FAU soars over North Texas, 41-17 in C-USA Championship win

Blake Schuster
·Yahoo Sports Contributor
Florida Atlantic wide receiver John Franklin III celebrates a touchdown in the first quarter of the Conference USA championship against North Texas. (AP Photo)
Florida Atlantic wide receiver John Franklin III celebrates a touchdown in the first quarter of the Conference USA championship against North Texas. (AP Photo)

The Lane Kiffin renaissance isn’t ending anytime soon. Not after the coach took Florida Atlantic from a 3-9 finish to 10-3 in a year. Not after becoming the second-winningest coach in Owls history after just one season and certainly not after lifting the Conference USA Championship trophy on Saturday.

FAU’s 41-17 victory over North Texas all but assured that.

And when it came time for Kiffin to take his rightfully earned bow, he deflected.

“It’s not about me,” Kiffin said on ESPN as fans rushed the field in Boca Raton. “I’m so happy for our players and fans. It’s a special year. These kids have been through a lot.”

More than the social media presence and sideline antics, this is what Kiffin wants to highlight. His players didn’t disappoint. Though the game plan was pretty good.

Running back Devin Singletary finished with 26 carries for 164 yards and three touchdowns, quarterback Jason Driskel completed 15-of-27 passes for 269 yards and one touchdown, wide out Kalib Woods hauled in six catches for 208 yards and a touchdown.

Kiffin’s offensive wrinkles, however, were mesmerizing at times on Saturday. Early in the first quarter, FAU used a jet-sweep action for a 49-yard run by Woods. On the next play they went back to the same motion but looked to pass and found an easy 22-yard touchdown from John Franklin III.

(Via ESPN)
(Via ESPN)

The score may have only put FAU up 10-0 at the time, but it showed just how wide the gap was between the Owls and Mean Green.

North Texas couldn’t exactly keep up even when FAU tuned down the trick plays, either.

In two meetings this season, FAU has outscored the Mean Green 110-48. The Owls should’ve added another seven points to that total, but wide receiver John Franklin III fumbled as he was running into the end zone while celebrating.

North Texas quarterback Mason Fine completed 28-of-44 passes for 356 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the loss. The Mean Green were only able to rush for 81 yards on 35 carries.

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Blake Schuster is a writer for Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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