Florida Atlantic blitzes Akron to win Boca Raton Bowl
Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin was not going to celebrate his 10-year contract with the school conservatively.
FAU destroyed Akron 50-3 in Tuesday’s Boca Raton Bowl as Owls running back Devin Singletary scored three touchdowns. His 32 rushing touchdowns are the third-most in FBS history behind Barry Sanders and Montee Ball.
After FAU scored its first touchdown of the night on a drive where it went for it on fourth down twice, the Owls tried an onside kick — one Kiffin said at halftime it had been working on all week. It went out of bounds. But it was a sign of what was to come.
FAU led 21-3 at halftime. In that same interview where he revealed the onside kick had been a focal point in practice, Kiffin said the game shouldn’t have been as close as it was.
He backed that up in the second half. When the Owls went up 34-3 on a Singletary run, Kiffin decided to go for two and a 36-3 lead, because why not? The conversion was good. And the rout accelerated.
Florida Atlantic didn’t punt until the fourth quarter and Singletary finished with 26 carries for 124 yards and three scores. He finally got a break after his third touchdown of the night put FAU up 50-3.
Quarterback Jason Driskel threw for two touchdowns and rushed for two more. FAU had 528 yards of total offense and 27 first downs. Akron had 146 yards and 11 first downs.
The bowl win — the team’s first since 2008 — means FAU finishes the season at 11-3, by far the best season in program history. Kiffin’s 10-year deal was a six-year extension with the school after originally signing a five-year contract worth just short of $1 million annually after coming over from Alabama.
Akron ends the season at 7-7.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
