2020 Florida Atlantic Owls football team

2020 Florida Atlantic Owls football
Montgomery Bowl, L 10–25 vs. Memphis
Conference	Conference USA
Division	East Division
2020 record	5–4 (4–2 C-USA)
Head coach	Willie Taggart (1st season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Clint Trickett (1st as coordinator, 4th overall season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Drew Mehringer (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Jim Leavitt (1st season)
Home stadium	FAU Stadium (Capacity: 29,419)
Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

2020 Conference USA football standings
v t	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Marshall xy		4	–	1					7	–	3
Florida Atlantic		4	–	2					5	–	4
Western Kentucky		4	–	3					5	–	7
Charlotte		2	–	2					2	–	4
Middle Tennessee		2	–	4					3	–	6
FIU		0	–	3					0	–	5
West Division
UAB xy$		3	–	1					6	–	3
UTSA		5	–	2					7	–	5
Louisiana Tech		4	–	2					5	–	5
North Texas		3	–	4					4	–	6
Rice		2	–	3					2	–	3
Southern Miss		2	–	4					3	–	7
UTEP		0	–	4					3	–	5
Championship: UAB 22, Marshall 13
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Note: Due to COVID-19, Old Dominion opted out of the season.

The 2020 Florida Atlantic Owls football team represented Florida Atlantic University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Owls played their home games at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida, and competed in the East Division of Conference USA (CUSA). They were led by head coach Willie Taggart, in his first year.

Previous season[]

The Owls finished the 2019 regular season 11–3, 7–1 in CUSA play which they finished in first place in the East Division, the programs second second division title. Florida Atlantic played against UAB in the conference championship game. The Owls played in the game for the second time in three years and defeated the Blazers.^[1] The team was invited to play in the Boca Raton Bowl against SMU, where the Owls took their eleventh win of the season.^[2]

Preseason[]

Awards[]

Listed in the order that they were released

Player	Position	Year
Desmond Noel	OL	Senior

^[3]

CUSA media days[]

The CUSA Media Days was be held virtually for the first time in conference history.^[4]

Schedule[]

Florida Atlantic announced its 2020 football schedule on January 8, 2020.^[5] The 2020 schedule originally consisted of 6 home and 6 away games in the regular season.

The Owls had games scheduled against Minnesota, Old Dominion, Stony Brook, and Middle Tennessee which were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6][7][8][9]

The Owls also had games scheduled against Georgia Southern, South Florida, and Southern Miss, which were postponed due to the pandemic.^[10][11][12] The Georgia Southern game is now rescheduled for December 5^[13] and the Southern Miss game is now rescheduled for December 10.^[14] They also added a new game against UMass on November 20 to replace their canceled game against Old Dominion, which was previously scheduled for that same weekend.^[15]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 3	4:00 p.m.	Charlotte	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL	ESPNU	W 21–17	5,657
October 24	2:30 p.m.	at No. 22 Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	Stadium	L 9–20	12,002
October 31	12:00 p.m.	UTSA	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL	Stadium	W 24–3	5,026
November 7	6:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL	Stadium	W 10–6	5,292
November 13	7:00 p.m.	at FIU	Riccardo Silva Stadium Miami, FL (Shula Bowl)	CBSSN	W 38–19	0
November 20	8:00 p.m.	UMass*	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL	CBSSN	W 24–2	5,554
December 5	6:00 p.m.	at Georgia Southern*	Paulson Stadium Stateboro, GA	ESPN+	L 3–20	3,867
December 10	6:30 p.m.	at Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	CBSSN	L 31–45	0
December 23	7:00 p.m.	vs. Memphis*	Cramton Bowl Montgomery, AL (Montgomery Bowl)	ESPN	L 10–25	2,979
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 24 released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

Schedule Source:^[16][17]

Game summaries[]

Charlotte[]

Charlotte at Florida Atlantic

1 2 3 4 Total 49ers 10 0 0 7 17 • Owls 0 0 21 0 21 Date: October 3, 2020 Location: FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL Game start: 4:02 p.m. EDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 20 minutes Game attendance: 5,657 Game weather: 85 °F (29 °C) • Weather: Drizzle • Wind: SSE 10 MPH Referee: Billy Williams TV announcers (ESPNU): Mike Corey (play–by–play) and Jay Walker (analyst)

Scoring summary 1 06:13 CHAR Jonathan Cruz 43-yard field goal (13 plays, 53 yards, 6:44) CHAR 3–0 01:36 CHAR Cameron Dollar 39-yard pass from Chris Reynolds (Jonathan Cruz kick) (2 plays, 51 yards, 0:53) CHAR 10–0 3 08:16 FAU Nick Tronti 49-yard rush (Vladimir Rivas kick) (6 plays, 73 yards, 2:35) CHAR 10–7 02:57 FAU Logan Peterson 25-yard pass from Nick Tronti (Vladimir Rivas kick) (5 plays, 80 yards, 1:48) FAU 14–10 01:57 FAU T. J. Chase 16-yard pass from Nick Tronti (Vladimir Rivas kick) (1 play, 16 yards, 0:06) FAU 21–10 4 13:00 CHAR Tre Harbison III 1-yard rush (Jonathan Cruz kick) (10 plays, 75 yards, 3:57) FAU 21–17

Pregame line	Over/under
FAU −5	62.5[18]

Statistics	Charlotte	Florida Atlantic
First downs	22	15
Total yards	396	315
Rushing yards	82	217
Passing yards	314	98
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	37:49	22:11

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Charlotte	Passing	Chris Reynolds	24/32, 314 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Tre Harbison III	17 carries, 49 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Victor Tucker	9 receptions, 118 yards
Florida Atlantic	Passing	Nick Tronti	11/22, 98 yards, 2 TDs
	Rushing	Nick Tronti	10 carries, 94 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	T. J. Chase	3 receptions, 31 yards, 1 TD

at Marshall[]

Florida Atlantic at Marshall

1 2 3 4 Total Owls 0 6 3 0 9 • No. 22 Thundering Herd 7 0 10 3 20 Date: October 24, 2020 Location: Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV Game start: 2:30 p.m. EDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 11 minutes Game attendance: 12,002 Game weather: 52 °F (11 °C) • Weather: Cloudy • Wind: S 6 MPH Referee: Rodney Burnette TV announcers (Stadium): Chris Hassel (play-by-play) and A. J. Hawk (analyst)

Scoring summary 1 05:40 MRSH Brenden Knox 58 yard pass from Grant Wells (Shane Ciucci kick) (5 plays, 79 yards, 2:08) MRSH 7–0 2 02:28 FAU Malcolm Davidson 11 yard rush (Vladimir Rivas PAT blocked) (12 plays, 65 yards, 5:53) MRSH 7–6 3 8:12 FAU Vladimir Rivas 43 yard field goal (11 plays, 52 yards, 6:48) FAU 9–7 6:24 MRSH Artie Henry 41 yard pass from Grant Wells (Shane Ciucci kick) (4 plays, 81 yards, 1:48) MRSH 14–9 3:13 MRSH Shane Ciucci 35 yard field goal (7 plays, 29 yards, 2:25) MRSH 17–9 4 10:53 MRSH Shane Ciucci 22 yard field goal (9 plays, 60 yards, 4:20) MRSH 20–9

Pregame line	Over/under
MRSH −19.5	50.5[19]

Statistics	Florida Atlantic	Marshall
First downs	17	19
Total yards	234	385
Rushing yards	86	134
Passing yards	148	251
Turnovers	1	2
Time of possession	33:12	26:48

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Florida Atlantic	Passing	Nick Tronti	18/30, 148 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	Malcolm Davidson	8 carries, 62 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Jordan Merrell	5 receptions, 48 yards
Marshall	Passing	Grant Wells	18/31, 251 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Brenden Knox	25 carries, 101 yards
	Receiving	Corey Gammage	6 receptions, 79 yards

UTSA[]

Texas–San Antonio at Florida Atlantic

1 2 3 4 Total Roadrunners 0 3 0 0 3 • Owls 10 7 0 7 24 Date: October 31, 2020 Location: FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL Game start: 12:00 p.m. EDT Elapsed time: 3 hours & 18 minutes Game attendance: 5,026 Game weather: 82 °F (28 °C) • Weather: Humid/Partly Cloudy • Wind: ESE 6 MPH Referee: Chris Bynum TV announcers (Stadium): Chris Vosters (play-by-play) and Max Stark (analyst)

Scoring summary 1 10:53 FAU Vladimir Rivas 24 yard field goal (10 plays, 58 yards, 4:07) FAU 3–0 04:55 FAU Aaron Young 27 yard pass from Nick Tronti (Vladimir Rivas kick) (10 plays, 80 yards, 4:00) FAU 10–0 2 08:55 UTSA Hunter Duplessis 49 yard field goal (15 plays, 43 yards, 6:08) FAU 10–3 01:58 FAU Nick Tronti 2 yard run (Vladimir Rivas kick) (9 plays, 80 yards, 3:46) FAU 17–3 4 02:35 FAU James Charles 2 yard run (Vladimir Rivas kick) (5 plays, 19 yards, 1:03) FAU 24–3

Pregame line	Over/under
FAU −5	47[20]

Statistics	UTSA	Florida Atlantic
First downs	16	19
Total yards	230	332
Rushing yards	104	196
Passing yards	126	136
Turnovers	0	0
Time of possession	27:54	32:06

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
UTSA	Passing	Frank Harris	12/26, 109 yards
	Rushing	Frank Harris	14 carries, 66 yards
	Receiving	Joshua Cephus	5 receptions, 63 yards
Florida Atlantic	Passing	Nick Tronti	11/19, 136 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Malcolm Davidson	14 carries, 115 yards
	Receiving	Aaron Young	3 receptions, 54 yards, 1 TD

Western Kentucky[]

Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic

1 2 3 4 Total Hilltoppers 0 0 3 3 6 • Owls 0 0 3 7 10 Date: November 7, 2020 Location: FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL Game start: 6:35 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 2 hours & 53 minutes Game attendance: 5,292 Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C) • Weather: Rainy and Windy • Wind: E 20 MPH Referee: Jon Noli TV announcers (Stadium): Chris Hassel (play-by-play) and A. J. Hawk (analyst)

Scoring summary 3 08:51 FAU Vladimir Rivas 40 yard field goal (8 plays, 27 yards, 3:23) FAU 3–0 02:57 WKU Brayden Narveson 32 yard field goal (13 plays, 61 yards, 5:54) 3–3 4 08:09 WKU Brayden Narveson 49 yard field goal (4 plays, 6 yards, 1:31) WKU 6–3 02:27 FAU Javion Posey 11 yard run (Vladimir Rivas kick) (12 plays, 75 yards, 5:42) FAU 10–6

Pregame line	Over/under
FAU −7	40.5[21]

Statistics	Western Kentucky	Florida Atlantic
First downs	16	18
Total yards	257	273
Rushing yards	94	165
Passing yards	163	108
Turnovers	0	1
Time of possession	33:49	26:11

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Kentucky	Passing	Tyrrell Pigrome	19/39, 163 yards
	Rushing	Gaej Walker	17 carries, 78 yards
	Receiving	Xavier Lane	7 receptions, 60 yards
Florida Atlantic	Passing	Nick Tronti	7/16, 108 yards
	Rushing	Javion Posey	9 carries, 60 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	TJ Chase	3 receptions, 47 yards

at FIU[]

Florida Atlantic at Florida International

1 2 3 4 Total • Owls 7 17 0 14 38 Panthers 0 10 0 9 19 Date: November 13, 2020 Location: Riccardo Silva Stadium Miami, FL Game start: 7:00 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3 hours & 26 minutes Game attendance: 0 Game weather: 79 °F (26 °C) • Weather: Drizzle • Wind: ENE 7 MPH Referee: Chris Bynum TV announcers (CBS Sports Network): John Sadak (play-by-play) and Randy Cross (analyst)

Scoring summary 1 11:35 FAU LaJohntay Wester 11 yard pass from Javion Posey (Vladimir Rivas kick) (8 plays, 75 yards, 3:25) FAU 7–0 2 13:17 FAU Vladimir Rivas 43 yard field goal (9 plays, 48 yards, 3:07) FAU 10–0 13:01 FIU D'vonte Price 77 yard run (Chase Gabriel kick) (1 play, 77 yards, 0:16) FAU 10–7 11:11 FIU Chase Gabriel 41 yard field goal (4 plays, 4 yards, 1:42) 10–10 09:52 FAU Malcolm Davidson 37 yard run (Vladimir Rivas kick) (4 plays, 75 yards, 1:19) FAU 17–10 01:41 FAU Brandon Robinson 5 yard pass from Javion Posey (Vladimir Rivas kick) (8 plays, 70 yards, 2:54) FAU 24–10 4 14:09 FIU Chase Gabriel 21 yard field goal (15 plays, 79 yards, 6:26) FAU 24–13 12:41 FAU James Charles 32 yard run (Vladimir Rivas kick) (4 plays, 68 yards, 1:28) FAU 31–13 02:29 FAU Javion Posey 2 yard run (Vladimir Rivas kick) (12 plays, 78 yards, 6:02) FAU 38–13 01:55 FIU Rivaldo Fairweather 67 yard pass from Max Bortenschlager (Two-point pass conversion FAILED) (3 plays, 67 yards, 0:34) FAU 38–19

Pregame line	Over/under
FAU −8.5	41.5[22]

Statistics	Florida Atlantic	FIU
First downs	21	14
Total yards	450	281
Rushing yards	370	156
Passing yards	80	125
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	29:33	27:58

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Florida Atlantic	Passing	Javion Posey	10/16, 80 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Javion Posey	18 carries, 140 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	TJ Chase	1 reception, 28 yards
FIU	Passing	Max Bortenschlager	10/18, 82 yards
	Rushing	D'vonte Price	26 carries, 178 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Rivaldo Fairweather	6 receptions, 49 yards

UMass[]

Massachusetts at Florida Atlantic

1 2 3 4 Total Minutemen 0 0 2 0 2 • Owls 7 0 14 3 24 Date: November 20, 2020 Location: FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3 hours and 11 minutes Game attendance: 5,554 Game weather: 77 °F (25 °C) • Weather: Mostly Cloudy • Wind: ENE 20 MPH Referee: K. Antee TV announcers (CBS Sports Network): Jason Knapp (play-by-play) and Malik Zaire (analyst)

Scoring summary 1 10:58 FAU BJ Emmons 1 yard run (Vladmir Rivas kick) (8 plays, 57 yards, 3:04) FAU 7–0 3 06:47 FAU Brandon Robinson 13 yard pass from Nick Tronti (Vladmir Rivas kick) (15 plays, 65 yards, 8:13) FAU 14–0 04:27 FAU Javion Posey 70 yard run (Vladmir Rivas kick) (1 play, 70 yards, 0:13) FAU 21–0 01:55 UMASS 9 yard safety FAU 21–2 4 04:58 FAU Vladmir Rivas 30 yard field goal (5 plays, 53 yards, 1:53) FAU 24–2

Pregame line	Over/under
FAU −32.5	50.5[23]

Statistics	UMass	Florida Atlantic
First downs	8	16
Total yards	147	368
Rushing yards	62	140
Passing yards	85	228
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	25:10	34:50

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
UMass	Passing	Will Koch	12/22, 67 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	Ellis Merriweather	11 carries, 48 yards
	Receiving	Josiah Johnson	8 receptions, 42 yards
Florida Atlantic	Passing	Javion Posey	13/27, 203 yards
	Rushing	Javion Posey	19 carries, 90 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	TJ Chase	4 receptions, 79 yards

at Georgia Southern[]

Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern

1 2 3 4 Total Owls 0 0 3 0 3 • Eagles 0 10 0 10 20 Date: December 5, 2020 Location: Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA Game start: 6:00 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 2 hours & 55 minutes Game attendance: 3,867 Game weather: • Weather: TBD • Wind: TBD MPH Referee: T. Livingston TV announcers (ESPN+): Matt Stewart (play-by-play) and Danny Waugh (analyst)

Scoring summary 2 13:29 GASO Khaleb Hood 49 yard punt return for TD (Alex Raynor kick) (1 play, 49 yards, 01:25) GASO 7–0 2 03:30 GASO Alex Raynor 30 yard field goal (10 plays, 34 yards, 04:18) GASO 10–0 3 02:26 FAU Vladimir Rivas 26 yard field goal (10 plays, 67 yards, 03:20) GASO 10–3 4 12:39 GASO Logan Wright 2 yard TD run (Alex Raynor kick) (9 plays, 78 yards, 04:39) GASO 17–3 04:51 GASO Alex Raynor 37 yard field goal (10 plays, 23 yards, 05:36) Gaso 20–3

Pregame line	Over/under
GASO −2.5	42[24]

Statistics	Florida Atlantic	Georgia Southern
First downs	16	18
Total yards	322	339
Rushing yards	133	269
Passing yards	189	70
Turnovers	4	0
Time of possession	23:15	36:45

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Florida Atlantic	Passing	Javion Posey	7/15, 105 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Javion Posey	8 carries, 61 yards
	Receiving	Jordan Merrell	3 receptions, 67 yards
Georgia Southern	Passing	Justin Tomlin	3/12, 70 yards
	Rushing	Justin Tomlin	20 carries, 78 yards
	Receiving	Logan Wright	2 receptions, 65 yards

at Southern Miss[]

Florida Atlantic at Southern Mississippi

1 2 3 4 Total Owls 7 10 14 0 31 • Golden Eagles 10 14 14 7 45 Date: December 10, 2020 Location: M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS Game start: 6:30 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 2 hours & 40 minutes Game attendance: 0 Game weather: 63 °F (17 °C) • Weather: Cloudy • Wind: SSW 2 MPH Referee: Ken Antee TV announcers (CBS Sports Network): Jason Knapp (play-by-play) and Corey Chavous (analyst)

Scoring summary 1 12:31 FAU Brandon Robinson 20 yd pass from Nick Tronti (Vladimir Rivas kick) (1 plays, 20 yards, 0:06) FAU 7-0 09:09 USM Frank Gore Jr. 73 yard run (Briggs Bourgeois kick) (1 plays, 73 yards, 0:13) 7-7 01:34 USM Briggs Bourgeois 38 yard field goal (12 plays, 60 yards, 5:17) USM 10-7 2 11:18 FAU Vladimir Rivas 40 yard field goal (12 plays, 48 yards, 5:16) 10-10 08:54 USM Trey Lowe 13 yard run (Briggs Bourgeois kick) (6 plays, 75 yards, 2:24) USM 17-10 04:39 FAU James Charles 12 yard run (Vladimir Rivas kick) (7 plays, 77 yards, 4:15) 17-17 00:08 USM Tim Jones 5 yard pass from Trey Lowe (Briggs Bourgeois kick) (13 plays, 75 yards, 4:31) USM 24-17 3 11:08 USM Jason Brownlee 43 yard pass from Trey Lowe (Briggs Bourgeois kick) (6 plays, 80 yards, 3:52) USM 31-17 03:53 FAU James Charles 1 yard run (Vladimir Rivas kick) (6 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:28) USM 31-24 03:39 USM Camron Harrell 100 yard kickoff return (Briggs Bourgeois kick) USM 38-24 00:54 FAU Armani Adams 43 yard fumble recovery (Vladimir Rivas kick) USM 38-31 4 04:55 USM Kevin Perkins 3 yard run (Briggs Bourgeois kick) (9 plays, 90 yards, 5:23) USM 45-31

Pregame line	Over/under
FAU −8.5	41[25]

Statistics	Florida Atlantic	Southern Miss
First downs	19	22
Total yards	326	514
Rushing yards	164	305
Passing yards	162	209
Turnovers	1	3
Time of possession	28:41	31:19

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Florida Atlantic	Passing	Nick Tronti	17/33, 162 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	James Charles	16 carries, 79 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Brandon Robinson	5 receptions, 72 yards, 1 TD
Southern Miss	Passing	Trey Lowe	13/19, 209 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Frank Gore Jr.	9 carries, 111 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Jason Brownlee	3 receptions, 81 yards, 1 TD

vs. Memphis (Montgomery Bowl)[]

Memphis vs. Florida Atlantic

1 2 3 4 Total • Tigers 10 8 7 0 25 Owls 0 0 10 0 10 Date: December 23, 2020 Location: Cramton Bowl Montgomery, AL Game start: 7:01 p.m. EST Elapsed time: 3 hours & 15 minutes Game attendance: 2,979 Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C) • Weather: CLoudy; Some rain • Wind: NNW 7 MPH Referee: Marshall Lewis TV announcers (ESPN): Clay Matvick (play-by-play), Rocky Boiman (analyst), and Lauren Sisler (sideline reporter)

Scoring summary 1 07:15 MEM Riley Patterson 53-yard field goal (10 plays, 53 yards, 3:20) MEM 3-0 02:26 MEM Javon Ivory 5-yard pass from Brady White (Riley Patterson kick) (8 plays, 52 yards, 3:18) MEM 10-0 2 00:22 MEM Joseph Dorceus 2-yard pass from Brady White (John Hassell two-point conversion rush) (10 plays, 58 yards, 4:25) MEM 18-0 3 09:53 FAU TJ Chase 3-yard pass from Nick Tronti (Vladimir Rivas kick) (9 plays, 73 yards, 3:14) MEM 18-7 07:38 FAU Vladimir Rivas 27-yard field goal (7 plays, 16 yards, 2:15) MEM 18-10 05:14 MEM Calvin Austin III 7-yard pass from Brady White (Riley Patterson kick) (7 plays, 75 yards, 2:24) MEM 25-10

Pregame line	Over/under
MEM −9	52.5[26]

Statistics	Memphis	Florida Atlantic
First downs	24	19
Total yards	469	290
Rushing yards	185	139
Passing yards	284	151
Turnovers	3	2
Time of possession	30:44	29:16

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Memphis	Passing	Brady White	22/34, 284 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
	Rushing	Asa Martin	15 carries, 96 yards
	Receiving	Javon Ivory	7 receptions, 126 yards, 1 TD
Florida Atlantic	Passing	Nick Tronti	16/32, 146 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	James Charles	16 carries, 82 yards
	Receiving	Brandon Robinson	4 receptions, 39 yards

References[]