2010 NCAA football preview: Florida Atlantic
For a football program that has not been around for very long, the Owls of Florida Atlantic are making pretty good progress.
Their first five years were as a division I-AA team. The first two seasons were definitely not what anyone had hoped for (4-6 in 2001 and 2-9 in 2002), but they were followed by some pretty strong ones (11-3 in 2003 and 9-3 in 2004).
With confidence the team moved up to division I and joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2005. As could be expected for a young program moving up a competition level, they did not fare so well that first season, finishing 2-9.
Head coach Howard Schnellenberger wasted no time improving the team. Within two years after moving into the Sun Belt Conference they tied for first going 6-1 in conference play and 8-5 overall in 2007. The team experienced a little dip the following two years finishing tied for third in both going 7-6 in 2008 and 5-7 in 2009.
What Coach Schnellenberger does well though is compete in his conference. Since 2006 he has yet to compile a losing record against Sun Belt opponents. With the talent and potential that the team has coming back in 2010 they should at least be competitive in conference play, but with the difficult games in and out of conference a winning season may be hard to come by.
Offense
Based on their offense alone, it's surprising the Owls didn't do better. The passing attack was pretty good ranking second in the conference and 18th in the nation. Rushing took a back seat, but at fifth in the conference and 55th in the nation they were solid everywhere.
Going forward into 2010 the passing game should be as good if not better. Jeff Van Camp got to audition for the role last season after Rusty Smith was injured. He looked pretty decent completing nearly 60 percent of his passes for almost 1400 yards, 14 touchdowns, and just two interceptions. No receiver stood out hands above the rest last season as seven receivers had 20 or more catches. Avery Holley and Lester Jean look to be two of the better ones that Van Camp will be throwing to.
The strongest player the team has returning is easily running back Alfred Morris. Morris led the Sun Belt conference in rushing last season with 1392 yards on 263 carries for a respectable average of 5.3 yards a carry; he also accounted for 11 of the 16 touchdowns the team had on the ground. However, he will have to try to have that same kind of production without a single starter returning on his front line.
Defense
The defense has some talented players on it, but as a squad they were not very good last season. Overall they were 112th in nation and seventh in the conference. They were better at protecting against the pass (80th in the nation; fifth in conference) then the run (112th in the nation; seventh in conference).
Among the nine returning starters there are some players that could end up earning all-conference honors. Lineman Kevin Cyrille contributed 40 tackles and two sacks last season and could end up doing much more this season. He’ll need to get some help from a pair of heavy weight in Dino Cox and Kimmy Jean at the tackles to improve off a rather poor run defense. End Jamere Johnson may be quick, but he is a little small to play on the line at just 220 pounds.
The pride of the defense may end up being in the secondary. Strong safety Marcus Bartels has the chance to be an all-conference player if he can build off last year’s performance of 109 tackles and one interception. He will be joined by three seniors in free safety Ed Alexander at strong safety and cornerbacks Tarvoris Hill and Tavious Polo.
Offensively the team looks pretty good, but their inability to stop anyone will make it hard for them to be competitive with the best, especially when they have teams like the Texas Longhorns on the schedule.
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