The Cowboys had more than the memory of last week’s loss at Georgia to motivate them against FAU.
Artrell Woods, who suffered a season-ending spinal cord injury in the offseason, was standing on his own two feet on the sidelines.
Woods’ presence had a positive impact on the Cowboys as they scored on the first play of the game en route to a 42-6 victory against Florida Atlantic.
Coach Mike Gundy said though FAU was a good challenge for the Cowboys, it is not at the same level as Georgia.
“Florida Atlantic is an improved team, but they’re not at the same speed and caliber that we played last week,” Gundy said. “Obviously, we improved in certain areas. I thought we tackled better on defense.”
Sophomore safety Andre Sexton intercepted FAU quarterback Rusty Smith’s first pass for a touchdown, his first career interception. The offense struggled to get anything going early, but the defense continued to hold strong, allowing the Owls only two field goals.
When junior quarterback Bobby Reid went down in the first quarter, it didn’t seem as if the Cowboys’ offense would get much better. But sophomore Zac Robinson picked up where Reid left off and led OSU to a 21-6 halftime lead.
OSU’s last score came with controversy. Robinson passed to senior wide receiver Adarius Bowman, who came down with the ball in the endzone at the same time as FAU cornerback Corey Small. The original ruling was an interception, which gave the Owls the ball on their own 20-yard line. But after review, the officials determined the rule says when a receiver and a defender have simultaneous possession in the endzone, the offense is awarded a touchdown.
Bowman continued his magic in the second half, receiving another Robinson pass and shaking off every defender the Owls could throw for a 77-yard touchdown run.
That’s what we expect him to do,” Gundy said. “He needs to step up and make plays for us, and he has done that.”
But the defense was the big story again, and defensive coordinator Tim Beckman said he was much more impressed with its performance this week.
“I was happy to see [the improvement],” Beckman said. “It’s not a credit to Tim Beckman, it’s a credit to our nine seniors for getting this football team and this defense ready to play.”
The Owls managed 203 yards and could never finish chances. At the end of the third quarter, FAU went for fourth-and-four, made the first down, and was intercepted by senior defensive back Donovan Woods. Senior defensive end Marque Fountain said getting the first interception helped give the defense momentum for the whole game.
“We always do it in practice; we practice it all the time,” Fountain said. “It just shows you that if everybody hustles every play and gets to where they’re supposed to be, anything can happen.”
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