That breeze southeast Floridans felt Saturday afternoon blowing through wasn’t another tropical storm; it was the FAU Owls easing the Monmouth Hawks out of town.
Last season, the FAU Owls did not start well. They started with a one-point OT loss to Western Kentucky, and the season did not end well either. They finished 5-7 (4-4 C-USA) and cut ties with Willie Taggart. Tom Herman was inserted as the new coach and hit the ground running with the addition of new, old quarterback Casey Thompson.
The FAU Owls kicked off their eagerly awaited 2023 season last night in Boca Raton, Florida. The arrival of Coach Tom Herman and his staff instantly changed the perception of FAU football. Last night, perception was reality.
Last weekend marked the beginning of the 2023 college football season. While only 2 of the Top 25 teams played & were easily victorious (#13 Notre Dame beat Navy 42-3 & #6 USC beat SJSU 56-28), an Irish fan such as myself was treated to a delight of offensive efficiency, and the rest of the country was given their fix of football.
Tom Herman amassed a 54-22 regular season record (Ironically, a .711 win percentage) which included a Sugar Bowl win as head coach at Texas as well as a 5-1 (.833 win percentage) bowl record with the only loss of his postseason career came in the form of a 34-10 loss to San Diego State in 2016.
The FAU Owls can easily be a 10-win team this season under Herman. I see Thompson utilizing his arms and his legs to help the team get to bowl eligibility. But let’s make this clear: I don’t blow smoke. Depending on how this team does against two main non-conference opponents, that being Clemson and Illinois, will determine how good the team itself can and will be this season.