First No Bowl Preview - From The Cusa Board

stebo · December 12, 2007

http://www.cusa-fans.com/articles/cusa-foo...iew_121017.html

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2007 New Orleans Bowl Preview

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Memphis (7-5, CUSA) v. Florida Atlantic (7-5, Sun Belt)

December 21, 2007 @ 8 PM (EST) - ESPN2 - Louisiana Superdome - New Orleans, LA

Howard Schnellenberger is certainly no stranger to building a program into a winner. The Paul “Bear” Bryant disciple received a unique opportunity in 1999 when he was named the first head coach of the Florida Atlantic University football program. Schnellenberger, who led a near death Miami Hurricanes’ program to the 1983 national title and also turned around struggling Louisville from 1985 to 1994, has built the Owls into legitimate Division I-A (FBS) competitor.

After experiencing some success in the program’s first six seasons, FAU (7-5, 6-1) broke through this season to capture its initial conference crown by winning at Troy in the final game of the year. The Owls’ lone loss in Sun Belt play was a 33-30 triple overtime decision at home to UL-Monroe (who later shocked then nation with a win at Alabama). They were prepared for the league slate by a very difficult out of conference schedule. Schnellenberger’s squad dropped games at Oklahoma State (42-6), at Kentucky (42-17), and at Florida (59-20) while also losing to South Florida at home (35-23).

Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Rusty Smith leads the Owls’ offensive attack that yields 30 points and 413 yards per contest. Smith, who went 23-of-34 for 291 yards and a couple scores in the win over Troy, has completed just over 57 percent of his 447 attempts. The sophomore has thrown for 3,352 yards and 27 touchdowns (compared to only eight interceptions).

Smith’s top target is redshirt sophomore wideout Cortez Gent. Gent has accumulated over 1,000 yards receiving and nine touchdowns on 61 catches. He caught eight balls for 155 yards against Troy and has 5 games with 100+ receiving yards on the season.

Memphis (7-5, 6-2) started slowly, but the Tigers have won five of their last six since suffering the tragic death of Taylor Bradford. Former Clemson coach Tommy West is in his seventh season in Graceland and he has led the program to four bowl games in the past five years.

Check out our CUSA Fans Team Fan Shop for Memphis apparel & merchandise, and DFN Sports sites features FAU hats & gear.

The Tigers can also light up the scoreboard. Senior quarterback Martin Hankins has passed for nearly 3,000 yards and is connecting on 61 percent of his attempts. Hankins, who has only played ten games, has 22 touchdown passes and 12 picks.

Hankins has the luxury of throwing to a host of talented, tall wide receivers. Duke Calhoun (6’4) and Carlos Singleton (6’8) lead a group of five Memphis receivers with at least 30 receptions. Calhoun has a team-high 58 catches for 850 yards and five scores while Singleton has 47 for 704 and ten touchdowns.

Both teams have what amount to adequate at best rushing attacks. Memphis’ Joseph Doss and FAU’s Charles Pierre lead their clubs with just over 700 yards each.

Both teams have given up a ton of yards and points defensively, but seem to rely fairly heavily on forcing turnovers. The Owls have 33 takeaways while only committing 14. The Tigers have taken it away 25 times while only giving it up 16.

Of FAU’s 33 turnovers, an eye-opening 19 of them have been interceptions. Keep an eye on the match-up between the Owls’ secondary and the Tigers’ talented receiving corps.

Both teams struggle to get off the field on third downs, as they allow opponents to convert at least 45 percent of their attempts.

The Owls will win the turnover battle and get more stops. Thus, they will pick up their first bowl win in the program’s first ever trip to the postseason at the FBS level.

Florida Atlantic 38 - Memphis 34

Article by Thomas "Bubba" Rosenbaum -

CUSA Fans Director of Content

Green Lantern · December 12, 2007

I can't be the only Belt fan that is worried about what the crappy attendance this year could potentially mean for the NO Bowl's future. It sounds like both schools combined have only sold between 1500-2000 tickets. God, I wish Troy had beaten FAU.