Conference USA Championship 2019: 3 takeaways from FAU’s win

2. The FAU defense crushed UAB

Offense can only account for so much in a rout. While an offense can run up the score, they also need the defense to prevent the opponent from turning the game into a shootout rather than a blowout. FAU did just that on Saturday afternoon against the Blazers, preventing their opponents from gaining any offensive momentum and holding UAB to just six points.

Beyond the interceptions racked up by Meiko Dotson and Chris Tooley, the Owls secondary made life miserable for the Blazers passing attack. UAB starting quarterback Tyler Johnston III threw for 42 yards and an interception on 4-of-11 passing. His understudy, Dylan Hopkins, finished 4-of-7 for 42 yards and an interception of his own.

When they tried to run the football, things didn’t work much better for UAB. Florida Atlantic held the Blazers to 139 rushing yards as a team, 22 yards below their season average. Johnston finished with 59  yards on quarterback keepers, and Spencer Brown also finished with 65 rushing yards. But overall the Blazers struggled to keep the chains moving on the ground, as they ended the contest with only 14 first downs all day.

FAU came in determined to win the C-USA championship, and it showed on both sides of the ball. They also returned a punt block for a touchdown on special teams, as the punt rush unit came up big and made its mark as well.