North Texas (1-4, 0-1) will take on Sun Belt Conference opponent Florida Atlantic (0-4, 0-1) at Apogee Stadium. This will be the second conference game for both teams and both teams are O-fer in conference action with one lost each. A loss by either team will all but end their chances for a conference title. North Texas lost to Florida International in their opening game while FAU lost last weekend at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette 34-37.

FAU Head Football Coach Howard Schnellenberger has announced he will retire at the end of this season so this will be his final trip to play North Texas.

In his final season the stars did not line up for the coach when it came to scheduling. The North Texas contest will be the Owls fifth straight road game. They will see their first home game on Oct. 15 when they host Western Kentucky to christen their new $70 million on campus stadium which seats 30,000 fans. As of the end of Sept. only 7,500 seats were sold.

Not only did the season start with five road games they faced two SEC and one Big Ten opponent. The first game of the season FAU travelled to in-state foe Florida losing 3-41. They then lost at Michigan State 0-44, at Auburn 14-30 and then last week losing 34-37 at Sun Belt opponent Louisiana-Lafayette. 

Against the Ragin’ Cajuns, the Owls blew a ten point lead and were down 34-20 going into the fourth quarter but battled back to tie the game at 34 with 1:48 left in the game. The Ragin’ Cajuns then moved the ball 65 yards in ten plays to set up a 26 yard field goal to win the game as time expired. The loss was the seventh in the row for FAU. A loss at North Texas would tie their longest losing streak of eight games.

Schnellenberger has several problems on his hands and one is the quarterback position. Graham Wilbert, 6-6, 225, R-JR has been the starter but the coach stated several times during the UL-L contest he was about to pull the quarterback and insert David Kooi, 6-7, 210, R-JR but was talked out of it. Wilbert was able bring FAU back to tie the game as a result of the no-huddle, hurry up offense. The coach still does not seem too confident in the quarterback position.

The Owls are struggling on offense and defense. In almost every important category opponents stats are twice or triple that of FAU.

So far this season, opponents have scored a total of 152 points to FAU’s 51. It breaks down to opponents putting up 38 points per game to the Owls 12.8.

The Owls have recorded 48 first downs while giving up 95.

On the season they have a total of 265 rushing yards or 66.2 per game for 2.4 yards per attempt. Opponents have tallied a total of 652 yards on the ground for 163 yards a game or 4.1 yards per attempt.

For the season, FAU has passed for 551 total yards, or 137.8 per game or 9 yards per catch. Opponents have 1,024 total passing yards, 256 per game or 11.5 per catch.

Morris Alfred is their leading rusher with a little over 50 yards per game.

On the defensive side of the ball, this year FAU has changed to a three man defensive front in order to stop the passing teams in the Sun Belt Conference but it has struggled through the first four games. The expected big defensive plays have not materialized.

Bigger offensive linemen have been able to move the defensive line off the ball. Therefore, the secondary has been getting its share of tackles after big gainers.

They are ranked 114^th overall in passing yards, 119^th in rushing yards, 113^th in giving up points and 119th in scoring. However, some of these stats are against some very powerful programs so they can be deceiving.

North Texas is ranked not that far ahead of FAU playing against some strong teams too. They are 95^th in overall passing yards, 82nd in rushing yards, 110^th in scoring points while at 114^th in allowing scores.

So this should be a close game when everything is put together. I would not be surprised to see FAU go to an up tempo no huddle offense. They seem to move the ball better out of this offense and North Texas defense has got caught a couple of times not prepared to defend it.

Lance Dunbar will be the focal point of the defense. FAU feels they have faced tougher ball carriers then him so they think they can control him. In spite of that, Dunbar will have a great game. The North Texas offensive line is coming around and should be able to open some holes for him.

Derek Thompson is still hurt but expected to get the call behind center. The defense knows he will be limited by mobility so they will be looking to get into his face. He is going to have to get the ball out quickly on passing plays to stop the defense from getting to him. The best way to protect him is simple, be in third and short situations instead of third and long.

While the emotions will be with FAU, this is a game which North Texas has the advantage overall. North Texas is a four point favorite, look for North Texas to pull out a bigger win.