FAU Fouls Out but Adds 2

FAU found itself with a chance as they led 34-33 at halftime against Western Kentucky. The first of a two game road trip for the Owls, (they play Middle Tennessee St. Saturday) head coach Mike Jarvis kept the 4-guard lineup in place as they played the most dominant basketball program the Sun Belt has to offer. WKU has made two back to back appearances in the Ncaa tournament (2008-09) and has found succes with a Sweet 16 apperance in 2008. However after halftime, the Owls voice began to fade. Starters F Brett Royster, G Sanchez Hugley, and G Alex Tucker all fouled out before the 5 min mark. Some of the calls were very questionable and Mike Jarvis let it be know to officials. Freshman G Ray Taylor and G Greg Gantt kept it competitive as long as they could but the Hilltoppers prevented the upset as G A.J. Slaughter took over in the second half finishing with 25 points. FAU fans have to be happy not only because they played the game close, but they also played well on the road, something rare during Mike Jarvis's tenure. Ray Taylor and the Owls will have another shot at WKU in Febuary before the conference tournament and hopefully the owls will find an answer for Slaughter.

Shifting too football, head ball coach Howard Schnellenburger and his staff are hot on the recruiting trail again, as they have received two more commitments the past two days. RB Tony Moore (6'1" 215) out of Lincoln HS in Tallahassee,FL has decided to come to play football in Boca Raton. Moore provides nice size and almost looks like a clone of current FAU running back and Sun-Belt leading rusher RB Alfred Mooris. Much like fellow commitment LB Micheal Copeland (Valdosta, GA) Moore comes from a storied program that over the past 3 years has had 19 players go to d-1 programs.

The staff also landed 3-star QB Brandon Doughty (6'3" 190) out of North Broward Prep in Coconut Creek, FL. Doughty looks like he could be the prize of FAU's class as the owls beat out the likes of Mississippi St. and FIU. Doughty provides nice sizes and reminds some of QB Rusty Smith.

Here is my latest mock class-(Bold designates committed)

1.*** QB Brandon Doughty (6'3" 190) North Broward Prep, Coconut Creek, FL

2.*** DE Corey Henry (6'3" 229) Carol City HS, Miami, FL

3.** LB Micheal Copeland (6'0" 211) Lowndes HS, Valdosta, GA

4. HB Tony Moore (6'1" 215) Lincoln HS, Tallahassee, FL

5. TE Alex DeLeon (6'4" 195) Bellview HS, Bellview, FL

6.*** LB Alpha Smart (5'11" 195) West Boca High, Boca Raton, FL (Ole Miss)

7. *** QB Stephen Curtis (6'3" 205) Sumter HS, Sumter, SC

8.** WR Arione Scott (6'2" 160) Nova HS, Davie, FL

9. *** OL David Delsion (6'6" 256) Sherdian Hills Christian, Hollywood, FL (FIU, Troy)

10. CB Normondo Harris (6'0" 165) Monsignor Pace, Miami, FL

11. LB D.J. Price (5'10" 195) Chiles HS, Tallahassee, FL

12. LB Durell Ward (6' 1" 205) Ely HS, Pompano, FL

13. DT Jordan Johnson (5'10" 245) Carol City HS, Miami Gardens, FL

14. DE Trevaughn Faircloth (6'4" 217) South Broward, Hollywood, FL- 1/15 (Illinois, CMU, FIU)

15. ATH Tyree Robinson (5'11" 180) Haines HS, Haines City, FL

16. OL Chris Acosta (6'5" 270) Hialeah HS, Hialeah, FL- 1/15

Thursdays Primer

The Vol Nation is in meltdown mode. After, Lane or as some call him "Lame" Kiffin spurned the University of Tennessee for the USC (Southern California) head coaching vacancy there where riots throughout Knoxville. The riots where originally started in hopes of boxing Kiffin's car in, which was unsuccessful in the end. To outsiders this might seem a little extreme, but the Vol Nation really dosent have an answer. Three weeks till national signing day and former assistant coach Ed Orgeron is telling current Tennessee early enrollies not to attended class so it will be easier to transfer to USC. The effects of this coaching change leaves 3 certain answers for Vol fans:

1. Current juco early enrollies QB Matt Sims and WR Kenbrell Thompkins will not be wearing the Vol orange next fall. Both Sims and Thompkins hail from El Camino Community College in Torrence, Ca and they both will follow Kiffin and his staff to USC as it appears they are more committed to Kiffin and Orgeron rather than a University.

2. Tennessee is placed into on of the most difficult coaching searches around. The obvious candidate they have to get is current Duke head coach David Cutcliffe. Cutcliffe has spent 19 seasons as a coach in Knoxville and there has to be a feeling he would want to come back after spending two seasons with Duke and leading that program to a respectable 9-15 which was Duke's best two year span since Fred Goldsmith's run in 1993-94. After what appears is a swing and a miss on trying to bring in Will Muschamp Tennessee A.D. Mike Hamilton will strike out if he cant bring in Cutcliffe. Other dark horse candidates include, Uconn's Randy Edsall and Air Force's Troy Calhoun.

3. Football will be pain full for Tennessee next year. Fans need to jump-on Bruce Pearl's basketball band wagon now. Tennessee is taking major blows in terms of recruiting as many recruits have already jumped or are considering jumping off the Vol Navy's river boats for another program with a head coach in place.

Big weekend ahead for College Basketball and the NFL.

Andrew Likes,

Thursday

Auburn at #10 Tennessee - UT by 18. The Vol Nation is pissed and Bruce Pearl responds.

Chicago at Boston- Bulls by 5. Great rivalry after last years playoff series. Celtics too injured.

Saturday

#2 Kentucky at Auburn- Kentucky by 22. Rough 3-Days for Auburn, UT then John Wall.

LSU at Florida- Billy Ball by 2. UF needs the three to fall to win almost any contest.

Arizona at New Orleans- Saints 28-17. Saints don't treat this one like an exhibition game.

Baltimore at Indy- Ravens 24-23. Joe Flacco and Ray Rice build off last weeks success

Sunday

Dallas at Minnesota- Farves 31-14. Not buying Dallas, Minnesota's offense flex's its muscle.

NY Jets at San Diego- J.E.T.S 17-14. Mark Sanchez shows how much potential he has

Owl Call:

FAU at Western Kentucky (Thurs. 8pm)- FAU by 1. Ray Taylor leads the new found 4-guard offense into Bowling Green and shocks the Hilltoppers on there home court. Not enough film of the system that has given FAU two blow-out wins over Sun Belt foes for WKU to prepare.

FAU at Middle Tennessee St. (Sat. 8pm)- Blue Raiders by 4. FAU can't complete the sweep up north.

Follow me on twitter/aivins

Big Weekend for FAU

With less than three weeks away till national signing day, Florida Atlantic has picked up the recruiting efforts. Head coach Howard Schnellenberger has tweeted about how this weekend (Jan. 15-16) will be a big recruiting weekend for the Owls.

FAU fans earlier this week learned of the commitment of LB Micheal Copeland (6'0" 211) out of Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. Copeland is rated as the 114th best OLB by Scout.com and comes from a Lowndes High School program that has been one of the most dominant programs in the state of Georgia. Over the past three years they have had a record of 36-4 and were ranked #2 in the nation at one time by ESPN in 2008. Florida State's CB and PR/KR man Greg Reid graduated form Lowndes last year and found immediate success in Florida State's defense. FAU's coaching staff is looking for the same result.

Looking ahead to this weekend, here is an unofficial list of who is expected in for FAU.

Jan. (15th-16th):

*** QB Stephen Curtis (6'3" 205) Sumter, South Carolina
*** CB Khari Burke (5'10" 165) South Plantation, Florida- 78th ranked CB
*** QB Brandon Doughty (6'3" 190) North Broward, Florida
*** DT Sean Watson (6'3" 283) Rutherford, Florida -35th ranted DT, 89th in the state
ATH Tyree Robinson (5'11" 185) Haines City, Florida
ATH Andre Robinson (6'2" 190) Longwood, Florida

-More prospects most likely will be visiting.

The biggest visitor coming in has to be DT Sean Watson. FAU struggled to get pressure from the pass rush all season and an upgrade is needed there immediately. Watson was high on South Florida but after there coaching changes a window has opened up for FAU. Expect a USF, FAU and FIU battle.

Wednesday 12/23

First of i would like to provide some sympathy to Oregon State's Johnny Hekker, who had 4 punts for a 26.0 yard average last night in the MECCO Las Vegas Bowl. Sure Johnny managed a long of 64 yards but he also hurt his team with a punt of 12 yards that managed to go 25ft in the air spiraling then hit a wall of wind and proceed to fall straight down and roll backwards. In hid defense though, there has been 36mph wind gusts in the area making great conditions for the bowl game.

Speaking of the MECCO Las Vegas Bowl. I find it difficult and hard to believe that this was BYU's 5th consecutive trip to the city of sin. You would think that most of the BYU followers wouldn't approve of a trip and game played in a location that stands for almost everything they don't believe should be allowed, but hey i guess there out to prove us wrong as they have managed to knock off a Pac-10 school 3 out of the 5 times.

Christmas day is oh so close and its already time to hand out some gifts...

Lets start of with some surprise individual player awards. These guys might not have been the sexiest picks in the nation but they could be the most deserving. Almost the equivalent of receiving socks and underwear on Christmas morning, you need it, but its not what you wanted..

• Freshman of the Year- Austyn Carta-Samuels Wyoming QB. (1,953 yds, 10 tds, 115.97 rating, 366 rush yds, 3 tds) First off the kid has a name. He also led the cowboys to there first winning record and bowl game since 2004. The dual-threat qb also managed to catch a 30-yard td and record a 36-yard punt



• Player of the Year- Ricky Dobbs Navy QB. (901 yds, 5 tds, 1026 rush yds, 24 tds) Dobbs who has broken the single season FBS record for rushing tds in a season could also join an elite group this season if he passes for 99 yards in the bowl game(1000 yds rushing and passing in a season) While accumulating all of these stats Dobbs lead Navy to wins over Notre Dame and Army while almost upsetting Ohio St. in Week 1.



• Deffensive Player of the Year- Rahim Moore UCLA FS. (9 ints, 46 tackles, 7 psbu, 4 tfl, 1 sack) Only a sophmore Rahim lead the entire ncaa with 9 ints. Helped lead UCLA to a bowl game and a top-30 defense.



• Team of the Year- Temple (9-3, MAC East Champion, Invited to EagleBank Bowl) Temple started the 2009 season off with a Thursday night loss to cross town FCS foe Villi nova on a last second field goal. At that point many thought there was no chance head coach Al Golden could rebuild the program. However 9 wins later the Owls made it to the MAC Championship game and a bowl game for the first time in 30-years.

Closing thougth: A big thanks goes out to South Alabama as last night they knocked off the #18 Florida Gators in Gainsville. Sure Billy Donovan's squads haven't been the same since the back-to-back championships, but anytime an underdog wins on the road it is impressive. The Sun Belt has flexed its muscle when it comes to SEC schools as this is the second ranked team to fall from the Mid-Major conference. (Western Kentucky defeated #24 Vanderbilt last week)
Andrew Likes:

• #23 Utah vs California San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. 8pm ESPN-Utah shocked the nation last bowl season by knocking of Alabama in the sugar bowl. California will be with out Jahvid Beast. Utah 31 Cal 24


• #21 Ole Miss at #6 West Virgina Mens Bball 7:30 pm ESPN2- A quality basketball matchup here. The Rebels who have to be glad its almost full basketball season have only one loss to the higher ranked Villanova. West Virgina is lead by a 3-forward monster trio of Devin Ebanks, Kevin Jones, and De'Sean Butler. If Ole Miss cant contain them there in trouble. WVU by 9


• FAU at Georgia Mens Bball 7pm PPV- My beloved Owls take the road here at UGA after getting blown out by Miami in Sunrise. Georgia just knocked off Illinois in a big game and are relying on F Trey Tompkins (15.9 ppg). FAU will most likely have some struggles guarding Tompkins. If G Ray Taylor can score and dish the ball around, FAU may catch Georgia napping for the Holidays. UGA by 7

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