FAU Football: Despite late-game antics from UTEP, Owls escape with win, 28-25

FAU got the job done.

“A win is a win.”

This expression is usually said when a team wins, but maybe not in the prettiest of ways. This basically encompasses FAU’s performance Saturday night against the UTEP Miners. 

The Owls do pick up the win, 28-25, against a Miners team that was 6-1 heading into the game, but the atmosphere after the game was anything but celebratory.

1-0. #WinningInParadise pic.twitter.com/HwwBciRzYZ

— Florida Atlantic Football (@FAUFootball) October 31, 2021

FAU Hagerty Family Head Coach Willie Taggart gives his overall evaluation on the game:

“We got a win. That’s a good start there. Happy with the win. Happy our guys found a will to win. One of the signs of a good football team is you find a way to win ball games even when you don’t play well,” Taggart said. “I didn’t think we played well tonight. I thought we played undisciplined. Just very disappointed in our football team. Discipline caused a lot of things that happened that could have very well put us in control of that game, and we got out-disciplined.”

Taggart said he's happy he got a win, but says the team didn't play well and was disappointed with how undisciplined they were. #FAU https://t.co/XvA5VKHDoc

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 31, 2021

Despite what the final score says, this game shouldn’t have been close as it was. FAU were leading 28-10 in the fourth quarter, when UTEP scored 15 unanswered points, including recovering an onside kick. 

The offense did score 28 points, but had the chance to put away UTEP much earlier. FAU punted the ball nine times Saturday and a glaring statistic that Taggart disapproved of is how the Owls were 2 of 15 on third down conversions.

“We were bad on third down, it’s hard to get any kind of offense going again when you’re two for 15. That’s not good at all. You’re on the sideline quite a bit,” Taggart said. “It’s tough against a really good defense like UTEP so we wanted to control the clock, we wanted to get first downs, we want to run our offense and unfortunately we didn’t execute well enough and and I give them credit, they did a great job on defense of not allowing us to do the things that we wanted to do.”

Taggart says that they'll go into practice looking at the film and fixing these mistakes despite the win, talked about how they were 2 for 15 on third downs. #FAU https://t.co/g9UGHded2d

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 31, 2021

Quarterback N’Kosi Perry had a serviceable day as he threw for 149 yards and one touchdown. The one score proved to be a significant one as the Owls had a touchdown drive with under two minutes left to go in the first half.

On a fourth down and one, Perry completed a 39-yard pass to LaJohntay Wester for the touchdown as the receiver was wide open down the right sideline. Perry and Wester said they ran this play in the two-minute drill during practice this past week.

For Perry, he said he didn’t realize how bad the third down conversion numbers were and says that besides the win, it’s a wake up call for the offense.

N’Kosi Perry didn’t approve when I told him of the 2/15 on third down conversions. Says that the team didn’t play well and he wants to see more consistency not just from the team, but himself. #FAU https://t.co/jjnhvmWzXU

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 31, 2021

“I think it’s a wake up call for the team, the coaches, everyone, we can’t take any plays off. We can’t downplay any of our opponents. We got to be ready at all times and the cost is zero.

The graduate student signal-caller evaluates his performance individually and what he wants to see himself do better.

“I just don’t think I was consistent enough,” Perry said. “Need to be more accurate with the ball, make quick decisions, and escape when I need to and when I don’t need to find someone, find someone open and make a play.”

Wester was the leading receiver against UTEP, recording four catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. In his post-game presser, he felt like the way they played is not their identity.

He talks about the night as a whole for the offense in his point of view and what he needs to improve.

“It was a tough night for us, but we’re gonna come back to practice tomorrow, watch films, and make up for our mistakes,” Wester said. “For me, just honing in on the ball, my blocking, and being smarter. I know I got an unsportsmanlike penalty towards the end of the game that could have cost us, so just becoming more mature in this game. So definitely discipline.”

LaJohntay Wester told me that the touchdown play before the half is one they worked on during practice with him and Perry. He says he has to be more disciplined and has learned after his penalties. #FAU https://t.co/kKMAuirF7v

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 31, 2021

Johnny Ford once again had another solid game, leading the team with 93 yards and a 27-yard touchdown, which put the Owls on the board first. 

For the defensive side of the ball, they were spectacular for most of the game. Through the first three quarters of the game, the unit held UTEP to 10 points and gave the FAU offense opportunities to score. However, that fourth quarter proved to be disastrous as they let the Miners get back in the game, scoring 15 points.

Taggart says they made mistakes in the fourth quarter that led to their game plan lacking in execution compared to the prior three.  

The defensive player of the game was defensive back Romain Mungin, who was all over the field for the Owls. He finished the night with eight total tackles, two pass breakups and an interception. 

For him, finally! He talks about the missed interceptions he had last year and how good it felt to finally have one.

“I mean it was a lot because everybody has been wanting me to catch a pick since last year. I dropped like eight of them last year,” Mungin said. “Last year, they called me ‘almost’ so when I got that pick, I already knew that nobody would call me that anymore and when I got a pick, everybody just went crazy.”

When starting #FAU DB’s Romain Mungin’s (@RomainMungin2) post-game presser, I started by saying “You finally got one!”

“Yes sir!” he replied. I also asked about his dominant performance despite the pick and said that energy came from his family. https://t.co/Z0HenW5s48

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 31, 2021

He attributed the energy for his electric performance to his family, but said the defense has to be better so those types of fourth quarters don’t happen often. 

“We got the win, but it shouldn’t have been that close, but I feel great about the win. We just have to come back to practice and fix these corrections,” Mungin said. “We’re going to look back on what we left out there on the field that we could have fixed.”

Safety Jordan Helm was another defensive player that stood out as he finished with five total tackles, but also recorded an interception, one that felt all too easy. He even thought he didn’t catch it, because it fell right into his hands. 

#FAU Safety Jordan Helm said he didn’t even realize he caught the interception, because it was right in his hands. Didn’t like the fourth quarter performance, but did find promise in #UTEP’s third down conversions. https://t.co/m5Ly6sVRVS

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 31, 2021

Helm described how this type of win didn’t feel like normal when it came to the performance of the team.

“We won the game, but as a defense, it didn’t feel like a normal win in the locker room. Some of the guys were a little disappointed in themselves and the performance at the end of the game. We just have to come back tomorrow, look at all the errors we made, fix them, and get ready for Marshall.”

The graduate student defensive back talks about what went wrong in the fourth quarter that led to big plays by UTEP.

“There’s some cover things here and there, maybe could have changed up some calls a little bit. Sometimes we were just rushing three, there could have been a little more pressure,” Helm said. “But when we were rushing through we have to do a better job in the backend of staying on our man, me included.”

For injuries, DB Diashun Moss missed the game after practicing in limited fashion, but another key player went down against UTEP. FAU star linebacker Caliph Brice went down early and was out for the rest of the game with an arm injury. Taggart says he’s “not ok” and will get an MRI to see the severity of the injury. He was seen in a cast/sling on the sidelines.

#FAU LB Caliph Brice will get a MRI on his arm after he suffered an injury early in the game. Said he's "not ok." https://t.co/3wq7iu20GT

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) October 31, 2021

When it does come to positives, the Owls held the Miners to converting four of the 17 attempts on third downs, a statistic that Helm liked when told.

With the win for FAU, they have now won 12 straight games at Howard Schnellenberger Field spanning since 2019. For Taggart, it’s his eight straight win at home as FAU’s head coach.

While the game was a mixed bag of positive and negative aspects, the Owls are now 5-3 and 3-1 in conference play.

They next prepare for another home game against conference rival, the Marshall Thundering Herd.

It wasn’t pretty, but “a win is a win.”

Photo courtesy of FAU Athletics.