Saturday’s game against Tulsa was marked by the celebration of the career of program founder and longtime coach Howard Schnellenberger, after whom the FAU Stadium field was named. It also marked the start of a new tradition: The debut of the “Owl Walk,” in which players made their way from the team bus to the locker room through a tunnel of students.
“It was fun,” defensive lineman Brandin Bryant said Monday. “I didn’t know we were going to do that. It was cool seeing the students out there, and they looked like they were having a lot of fun.”
Asked if anyone poured a beer on him, he replied, “No. Somebody tried to hand me a Smirnoff, though.”
Bryant, who was credited with a safety, and cornerback D’Joun Smith, who returned an interception 23 yards for a touchdown, were named FAU Defensive Players of the Week, while quarterback Jaquez Johnson, who passed for 318 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score, was Offensive Player of the Week. Lucky Whitehead earned special teams honors.
Coach Charlie Partridge reported that no players were lost to injury in the game. Whitehead had a thigh contusion but returned to action and Partridge said he went through Sunday’s practice with no problems.
The 50-21 victory in FAU’s home opener improved the Owls to 1-2 heading to Saturday’s third road game of the season at Wyoming (2-1), whose 7,220-foot elevation is the highest altitude of any stadium in the country.
Partridge said the Owls, who will fly to Cheyenne Friday, won’t make any adjustments for the altitude beyond making sure his guys get plenty of water.
“The major effects don’t take place until after 24 hours, and by that time we’ll have played a game and be gone,” Partridge said. “But you do have to hydrate, and we’ve already started hydrating as of (Monday). We’ve got a good plan to handle the altitude and play a good football game.”
Wyoming is 2-1, having beaten Montana (17-12) and Air Force (17-13) before losing to second-ranked Oregon (48-14) this past weekend. The Cowboys are coached by first-year coach Craig Bohl, who led North Dakota State to three FCS national championships the last three years.
Johnson, who played after missing much of the previous two games with a shoulder injury, said his left shoulder was “much better than last week” and was not surprised by his performance in his first full game.
Partridge said he was most impressed with a 9-play, 76-yard drive Johnson led with the Owls leading 33-14 midway through the third quarter that concluded with a 5-yard run up the middle by Johnson.
“Tulsa had just scored and was gaining some momentum,” he said. “Our offense did a great job to get to 40 points and we needed it at that point, because Tulsa does have powerful weapons, (so) to be able to get that done meant a lot.”
