FAU talking smack again...this time to the MSU Spartans...

[smazza]

They're becoming a bunch of cocky SOB"s. Hope they can back it up for their sake... 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/columnists/sfl-flspmikec07sbsep07,0,3717636.story

Now's the time for Owls to back big talk with big play from defense

by MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM

September 7, 2008

Fort Lauderdale - There's a disparity between what the Florida Atlantic Owls are saying and what they are doing this football season.

They talked about making a Bowl Championship Series game before Texas drilled them last week. They said it would be no sweat to bounce back against Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday — and then had to sweat out a victory.

The Owls want to believe they are too good for the New Orleans Bowl, the prize for the Sun Belt champion. But they didn't look much better than their unimpressive Conference USA opponent at Lockhart Stadium.

Never mind the 49-34 final score. The Owls survived when UAB missed an open touchdown pass in the final minute and then FAU's Charles Pierre inexplicably broke free for a 72-yard touchdown run.

The Owls escaped as two-touchdown favorites, yet they were still talking big afterward.

Coach Howard Schnellenberger said he saw defensive "improvement," though a weaker opponent rolled up 482 yards. And after Schnellenberger angered Texas by questioning its toughness, Owls kick returner Jeff Blanchard promised FAU would light up Michigan State on Saturday.

"We will score a lot against them, trust me," he said.

That's not as brash as it sounds, considering the Owls remain a legitimate force on offense. But they will get more resistance from Michigan State, Minnesota and the conference foes looking to prevent them from repeating as champs.

Eventually the Owls are going to have to stop a good team to win, and so far there's been little evidence they can do it.

"When you score a lot of points, it's exciting for the fans," quarterback Rusty Smith said. "But to be honest, I don't enjoy those kinds of games at all."

This was one of those games. The Owls raced out to leads of 14-0 and 21-3, only to watch UAB get back within 21-17. FAU was up 42-26 when UAB scored on a 13-play drive prolonged by a hit out of bounds following a fourth-down stop.

The offense wasn't perfect but nearly had to be.

"We are not going to depend on the offense," said Owls linebacker Frantz Joseph, a Fort Lauderdale High product. "We are going to get the job done."

Otherwise, the Owls can forget about finally playing a BCS school tough on the road. Keep this up and eventually a return trip to the New Orleans Bowl will start looking pretty good and not something for which they'll have to settle.

There's nothing wrong with the Owls dreaming big, and no one in college football has done it better than Schnellenberger. But talk about big victories and a super season needs to be tempered by the reality that FAU needs to get a lot better just to be a good team.

It's one thing to get crushed at Texas. It's something different to struggle at home against an opponent with a pretty good running quarterback and not much else.

"All in all, it was a great day of redemption," Schnellenberger said.

No, it was just a day FAU survived. Redemption won't come unless the defense can help the Owls finally do as much as they say.

they sound stupid

they will lose

they need to beat someone

[BrahmanBulliever]

I guess by score a lot, he meant not at all.