Boca Raton Bowl Preview

Florida Atlantic (10-3) vs. Akron (7-6)

Breaking Down the FAU Owls: In year one under head coach Lane Kiffin, the Owls broke a single season record for wins (10), and mounted an almost impossible turnaround to win the CUSA title with an undefeated conference record.
The Owls average 39 points per game, while allowing 24. Nine of their ten wins came by double digits, including a 41-17 win over North Texas in the title game. FAU had scored 69 points against UNT earlier in the season.
Jason Driskeltook over as the full time starter at QB in week four, and has had a solid, if unspectacular effort. He is more of a game manager to the true star on offense in RB Devin Singletary, the CUSA player of the year, and a semifinalist for our own national offensive player of the year award. He has rushed for 1796 yards and 29 TDs, and is in the top four in the nation in rushing. Willie Wright is the leader in the receiving corps with 49 receptions. Only one other receiver finished with as many as 30 balls caught.
Azeez Al-Shair is a monster at LB, as he finished with 134 tackles in 2017. He averages over 11 per game on the season. Rashad Smith fits nicely with him at LB, as he finished with 89 tackles on the season. Smith finished with 11.5 TFLs to lead the team, and the Owls average 5.69 tackles per game behind the line. The Owls finished with 34 total sacks on the season.
Jalen Young had a huge season as well, as he finished with 7 INTs on the year. FAU makes the most of their pressure up front, as they generated 20 total INTs on the season as a team. Shelton Lewis also defended 7 passes on the season, s the Owls picked up 40 PBUs in 13 games as a team.
Greg Joseph was decent in the kicking game, hitting 15/19 FGs on the season, but he did manage to miss 4 PATs, which is a problem.
Ryan Rickel held up his end in the punting game, averaging 42.59 yards per punt.
Kerrith Whyte was solid in the kick return game, as he finished the year averaging 24.7 yards per return with one score. Jalen Young and Willie Wright are equally as dangerous in the punt return game, and most teams avoid kicking to them, as they have just 8 combined returns.

Breaking Down the Akron Zips: The Zips finished 7-6 after a 1-3 start had them looking out of things early. Two of their six losses came to Toledo, one in the MAC title game. Akron is 2-5 in road or neutral site games this season, and that bodes ill for them tonight.
Thomas Woodson was barely manageable for the Zips at QB this season, completing just 57.2% of his passes, while Kato Nielson was worse, completing just 48.8% of his tries. Woodson missed 3 of the final 4 games, and barely played in the MAC title game. If he is out, things get worse across the board.
Akron also only manages to run the football for 108 yards per game, so taking away the pass and forcing them to run works as well. Manny Morgan was the team leader with just 393 yards rushing. Kwadarrius Smith is the best option in the receiving game, as he finished with 34 catches for 726 yards on the year.
Akron allows more points than they score, at just over 26 points per game allowed, while they score just 23. Ulysees Gilbert III is the star, as he finished with 127 tackles on the season, averaging 9.77 per game. Jamal Davis II is the main pressure guy, as he leads the team with 13.5 TFLs. The Zips, on average, make 5.23 plays behind the line per game. Gilbert finished with 8.5 TFLs and 5 sacks.
The Zips excel at creating turnovers in space, finishing with 19 INTs in 13 games as a team. Jordan George finished with 5 INTs in 2017. Kyron Brown finished with 11 PBUs, while Darian Daily finished with 7.
The kicking game is a mess, as the Zips made just 5/11 FGs as a team this season. Nick Gasser is decent in the punting game, however, averaging over 41 yards per punt on the season.
The Zips do not excel in the kick return game, as they average just 18 yards per return. It's even worse on punt returns, as they average just 2 yards per return there.