Florida Atlantic drops home game to Ohio 17-10 on a night of delays

BOCA RATON — After an offensive explosion in the season opener, Florida Atlantic fell flat Saturday night, losing to the Ohio Bobcats, 17-10.

A year ago, these two teams met and it was a shootout with 79 combined points. This time around it was a defensive slugfest.

The first half was delayed 30 minutes due to lightning in the area. Another delay was more serious - FAU receiver Je’Quan Burton went helmet to helmet with an Ohio defender and was laid out on the field for some time. Burton eventually got up on his own and he stayed on the sideline until the end of the first half, but even his presence couldn’t save the offense on this night. Owls head coach Tom Herman said the game was one of the “weirdest” he’s ever coached.

“There's not a team in the country that can beat two teams in one night and we were trying to do that the entire first half and it felt like a lot of times in the second half," Herman said. "The thing that sticks out is how poorly we played offensively. I don't know if we've got to change the way we handle rain delays, if I've got to change the approach with this team."Ohio is really well coached, physical, disciplined and right now we proved that we're not and that's my job. I told the team we’re a work in progress, and every one of our long-term goals is still out there. So we'll lick our wounds tonight.”

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

A sluggish first half for FAU

Even though the Owls (1-1) went into halftime up 10-7 over the Bobcats (2-1), all credit should go to defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni and the players in his unit. FAU recorded three takeaways in the first half with the biggest being a pick-six from safety Jarron Morris in the second quarter.

A defensive back cardinal rule is mastering the art of the tip drill and Morris took advantage of that when he got the interception. He said that even though the defense mostly had a good night, they didn’t play up to their standard.

Linebacker Eddie Williams led the team in tackles with 11, while linebacker Jackson Ambush added eight.

Ambush collected an interception on Ohio's first play from scrimmage. That was one of many opportunities given to the FAU offense, which failed to capitalize.

The offense was a slog throughout the first half as quarterback Casey Thompson and company couldn’t find their footing. It all went downhill after Burton suffered a head/neck injury that resulted in a major delay with both teams on the field praying for some movement.

“The hardest part about that obviously is seeing your brother go down and just kind of the deflation of the momentum,” Thompson told The Palm Beach Post. “Obviously that was a very disappointing moment for us and just trying to keep everybody positive after that. It was a little bit of a weird start for sure. I've never been part of something like that.”

FAU had 72 yards on offense in the first half compared to Ohio, which amassed 211 yards. However, the Owls were still winning at halftime and hoping the offense would wake up in the second half.

More: We go all access with Tom Herman for his first game day as head coach at Florida Atlantic

A mirror image of a second half

Unfortunately for the home team, the offense did not wake up in the second half.

Once again, the Owls relied on their defense to give the offense opportunities to increase their lead. As the game went on, Ohio scored a field goal and a touchdown to gain the lead - and the win.

In terms of total yards, it wasn’t even close as Ohio had 354 yards while FAU only recorded 185. A major problem with the offense was their unbalanced play in their passing and rushing attack. Thompson completed 23 of 42 for 180 yards and two interceptions. The three-headed running attack of Larry McCammon, Kobe Lewis, and Zuberi Mobley only ran the ball 11 times for a combined 27 yards. The Owls gave up on the run even though the game was within grasp until the very end.

“We weren't running the ball very well. So I mean at some point you gotta stop banging your head against the wall and figure something else out to do and I think that was kind of the thought process there,” Herman said. “We thought we had some good answers in the run game coming out of halftime and just couldn't get it going. So we need to figure that out in a hurry. If we can't run the football, we're not at our best. Those are some of our best players offensively.”

A tough road schedule ahead

Looking at the schedule before the season started, the hope was for the Owls to go 2-0 before heading off on a rough schedule ahead.

Next up are back-to-back road tests against college football powerhouse Clemson and the Big Ten's Illinois.Herman said that he doesn’t have any doubt about the team’s chances the next couple of weeks.

“I don't have any doubt that we will compete. I haven't seen any non-competitiveness from this group. So I don't imagine this week or next would be any different,” Herman said. “Every week the competition is gonna get bigger and stronger and faster and we're gonna have to rise to the challenge. It's being in the right place at the right time the way you're supposed to be there and we've got to figure out as coaches how to make that happen more frequently.”

Even with the tougher competition, Morris said the preparation is the same for any team.

“I know Clemson and Illinois are good teams, but it's football,” Morris said. “Anybody could beat anybody. All we have to do is show up to practice tomorrow, Tuesday, throughout the week and just go to work.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Ohio Bobcats defeat FAU Owls 17-10 in college football