FAU Football: Preview, prediction for Owls’ 2019 season
By Phil Poling
Schedule and prediction
- Week 1: at Ohio State (Aug. 31)
- Week 2: vs. UCF (Sept. 7)
- Week 3: at Ball State (Sept. 14)
- Week 4: vs. Wagner (Sept. 21)
- Week 5: at Charlotte (Sept. 28)
- Week 6: BYE
- Week 7: vs. Middle Tennessee (Oct. 12)
- Week 8: vs. Marshall (Oct. 18)
- Week 9: at Old Dominion (Oct. 26)
- Week 10: at Western Kentucky (Nov. 2)
- Week 11: vs. FIU (Nov. 9)
- Week 12: BYE
- Week 13: at UTSA (Nov. 23)
- Week 14: vs. Southern Miss (Nov. 30)
Kicking off the year in Columbus — against the Ohio State Buckeyes in first-year head coach Ryan Day’s debut — isn’t the ideal start to a season, especially one that doesn’t have preseason high expectations. But that’s where Lane Kiffin and the FAU football program stands, with the Buckeyes in their sights.
Playing non-conference heavyweights isn’t an unusual phenomena for the Owls, though. In just the last four years, Florida Atlantic’s played at Florida, at Kansas State, at Miami (FL), at Oklahoma, at UCF and at Wisconsin. They’ve lost every single one of those contests, but they weren’t afraid to schedule and play them.
Even with some key player departures, the Owls have plenty of talent returning. Here’s the thing, though: How do you predict how a Lane Kiffin-coached team will perform? His 2012 USC Trojans entered the season as the preseason No. 1 overall team. They finished just 7-6 and lost to Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl. So what gives?
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Prediction: 7-5, 5-3 C-USA
The Owls could open the season with consecutive losses facing Ohio State and UCF, but will finally get in the win column against Ball State. Another non-conference win will push them to .500 entering conference play where they’ll go 5-3 on their way to seven wins and bowl eligibility. An uninspiring outcome for Kiffin and the Owls, a 7-5 campaign would (likely) keep him in Boca Raton for the 2020 season.