It now appears that the winner of that tournament will get the Belt’s only spot in a regional, as the conference is surprisingly weak this season.

FAU has no significant win to brag about, and finishing on top of the Belt won’t hold any sway with the selection committee if FAU fails to win the tournament and has to hope for an at-large bid.

FAU still has one more to play at Little Rock, where they have dropped the first two of the series, losing their second series of the season (and second straight). Then comes the season-ending series versus FIU.

MORE NOSTALGIA

The New Orleans Bowl trip, at least the parts I can remember, was no doubt the high-water mark for FAU football. (At least on the field – the new stadium is the crowning glory).

So why not go back to that happy place?
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Give a girl a Howard Bobble Head Doll, and you never know what she’ll do with it…

Later…

Carl Pelini brings Ivy League smarts to FAU

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:45:44 GMT

Carl Pelini has taken an interesting route to his current post as head honcho at FAU with the task of lifting a 1-11 team off the mat and getting it competitive again.

The first twist came when he started at Columbia as an engineering student. Pelini said he put up a very good score on the SAT, especially in math, and his high school advisers steered him toward the Ivy League and engineering.

Not a bad combo, right? Pretty much set for life coming out of a prestigious school with a sought-after degree.

But Pelini discovered that engineering was not something that got him excited. He started to realize that what he really wanted to do was teach and coach football. So, when his debts started to add up and his father’s health took a turn, Pelini decided to head home and transfer to Youngstown State.

So began the coaching and teaching career that would eventually lead him to Boca Raton. A bit unorthodox, with a lot of time at the high school ranks and GA and intern jobs, but it makes sense when you follow the trajectory and what was going on in his life at the time.

That Ivy League and engineering background come into play when Pelini is talking. The guy clearly has an excess of brains, and he is very analytical when talking.
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Defensive coordinator Pete Rekstis, left, and Pelini.
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AN UH-OH MOMENT

But can all that analyzing and brainpower be too much for a defense? It worked at Nebraska, but fans may get a bit anxious when they read what Pelini has planned:

“The other thing we do as a defense is change our blitz package each week by analyzing protections. That is something that in the course of the season becomes another bullet in your gun. We ask our guys to learn and adjust every week. They have no idea how it is going to be like in season when we are asking them to learn six or seven different pressures every week and install them from Wednesday to Friday. That will be an interesting challenge for us,” Pelini said.

This immediately brings up memories of 2009, when then defensive coordinator Kirk Hoza wore a different color shirt so the players could pick him out immediately between plays because he would be signaling in yet another defensive formation, one that they might have only installed Friday in the walk-through. What it turned to the D into was a passive one, unsure of what the right thing to do was, and a D that was torched in game after game and was about worst in the country. That cost Hoza his job.

So it will be interesting to see how Pelini handles installing a system that will require a lot of learning. Can the D adapt and still be aggressive, or will they be confused and get eaten up?

Interesting challenge, indeed. But my money is on Pelini, who has the smarts to know when he is asking too much.

Later…

Sick of fish pictures yet? Well, I am not...

Tue, 08 May 2012 22:24:52 GMT

Just one more, I promise.
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My host, Jerry Bailey, with tonight's dinner -- a hog snapper.

I hear they are great eating, and am about to find out.

I won't bore you with what else we caught, since it wasn't sexy but will fill the freezer (yes, you can eat grunts and they do taste good). .

And since I am headed into The Year of Living Frugally, every filet counts.
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BACK TO FAU

It is back to reality tomorrow, or at least back to Palm Beach County, as I head home to get reacquainted with Connie The Wonder Woman, who graciously allowed me to come down here and fish for two entire days.

The reward for her is about three pounds of stone crab claws, about 10 pounds of filets, some stinky clothes, and me. In that order.

Meanwhile, FAU is hosting Florida Gulf Coast tonight.

Must win? Well, it appears the Belt could be a one-bid team this year, as it is a down season. FAU may need to win the tournament to get in, so this game may not matter in the grand scheme of things.

Fish is almost done.

And here, as I walk back through the FAU archives, is another blast from the past...
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Later....

Early start on the Dreaded Summer Doldrums

Tue, 08 May 2012 01:28:25 GMT

Baseball still going on, but why do they play baseball after FAU is shut down for the summer? Makes no sense to me.

But back to the important stuff, like fishing in the Keys...
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Yellowtail and gag grouper
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Productive day, even though I feel seasick now that I am on land.

And, yes, big change is on the way.

Maybe this whole Con-USA vs. Sun Belt thing, where I apparently took the wrong side, is because I am losing my jaded edge and becoming closer allied with FAU. Could that be it?

I don't know, but the nostalgia grows. How about this blast from the past....
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Anyone remember who that is?

Later...

Sorry for the late post, but I am on Keys time...

Oh, is there something going on at FAU?

Mon, 07 May 2012 01:29:59 GMT

Wow, forgot how quickly the real world evaporates once you hit the keys.

Con-USA, Sun Belt, hardball.

Here is my dinner tonight after the drive to Big Pine Key...
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Stone crab claws just an hour after being hauled up in my host's traps, and green beer from the keg that was not finished off on St. Patrick's Day.

Perfect Keys meal.

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And the view from the back porch.

Anyway, on vacation this week, leading up to a major change.

More to come on that, but those perceptive readers who have wondered if my attention has been pulled in different directions of late are correct.

Feeling nostalgic. How about this blast from the past...
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Monday is the quest for yellowtail snapper.

Later...

The conference shuffle spin -- FIU goes bonkers

Sat, 05 May 2012 14:40:05 GMT

Ok, I get it. I am in the minority when it comes to FAU not moving to C-USA.

FIU certainly made it sound like they had made it into the SEC, labeling it a "Breakout Moment In FIU History."

We've come to expect that from them. That inferiority complex they have developed with The U colors everything that happens down there.

North Texas handled it in a more reserved and classy way. Taking care not to sound too ecstatic and not trashing the conference they were leaving. They focused on the better geography and better rivalries that they indeed will enjoy.

Anyway, you think you feel bad? Imagine being Idaho or New Mexico State, which look to be the two orphans once the conference reshuffling is over and the WAC has disappeared.

I think the prez of Idaho got it right, and was brave to say, that conference’s are not inviting new teams based on their facitlities or quality of the programs. It is the TV market.

How else to explain FIU over FAU for Con-USA? FAU is at least equal in most areas and far better with its new football stadium, but FIU is in the Miami TV market.

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I think the only two moves that made sense beyond TV were North Texas to Con-USA and Georgia State to the Sun Belt.

North Texas was out on the fringe of the Belt and the only Texas school in it, and now gets some in-state games against Rice and San Antonio, with Tulsa and Louisiana Tech not far off. That should help attendance and cut travel costs. C-USA gets a foothold in the Dallas market and a program that has shown the willingness to spend a lot of money on athletics.

Georgia State gets a good conference to start its journey into FBS football, and is centrally located making travel pretty easy. The Belt gets its first team in Georgia, and in Atlanta on top of that. Easy travel for visitors, and games in the Georgia Dome.

But wait…With Old Dominion balking, C-USA could still be looking for another team, and Middle Tennessee is hoping it is the one.

And if C-USA goes to 16 teams, could FAU get another look?

Have to wait and see….

Later...

Carl Pelini trying to toughen up his FAU Owls

Fri, 04 May 2012 14:37:50 GMT

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.” -- Mahatma Gandhi

FAU coach Carl Pelini brought up this quote when I asked him how he is instilling a new mental toughness in the team he inherited.

Pelini rephrased it a bit, more along the lines of, ‘first they love you, then they hate you, then you win.”

He was inferring that right now the players seem to be in the hate phase, as the honeymoon is over.

Pelini had been spending some afternoons on the porch of his office overlooking the practice fields, watching players who had missed classes do some grueling sprints.

“I don’t care if you are getting an A or a D, you are going to attend class,” Pelini said. And if you don’t, you will do sprints to drive home the lesson.

It is a new era, and being accountable and getting tougher are a key elements of that.

In his press conference after the spring game, Pelini said he was miffed that players were lying on the ground too long after plays, with the trainers trotting out, only to see the player rise up and walk off without any aid.

Here was his message: “Unless your leg fell off, I want to see you walk off the field. I don’t want to see the trainers out there unless you are truly injured.”
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Pelini, left, checks on player in spring game
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And he went on: “Guys walking around between plays, slow getting into their stances. That is all stuff I want to get cleaned up. You can talk about it, but that is now something that is on tape. That is something we are going to address with them right away. I want guys out there who love the game of football and are excited about it and play with passion.”

I imagine there were some interesting conversations when he went over the tape with the players.

For Pelini, making his team tougher boils down to this:

“You can’t ever give in. You can’t feel bad for them, you can’t pity them. You have to push them harder than they have better been pushed and never let up. You can’t back off. You have to convince them they are capable of way more than they have been asking of themselves.”

Later…

Sun Belt expands, contracts, stays the same....

Wed, 02 May 2012 20:42:40 GMT

So, in less than a month, the Belt has added a couple States -- Georgia and Texas.

Just in time, too, since North Texas and FIU are bolting for Conference-USA.

That has some residents of Owl Country perturbed, perplexed and even apoplectic.

Stand down. It is not that big of a deal.

Yes, C-USA is a better basketball conference, but South Florida is not big on hoops.

Here is the projected division FIU will play in -- East Carolina, Marshal, Southern Miss, UAB, Charlotte and Old Dominion. And Charlotte and Old Dominion don't even have I-A football teams.

ls that any better than the Belt sked?

Either in C-USA or the Belt, FAU was going to have to make its football team consistently competitive and get a new hoops arena before making a significant jump.

Going from the Belt to C-USA is a baby step, if there is any elevation at all.

I think Texas State and Georgia State are nice additions, and that more teams will be added, and that the Belt will do just fine. Kent Benson seems to have a good handle on things, and I don't expect any more defections, just some additions.

ALL ALONE

What FIU has done to itself and its neighbor by moving is taken away a 58-mile road trip and replaced it with long journeys.

FAU's closest Belt opponent is Troy (515 miles), and FIU's is UAB (665 miles). That's what happens when you are on the end of a peninsula.

And what happens to the Shula Bowl? Hopefully they will keep playing each other. It makes sense on a lot of levels, but that is probably why it won't happen.

Florida Gulf Coast makes sense as a potential Sun Belt member. They are big an athletics and are interested in starting football sooner than later.

Later.....

Carl Pelini turning over FAU roster in a hurry

Wed, 02 May 2012 14:33:19 GMT

Things are pretty quiet at the Oxley these days, especially over on the football side.

All the assistants are out recruiting, and the players are wrapping up finals and getting ready for the summer.

That gave me a chance to have a chat with Carl Pelini.

On the good news side, he said he was given enough money to nearly all the returning players into the first of the two summer sessions. That is Summer A, and in the past, FAU never had the money for that. The players had to wait until Summer B to come in.

This means the players will be together and working out with each other under the eye of the strength and conditioning coach, and not back home trying to stay in shape on their own.
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Pelini at the spring game
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We talked about the Haves and the Have Nots, since Pelini is coming from Nebraska, where money for the football progam was always available.

He said the facilities are not the problem. He said the disparity is in player development.

This is the bad news part…

At Nebraska, there were eight strength and conditioning coaches, a full nutrition staff that developed a meal plan for each player individually, a huge academic support staff with plenty of money for tutoring or whatever the player needed.

At FAU? Well, the cafeteria closes down over the summer, the strength coach has to also be the nutrition coach. The assistant coaches have to check on the players each day to see if they went to class.

You get the idea. He is not complaining, since he was at Ohio University where they had the same problems, so he knew what he was getting into.

But you can see where the lack of support staff puts more non-football burdens on the coaching staff and can also stunt the development of players, especially those lacking in self discipline.

MY GUYS IN TWO YEARS

Which led to this observation by Pelini – After Signing Day 2013, he expects that half the team will be “my guys.”

As in players recruited and signed by his staff. There were 28 this year, and he expects a similar number next year, giving him 55-plus players signed in two year, which will be more than half the roster. And he said that will help turn the program around faster than if he had smaller recruiting classes, since he can bring in so much new blood in such a short span of time.

What are Pelini guys? Well, they have to have shown they can get it done academically, and that they are tough and know football. He does not want just a bunch of athletes. He wants players who understand the game and how to become better at it.

Later…

Big news for FAU DT fans (and who isn't one?)

Tue, 01 May 2012 13:39:55 GMT

Lost in the draft stuff over the weekend was some pretty big news.

Two former FAU Dance Team members survived the tryouts and are now Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders.

Brittany Murray and Fajala O’dneal join four-year Dolphin veteran Amy Madill, another FAU DT alum, to give FAU three former DT members on the squad.

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Murray, left, and O’deal at their final FAU football game in December
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Amy Madill
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You can find out more about Dolphins Cheerleaders here.

Congrats to Britany and Fajala.

Later…

Sun Belt extends deal with GoDaddy.com bowl to 2017

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:43:22 GMT

The Sun Belt has extended it’s tie in with the GoDaddy.com Bowl through 2017, the conference announced Monday. The deal was set to expire in 2013.

That will continue the two current bowl spots for Belt teams (New Orleans and GoDaddy), and I would guess new commish Karl Benson is working hard on getting a third.
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Now, Carl Pelini has to get FAU back to the point where they have a realistic point of becoming bowl eligible.

Later…

FAU defense catching on fast to new system, coaches

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:36:46 GMT

Continue to follow up on spring football, I talked with new defensive coordinator Pete Rekstis, who, like his counterpart OC Brian Wright, was not only installing a new defense, but getting to know his players and what they are capable of.

Overall, Rekstis said the spring went “very well.”

He said he was able to get in most of the base concepts. “I am very encouraged by our guys,” Rekstis said.

Rekstis said he likes the speed he has on defense, and that the players “fit well into our schemes.”

The attitude of the players also impressed him.

“They were very will to accept a new staff and new scheme, and do so enthusiastically,” Rekstis said.

The depth chart is fluid, but Rekstis did name some names.

He has been impressed by linebacker David Hinds, both for his physical ability and for his leadership qualities.

Hinds (11) takes down Arkansas State quarterback Ryan Aplin last season.
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On the line, he pointed to Jimmy Jean. “He is going to be good,” Rekstis predicted. (Jean said after the spring game that he really likes the new defense and that he is primed for a good season.)

In the secondary, Keith Reaser is the key player. “We are going to count on him,” Rekstis said.

Rekstis said while the base D will be with four down linemen, he expects to use three when the situation dictates, as well as five defensive backs.

Rekstis said that he didn’t realize how well the D had played until he watched the tape of the game. “I liked what I saw. These guys really competed.”

That said, Rekstis knows there is a long way to go, but so far, so good as the Owls head into the offseason.

Later…
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Injuries (to other people) helped Alfred Morris ascend

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:02:17 GMT

Yes, Alfred Morris has special skills that got him drafted, but Morris also benefited from injuries to other players along the way that allowed him to get noticed.

And while other players got hurt, Morris was about as durable as they get. I recall him being held out of some spring scrimmages, but only as a precaution. He never missed a game due to an injury, and given the pounding he took in his three years, that is saying something.

Nobody wants to see a player hurt, but when the door opened for Morris, he took advantage, which is why he will now get a chance to make it onto the Redskins’ roster.
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Rewind to spring of 2009.

Morris came into spring practice camp as the No. 2 behind veteran Willie Rose, who was heading into his senior season. Over at tailback were Willie Floyd and Jeff Blanchard, who were battling for the No. 1 job.

Morris was coming off his redshirt freshman year where he had 7 carries for 23 yards, and it looked like he was headed for another year of mop-up duty behind Rose before he would get his chance.

But then Blanchard and Floyd both went down with knee injuries before the first spring scrimmage.

The coaches moved Morris over to tailback to see what he could do. Well, Morris did well. Better than well, he blew through the defense time after time and the job was his before the first half of the first scrimmage was over.
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Fast forward to this January, when Morris was back home in Pensacola after having just played in the East-West Shrine game and was preparing for the NFL Draft Combine in late February.

Morris gets a call from the Senior Bowl that because of an injury to FB Chris Diehl of Clemson, a roster spot has opened up and would Morris be interested in joining the South team?

Of course he would, and guess who was coaching the South team? Redskins coach Mike Shanahan.

So Shanahan got a first-hand look at Morris, and saw that he could play fullback as well as tailback. Not so surprising then that Saturday Morris was picked in the sixth round by Washington.
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Now comes the hard part. The Redskins do not have a shortage of running backs, so how Morris fits in will be decided over the summer.

But another opportunity has opened up for Morris, and as he has shown, he has a knack for taking advantage of such situations.

Later…

Alfred Morris keeps FAU in NFL Draft streak alive

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 22:14:44 GMT

The Washington Redskins used their first pick in the sixth round and 173rd of the NFL Draft to take former FAU running back Alfred Morris.
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Morris (32) was known for his tackle-breaking romps through defenders.
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That makes it three straight years that a former Owl has been picked in the draft, which followed a run of eight straight years that saw now FAU player selected.

Morris was the lone bright spot on FAU's horrid offense of 2011. Despite every team knowing he was going to get the ball since the Owls had no other weapons, Morris still managed to grind out 1,186 yards for a 98.8 yard per game average.

And there isn't a nicer, more humbler young man out there than Morris, who always put a positive spin on things.

Morris averaged 116 yards a game in 2009 when he had a decent line.

In 2010 the line was terrible, and his average dropped to 77 yards per game.

Morris could have blamed the inexperienced line, but he said it was up to him to find a way to make yardage, and that the experience helped him because maybe the yards had come to easy in 2009.

The line was marginally better in 2011, but since FAU had no passing game, Morris was the offense, and somehow averaged nearly 100 yards per game. That got him invited to the Combine and obviously Washington saw something in him they liked.

Should be interesting to see how he does in the NFL. He's not fast, but as fans know, he can find the openings and once he is past the line of scrimmage, he usually can break a few tackles before coming down.

Later...

NFL Draft drought returning for FAU?

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:36:41 GMT

Unfortunately this year’s NFL Draft has not provided any fodder for FAU fans.

Alfred Morris could be a late round pick, but more likely will become an undrafted free agent. Beyond that it looks bleak.

FIU’s T.Y. Hilton got picked in the third round with the 92nd pick, becoming the highest pick for the Kitties.

He did not beat out FAU, though, as TE Rob Housler was the 69th pick last year early in the third round. Not sure when that will be topped. Not anytime soon from what I see on the roster.
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Housler making a TD catch in 2010 vs. Arkansas State
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After a two-year run of having players drafted, FAU appears back in the slump it was for the first eight years of the program with no players drafted.

That was broken in year 9 when QB Rusty Smith was taken in the sixth round, and last year when Housler was picked.

WOULD YOU TAKE THE JOB?

Acting AD Melissa Dawson said hiring a wo
men’s basketball coach before a new AD is hired has made the search a bit tougher.

Candidates are antsy about not only taking a job without knowing who their boss will be, but also not knowing if Dawson will be around once the new head of the department comes in.

But given that the AD search is expected to go into the summer months (I am hearing as late as July), a new coach will be hired.

“I’ll get us a good one,” Dawson promised.

Later…

FAU offense passing game flunks this spring

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:52:42 GMT

Caught up with FAU offensive coordinator Brian Wright, who is coming off his first spring with the Owls.

Wright and the rest of the coaching staff started the process of implementing the new spread formation this spring, and Wright said things had gone well.

The first mission was not the Xs and Os, it was to “a style of play, a tempo, and an attitude,” Wright said, and that was accomplished.

As far as the Xs and Os, Wright said about 75 percent of the offense was installed.

“We had slowed down our install in the middle of spring to make sure we had the fundamentals down. We had to stress the importance of being good with the fundamentals,” Wright said.

MOVING UP

We’ve already talked about RB Jonathan Wallace, the major surprise of the spring.

Wright said the other player who made a big impression was TE Alex Deleon.

Deleon (6-4, 210) will be a sophomore in the fall. He redshirted in 2010 and saw limited action last season playing behind Darian Williams and Nexon Dorvilus.
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Deleon in the spring game, being tackled by Winfred Strickland.
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Deleon had one catch last season. In the spring game he had four for 52 yards.

NOT MOVING

Wright said he had hoped a leading QB candidate would emerge, but that Graham Wilbert and Stephen Curtis are still too close together to make a call. He expects that to continue through preseason camp.

As was evident in the spring game, Wright said overall the passing game never got going in the spring.

That was not just on the QBs, as the wide receivers did not do well, and the line had some problems.

“We need some wide receivers to step up and a quarterback to step up and be the guy,” Wright said about what would fix that aspect of the offense.

And, yes, he does expect the junior college players coming on board in the fall to compete for starting jobs, including QB Melvin German.

“We are going to need some of those guys to contribute right away. We wouldn’t have recruited them if we didn’t think they could play for us,” Wright said.

DT PIC

Been a while, but as the Dreaded Summer Doldrums approach, never too early for a DT Pic…
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Later…..

Big buyout clause should lock in FAU vs. UM games

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:17:45 GMT

As my compatriot Steve Gorten noted on his UM blog, by adding FAU in 2015 and 2016, the Hurricanes are overbooked, with five non-conference games in 2015 and four in 2016. The reason four is a problem is the ACC will be going to a nine-game regular season conference schedule.

So, could FAU lose out when Miami figures out what it is going to do with the schedule?

Well, given that there is a $500,000 buyout clause for each game of the three-game series, that is unlikely.

Acting AD Melissa Dawson said whichever team breaks the deal for any of the games has to pay that amount, and you know FAU is not going to be backing out. (I would guess Miami will drop Toledo and/or Memphis in 2015, and probably Toledo again in 2016.)

FAU is very happy with the deal it cut with UM, as they will be paid $500,000 for each trip to Sun Life, and they don’t have to pay Miami anything for coming to Boca Raton in 2015.

UM wanted a 4-for-1, then a 3-for-1, but Dawson said she didn’t want to commit to that many games in Miami. So FAU settled for less money in payout for a shorter commitment. And if Miami wants out, FAU will gladly take the $500,000 and find another opponent.

While FAU is in a huge rebuilding phase, UM looks to be heading up under Al Golden. But don’t forget the NCAA has not handed out the penalties for the Nevin Shapiro scandal yet, and they could be severe.

The Owls could be catching the Canes at a good time if they are dealing with scholarship reductions and bowl bans that could complicate recruiting efforts.

Later…

FAU builds on Belt lead; Prediction has Owls at No. 116

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:33:07 GMT

The wild weather that started Friday reduced the Battle for the Sun Belt lead from a three-game series to one game on Sunday, with the Owls beating Arkansas State 6-2.

The rain delay that came after the fifth inning really helped the Owls, as Arkansas State ace Lee Jacob had allowed just two hits, but after sitting for nearly an hour and a half, he didn't return to start the sixth inning, and that is when FAU used three errors to score five runs and break the game open.

So here are the current Belt standings

FAU 13-3
ASU 10-6
FIU 10-8
MTSU 10-8
USA 10-8

And FAU has the tiebreaker over all four of those 10-win teams, having won a series off each of them.

FAU has four more to play -- at Troy (6-12), WKU (8-10), at UALR (7-11), and FIU.

RIGHT MOVES

Coach John McCormack made two moves heading into the season that have made him look very smart.

He moved R.J. Alvarez from starter to the bullpen, and got catcher Mike Albaladejo to play second base.

Alvarez is 4-0 with a 0.61 ERA and seven saves, and Albaladejo leads the team in hitting (.364) runs scored (55), doubles (10), on-base percentage (.451) and he has 23 RBI as the leadoff hitter.

With Albaladejo moving to second, McCormack could put Mike Spano, and his bat, behind the plate. Spano is hitting .303 and had a two-run single in Sunday's game.
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Albaladejo
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AND AT NO. 116...

Pre-snap Read is ticking through its list of the I-A football teams, and FAU comes in at No. 116, one better than the Orlando Sentinel had the Owls.

http://www.presnapread.com/no-116-florida-atlantic/

Paul Myerberg does a nice job with his list, and he is usually in the ballpark.

I think FAU is a really a wildcard this year, given all the changes, so they could go 1-11 or 5-7.

Later...

FAU vs. UM is win-win for the Owls no matter what happens

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 22:50:58 GMT

Give interim AD Melissa Dawson credit.

She whacked Chancellor Dugan, worked out a new deal with Mike Jarvis, and now has inked a three-game series with the Hurricanes, something that had been talked about since FAU started playing in 2001 but never got done.

FAU will play at Miami in 2013 and 2016 with UM in Boca Raton in 2015.

This is all good for FAU and makes me wonder what circumstances prompted UM to sign on.

What FAU won't be getting is a lot of money. Financial terms were not available, but there won't be anything like a usual payout of $500,000 plus. UM is not Clemson or Alabama and can't afford that kind of money for a non-con opponent.

I'm sure FAU settled for a lot less, and maybe even nothing, because they get two road games that are closer than FIU, and thus travel expenses are near zero. FAU fans get what is essentially another home game on the schedule.

And UM comes to Boca Raton in 2015, which could fill the place, especially if Pelini has the Owls up and running, which should be the case by then.

This is good for both fan bases and I would assume UM figured it is a cost-effective way to get a non-conference opponent that is beatable and could draw a decent crowd.

It's safer than scheduling South Florida, though FAU is hoping Pelini changes that.

It's just a shame that a game between these two couldn't have happened when Howard Schnellenberger was still on the sidelines.

Later....
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Jonathan Wallace benefits from FAU's regime change

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:35:21 GMT

One of the biggest beneficiaries of the regime change could be running back Jonathan Wallace, the guy who ran for 104 yards and three touchdowns in the spring game, and had fans wondering, “who is this dude and where did he come from?”

Wallace is from Lauderhill and played at Boyd Anderson, but he ended up at a JUCO in Iowa. He got homesick and came back and walked on last fall.

Given his late arrival and not knowing the offense, Wallace was a scout team player all of last season, which is why he was never even near the radar.

But Carl Pelini took over, and he and every player started from scratch.

So Wallace got his shot and got noticed. He’s got good size (6-0, 198), with power and speed, as he showed in the spring game.
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Wallace scores his first TD of the spring game.
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A couple injuries early in the spring got him more reps, and more reps got him more attention, and suddenly it looks like "Alfred Morris, The Sequel."

Fans may recall that heading into spring of 2009, Morris was a sophomore FB who had never seen action and was destined to be a backup.

But then came a slew of injuries to tailbacks early in the spring, and coaches moved Morris from fullback and in the first scrimmage he plowed through the defense and, as they say, the rest is history.

But I would not pencil in Wallace as the starter at RB.

Pelini is not ready to put anyone in a starting spot, and while Wallace was the surprise of the spring, that may not carry over into the fall. He should be in the mix, and if the passing does not improve, expect to see a run-oriented offense that will use multiple backs.

With his size, Wallace would be a nice target as a receiver.

He handled his first press conference well, and became Exhibit A in the benefits of fresh eyes and the value of giving everyone on the roster a chance to show what he can do.
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OLD COACHES CHUG ALONG

The hire of Larry Brown by SMU had at least one reporter trying to track down an old coach to try and find out why they stay in the game. And she ended up talking with The Voice. You can see what Howard Schnellenberger had to say here.

Later….