FAU may face North Texas without strong tailback Greg Howell

[Harry]

The FAU Owls may have to play a key game Saturday at North Texas without one of their best running backs.

Coach Charlie Partridge said Monday that Greg Howell has a strained right hamstring that could force him to miss the must-win contest as FAU chases bowl eligibility.

Howell, a true freshman, is listed as questionable. Partridge said his concern grew Sunday when the training staff told him Howell's hamstring was swollen. The plan this week is to ease Howell in practice and see how much his hamstring improves before Saturday.

But until Howell can accelerate, and run at full speed, Partridge said the team's offensive game plan for North Texas does not include Howell.

"We'll take a look at him every single day this week," Partridge said of Howell, who goes by the nickname Buddy. "It's not an easy one to come back from. I'm optimistic because Buddy is genetically gifted, so genetically gifted players recover faster."

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