DRC today NT Def to face new FAU passer

[OldTimer]

Football: UNT ‘D’ to face new FAU passer

09:21 AM CST on Saturday, November 12, 2005

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

There will be an aura of mystery surrounding North Texas’ game against Florida Atlantic in Miami today.

UNT knows that the Owls were one of the better passing teams in the Sun Belt Conference with Danny Embick at quarterback. What they will be without him is anyone’s guess.

Embick broke his thumb last week in a loss to Troy and is out for the season.

“We don’t know which quarterback they will put in and what scheme they will have for us,” UNT defensive back T.J. Covington said. “That makes it difficult, but as long as we stay focused and take care of our assignments, it doesn’t matter what type of offense they run. We will be OK.”

FAU (1-8, 1-4) has struggled throughout the season, but did find some success throwing the ball with Embick. The senior racked up 1,531 yards and 11 touchdowns.

FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger will turn to Sean Clayton and McKinson Souverain to help fill the void left by Embick. Clayton will start for the Owls, who will use two separate offenses for each quarterback. Both will see time.

“We will simplify our offense and try to get as much out of them to make us effective,” Schnellenberger said.

Even Schnellenberger does not know for sure how his quarterbacks will respond. Clayton and Souverain have combined to throw for just 102 yards on 22 pass attempts for the season.

Clayton threw for 39 of those yards after coming in for Embick against Troy. No matter what plan FAU settles on, UNT (2-6, 2-2) believes it will be in for a tough game against the Owls.

“Howard Schnellenberger’s teams are as fine a coached teams as there are in the country,” UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said. “He is still doing a lot of the same things he did when he won the national title at Miami.”

FAU has seven receivers with at least 100 yards on the season, but also has nearly 1,000 rushing yards. Running back Charles Pierre has posted 403 yards on the ground and will get plenty of opportunities to carry the ball with Embick out.

UNT knows from experience not to underestimate FAU, even with Embick sitting on the sideline.

The Mean Green faced FAU at home last year in a game that appeared to be an opportunity for UNT to get back on track after being hammered by Texas in its season opener. Instead of find its rhythm against the Owls, UNT found itself sitting at 0-2 after a 20-13 loss.

The Mean Green appeared to be driving for a game-winning touchdown, but settled for a game-tying field goal. Owls running back Doug Parker took advantage when he bowled into the end zone from a yard out for the game-winning touchdown with just 56 seconds left.

FAU has not been nearly as successful this year and has lost a series of close games, including a 3-0 setback in overtime against Arkansas State.

Those close losses make FAU’s record deceiving.

“Florida Atlantic has shown at times this year that they are a good team,” Dickey said. “They beat Lafayette at Lafayette for their only win.”

FAU has been on a slide since, one that became worse last week when the Owls lost to Troy.

The defeat dropped FAU from the Sun Belt title race and seemingly set UNT up for a golden opportunity to bounce back from a disheartening loss to ULL last week that saw the Mean Green cough up an 88-yard, game-winning touchdown drive in the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter.

A win over FAU would not only put UNT back on track, it would also keep the Mean Green’s hopes to make a run at a share of the Sun Belt title alive.

UNT learned last year that the win it needs against FAU is something it will have to fight for, even if the game seems to set up in the Mean Green’s favor.

“We will have to go down there and play really hard and really well,” Dickey said. “This is a team that came in here last year and pretty much dominated us on our home field.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-5870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .

North Texas at Florida atlantic

When: Noon

Where: Dolphins Stadium; Miami

Records: North Texas (2-6, 2-2), Florida Atlantic (1-8, 1-4)

Last week: Louisiana-Lafayette 31, UNT 28; Troy 28, UNT 14

Line: FAU by 4

On the air: TV — none; Radio — KWRD-FM 100.7, KNTU-FM 88.1