The Florida Atlantic offense ran over the UNC Charlotte defense for 218 yards and won 43-13 on Saturday night at Boca Raton in their home opener of the 2022 football season. Owl tailback Larry McCammon ran for 118 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown and Marvin Scott, Willie Taggart Jr., and Zuberi Mobley contributed to the rushing attack. Perry led the offense as he gained chunk plays throwing the ball. The Owls converted on their drives and jumped out to a 20-7 lead before the end of the 1st half.
What broke “the back” of Charlotte
At the start of the second quarter, 49er quarterback Chris Reynolds was sacked and injured. He had to leave the game and backup James Foster came into play. At the end of the half, Justin McKithen intercepted a Foster pass and ran 63 yards for the score to put Florida Atlantic up 26-7. Reynolds was playing well and Charlotte was moving the ball. But, his injury coupled with this interception dug a deep hole for Charlotte.
Perry lead the team to clinch the game in the 2nd half
N’Kosi Perry was a “leader” in this game. On the first drive of the 2nd half, Perry passed for 55 yards to put Florida Atlantic up 33-7. Chris Reynolds returned to the game and UNC Charlotte scored a touchdown to make it 33-13. But, on the next drive Larry McCammon had a big run of 23 yards to get into Charlotte territory and Perry completed a 22 yard pass to get down to the Charlotte 10. Zuberi Mobley scored from the three yard line and put the Owls up by 27.
What does this result mean?
People predicted FAU to beat UNC Charlotte in this article from College Football News. But, it also means that the team did what they are supposed to do. Florida Atlantic can go to the title game as I wrote in an earlier article. Hall of Fame Packer coach Vince Lombardi rated the performance of his players a “0” if they did their job and negatively if they didn’t. The victory was needed to forget how last season finished. Florida Atlantic plays Ohio next week in a road matchup.
