FAU Football: Can Owls improve on impressive 2017 season?

Defense

The defense was definitely the weaker of the two units in 2017. The FAU defense was good enough to keep opponents behind the Owls offense on the scoreboard, but they were hardly an otherworldly group. They improved over the course of the season, keeping opponents under 30 points in each of the last seven games of the season.

Even despite the swoon at the beginning of the season, FAU averaged 22.7 points allowed over the course of the 2017 campaign. They ranked in the top 25 nationally in sacks, averaging more than 2.7 sacks per game. FAU was better against the pass than against the run, but they still held opponents under 160 yards per game on the ground.

And FAU has one of the most experienced defenses in the country coming back in 2018. Only seven other teams have more returning production on the defensive side of the ball. That bodes well for another level of improvement when they don’t have the ball this year.

Focusing on the secondary

The key to FAU’s success on defense in 2017 was a secondary that ranked second in the country in interceptions. Leading the pack was safety Jalen Young, who ranked third nationally in picks. Right behind him were FAU cornerbacks Shelton Lewis and Chris Tooley. Andrew Soroh manned the other safety position.

All four are back for a team that ranked 20th in the country in opponent passing efficiency. The quartet stands to keep FAU’s opponents on their toes when trying to pass the ball. They will likely give up even fewer yards than the 230 per game they conceded through the air in 2017.

Diashun Moss and Korel Smith will back up Lewis and Tooley. Meanwhile, Soroh and Young will be ably spelled by James Pierre and Zyon Gilbert. The Owls have a deep defensive backfield that is only going to develop more depth and experience in 2018. That bodes well for FAU’s chances of repeating as C-USA champions this year.