Lightning delayed the first ever meeting of the Ball
State University Cardinals and Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Owls college
football game at FAU Stadium’s Howard Schnellenberger Field though the light
drizzle of rain and gloom did little to slow down two speedy offenses before Ball
State (3-1) pulled away for a 31-27 win over FAU (1-3). After trailing the Owls
24-17 at halftime, the Ball State Cardinals outscored FAU14-3 in the second
half. The turning point of the game when Ball State’s defense stuffed Owls
running back Buddy Howell Jr., on 4th and 1 yard from the Ball State
30-yard line, with 5:33 left in the fourth quarter. Lightning struck after the
play and the teams ran into their locker rooms for the last 30-minute-plus
lightning delay. The FAU Owls offense sputtered in the third and fourth quarter,
and the call to go for it on fourth down, in field goal position, with a kicker
who made field goals from 41 and 19 yards respectively, was a questionable call
by the FAU coaching staff. If the Owls would have gone for the field goal, and
made it, they would have been up 27-21 with just over 5 minutes remaining in
the game. Instead FAU went for it, failed, and gave the Ball State Cardinals
momentum going into the last lengthy lightning delay and a chance to plan their
final offensive assault.
Thanks to a
thundering offensive attack, the Owls controlled the Cardinals early. Defensive
back Andrew Soroh intercepted a pass by Ball State quarterback Riley Neal as
the Cardinals were driving into FAU territory. The FAU offense took advantage
of the turnover and marched down the field to the Cardinals 5-yard line. On the
next play, FAU quarterback Jason Driskel scored on a 5-yard touchdown run and
Owls kicker Greg Joseph made the extra point (E.P.) to give FAU a 7-0 lead
early in the first quarter. On the play, Driskel darted to the right side of
the offensive line, slashed through a hole in the Ball State defense and hit
pay dirt on the touchdown run. Later in the first quarter of the game, Driskel
connected on a 31-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kalib Woods and Joseph
nailed the E.P. to give FAU a 14-0 lead over Ball State.
After Driskel ran and passed to give his FAU Owls
the lead, then Ball State Cardinals quarterback Riley Neal passed to tight end
Sam Brunner for a 26-yard touchdown late in the first quarter. Early in the
second quarter, Neal rushed for a one-yard touchdown run to tie the game 14-14
with 10:29 to go in the second quarter. The
Owls scored 10 out of the next 13 points in the game, Kerrith Whyte Jr. rushed
for a three-yard touchdown a minute later after Ball State’s score, to give FAU
a 21-14 lead. The Cardinals responded with a 39-yard field goal to narrow the
lead 21-17. Not to be left out, FAU kicker Greg Joseph nailed a 19-yard field
goal to give the Owls a 24-17 lead at halftime.
Both teams came out stale in the second half. The
offenses looked bad, like the weather. In a hard-to-believe stroke of Mother Nature,
a third lightning delay halted the game for 46 minutes early in the third
quarter. Ball State tied the score for the second time in the game late in the
third quarter when Neal connected with wide receiver Corey Lacanaria to even
the score at 24-24.With 9:18 left in the fourth quarter, FAU kicker Greg Joseph
walloped a 41-yard field goal to give the Owls a 27-24 lead. That would be the
last time FAU would lead in the game. The Cardinals took their first lead of
the game with less than two minutes in the fourth quarter and went on to win
the game.
The game between FAU and Ball State had a total of three
timed lightning delays, and three other times where the mandatory time delays
were restarted. Most of the lightning lit up the northeast and east side of FAU
Stadium, a sporting venue dominated by metal bleachers.
Keep
an Owls Eye On –
·
Owls offensive lineman Tarrick Thomas
left the game with a right knee injury on FAU’s first offensive series. Thomas
is a redshirt freshman from Tallahassee.
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