The Florida Atlantic Owls have the Lane Train moving in Boca Raton again.
The Owls are officially two games away from Bowl eligibility with six games remaining and have won four in a row.
Malcolm Davidson is the conductor of this win, he ran for 149 yards, and a touchdown and Florida Atlantic dominated the second half to beat Middle Tennessee, 28-13 on Saturday.
“Just didn’t feel like a very clean game,” FAU coach Lane Kiffin said. “We struggled at times on offense, which was kind of new. At the end of the day, it’s not about yards, it’s about points and turnovers. You win 3-0 in the turnover margin, you’re going to win a lot of games.”
Davidson became the first FAU player to rush for at least 100 yards this season.
Middle Tennessee scored the first touchdown. However, Akileis Leroy scored FAU’s first points of the game by blocking an extra-point attempt in the first quarter and taking it to Middle Tennessee’s end zone for two points.
Asher O’Hara was 24 of 42 for 335 yards passing and a touchdown for Middle Tennessee (2-4, 1-1), but was picked off three times. The Blue Raiders outgained the Owls 459 yards to 364.
The two programs followed each other from the Sun Belt to Conference USA and played for the 17th time, with the Blue Raiders holding a 12-4 advantage in the series all-time coming in. Owls were favored by 10.5.
The Owls defense was impressive in this contest; however, on the offensive side, Kiffin’s scheme battled to put points on the board on their home field against a two-win team. The train is moving, but the pace will need to pick up for the Owls to appear in the Conference USA title game.
The beat goes on.
The Owls will put their winning streak on the line against Marshall on Friday night at home.
Middle Tennessee will take their talents to North Texas.
Photo/RomanGaray/WORLDWIDEWEST
