The Florida Atlantic Owls are not winning the war however they just won an important fight.
The Owls upset the Florida International University Panthers on Saturday Night 49-14. Devin Singletary rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns. Singletary is now tied with Donnel Pumphrey of San Diego State for ninth place in NCAA FBS history with 62 career-rushing touchdowns.
Entering the rivalry game, Singletary and FAU’s running game has been fantastic, but the passing game was not pushing the ball down the field, and the turnovers have been a big problem as the O has scored just 20 points in the last two games – both losses.
The Owls more than doubled that in the 17th annual Shula Bowl. Kerrith Whyte rushed for 165 yards. The Owls accumulated a total of 439 yards on the ground. Third most in FAU history. While Whyte averaged 9.7 yards per carry.
“It was a really good win. That’s how we ended the season last year, taking care of the ball, playing good defense and running the ball really well,” Owls head coach Lane Kiffin said. “It was good to see, especially in the second half, to end on a 35-0 run on the road against an undefeated (in conference) team.”
The Owls are the first road team to win in the series since 2012 when the Panthers won in Boca Raton.
The Panthers had their four-game winning streak snapped. James Morgan threw two touchdowns on 18-of-32 passing to lead the Panthers on Saturday night. The two scores give Morgan 21 touchdown passes for the season, which ties the school’s single-season mark set previously by Alex McGough in 2015.
With the loss, FIU drops to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in C-USA play, while FAU improves to 4-5 and 2-3 on the year.
The beat goes on; the Owls host Western Kentucky for their homecoming game. The Panthers travel to visit UTSA.
Photo/WORLDWIDEWEST/RomanGaray
