FAU football: Can Owls return to winning ways after disastrous end to 2020?

FAU football has been seen as an ascending football program and they showed how good they could be under current Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and they are hoping to continue that level of winning under Willie Taggart, who had a solid debut season in Boca Raton.

The Owls started off hot, going 5-1 and playing Marshall close in a tight loss. The end of the season did not go how FAU wanted, losing their final three games, all by double digits.

This is a program that is expected to compete for C-USA titles and I think they are heading in the right direction.

Under Kiffin, the Owls were known to be a strong offensive team that could put points on any program in any given week. Under Taggart last season, FAU was surprisingly very good on the other side of the ball and led the way with their defense. The Owls finished ranked in the top-10 in the country in scoring defense and they hope to pick up right where they left off.

The one difference in this year’s defense and last season is going to be the coordinators, with Jim Leavitt leaving for SMU and Taggart hiring Mike Stoops to replace him.

The big question that is going to make the biggest difference for the program is who is going to be starting under center. There are going to be a host of contenders that includes last year’s starter Nick Tronti, Javion Posey, Penn State transfer Michael Johnson Jr., Willie Taggart Jr., and Miami transfer N’Kosi Perry. That is going to be the defining battle of fall camp and whoever wins it is going to be tasked with leading the Owls to the C-USA title game.