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We’ll get to what actually happened later, but here is the aftermath.

It involved a rifle and a shallow grave, and let’s just say Episode 4 of the Howard Bobble Head Doll Show is hanging by a thread and the heroic efforts of a bottle of Gorilla Glue.

It’s been that kind of year, but this Demolition Monday was fitting giving the embarrassing performance Saturday by the FAU D.

YES, I AM A LOSER

I know many of you had reached that conclusion years ago, but I picked FAU to go 8-4 this year and win a bowl game to end 9-4. Duh.

Obviously the best FAU can do this year is 6-6 and realistic fans know this team could actually end at 3-9 or even 2-10.
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This was shot when I lost the Great Columbia Cleavage Hunt to Dirty Phil and his cohorts. Man, that was back when times were good and FAU was only 0-2 after the Advanced Training Games and ready to run through the Belt like a hot knife through butter.

But instead, FAU has been the lovebug and its opponents the windshield, and the smeary mess is the Burrowing Birds’ season.

So what went wrong?

The defense was much, much worse than I though possible. They were going to struggle early, but then were supposed to get better as the season went along and they gained experience.

The offense was also worse than expected, especially in the first four games. It did show some life, but then faded at MTSU and at UAB.

Combine the two, and you have disaster. But this falls a lot more at the foot of the D.

Saturday’s performance was mind-bogglingly bad.

Around the Belt

OK, Troy (6-0, 7-2) can order the rings. They are the best team in the Belt by a long shot.

They might hold off on those reservations to New Orleans, though, because if they keep things going, they are headed for a 9-3 season, and if they can upset Arkansas this weekend, which I believe they are very capable of doing, 10-2 is possible.

Their two remaining Belt games are FAU and ULL, and they should breeze in those.

A 10-2 season for Troy would be great for the Belt and the Trojans, and probably get them in higher profile bowl, and leave the New Orleans Bowl for No. 2, which is looking like MTSU at the moment. Even at 9-3 Troy might be invited to a better bowl.

And QB Levi Brown has all but wrapped up Player of the Year, and Troy will probably sweep all the categories, and deservedly so.

MTSU (4-1, 6-3) is the only other Belt team currently bowl eligible, but ULM (4-1, 5-4) is win away, and that should come Saturday when they host WKU (0-5, 0-9).

But in order to insure a bowl bid, Belt teams other than the one going to New Orleans will need 7 wins for the deals with other bowls to kick in. More on that in the weeks to come.

FAU fans don’t have to worry themselves about any of that this season. FAU ain’t goin’ bowling. They have to worry about if the hapless Burrowing Birds are going to win another game.

The way the defense is playing, a 2-10 season is not out of the realm of possibility, as shocking as that is to ponder. ASU, at Troy, WKU and at FIU is the gauntlet, and I see two losses, a tossup, and maybe a win in those four.

Arkansas State has been as disappointing as FAU has, but at least they can play D.

Later…

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Just had our Sunday evening chat with The Voice.

Saturday after the game he was talking about “major surgery” for the defense, but today he backed off on that after realizing that wasn’t a possibility.

It would be like scheduling a heart replacement surgery without a donor heart. FAU is stuck with what it has.

Worse, DB Tarvoris Hill is out for the season with a broken arm. Erick McIntosh will slide into his spot.

And FAU paid a price for emptying the bench in hopes of finding defensive players who could slow down UAB.

Redshirt freshmen linebackers Alex Patee and Yourhighness Morgan both have possible concussions, which will keep them out of practice this week and possibly out of Saturday’s game.

That’s not good for a linebacking crew already pretty thin.

Howard’s only solution for trying to improve the D was to up the intensity in practice. He said it is not a case of the players being overmatched physically, it is that they don’t get in position to even get a chance to match up physically.

OK, I offer proof that on at least one occasion Saturday, the defense did tackle UAB QB Joe Webb before he made a first down.

Note the first down marker on the left.
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That is Hill (No. 9) before he broke his arm.

The numbers out of that debacle in Birmingham are really laughable, unless you happen to be an FAU fan.

Webb averaged 8 yards per carry while gaining 120 on 15 tries. As a team, UAB averaged 20.9 yards per completion, 9.4 per rush and 11.5 per play.

Their eight straight TD drives covered 83, 98, 80, 71, 63, 68, 72 and 80 yards, so it is not like they were starting with a short field. Their longest drive time-wise? 4:20. Shortest? 44 seconds.

They just blew through FAU’s alleged defense.

They didn’t punt until 9 minutes left in the game, and I think that is only because they got tired, or that the ROTC dudes who came out and did pushups after every score begged for mercy.
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And here is the defensive hilite of the game – Ed Bradwell (47) got a hand on Webb as he went past and it was enough to cause Webb to go down, and that turned into a sack. It was the only sack on the day for FAU.
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I’ll be kind and leave it at that.

Later…

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In less than 1:30, and at no cost, here is your FAU vs. FAU game summary. And it ain't sweet...
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Bonus pix included....

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Later...

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OK, let's just forget about the score...

Jeff Van Camp (12) was one of captains. FAU lost the toss, a sign of things to come...
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FAU has been beaten up before, but usually it was by a BCS bully.

Nobody at its own level did what UAB did Saturday, which prompted The Voice to rightly said that this was "worst beating we have ever had."

FAU gave up a record 622 yards to a mid-level Conference USA team that the Owls handled last year.

A grim bunch game in for interviews, as you could expect.

Here is linebacker Michael Lockley talking about the ass-kicking.

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Having witnessed all the beatings, I would agree with Schnellenberger on this one.

It wasn't that FAU was physically overmatched as it had been in past thumpings. The defense just played terrible. Well, actually, worse than terrible.

"It is obviously too late to use patches and glue and stuff like that to try and shore up the defense. Major, major surgery is needed," Schnellenberger said.

I am wondering where he starts cutting. It's not like you can sign free agents or expect scout team players to jump in and produce as starters.

Does it start with the coaching staff?

Did you see how UAB, whose own defense was not exactly great in the first half, came out in the second and limited FAU to nine points?

Well, we'll have this to kick around for a while.

Oh, and FAU's season will end at 12 games. No bowl game this year, even if they win out, which seems laughable right now.

Think what Troy will do to this defense. Yikes.

Later....

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How bad was it? Well, I don't know where to start.

First off, best FAU can finish is 6-6, and that won't get them into a bowl, so this season is over with four to play.

To be fair, the O did OK. Van Camp was decent.
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And got some help from his teammates, as Jason Harmon came down with this one-handed grab.

But the Defense, OMG, freaking, scarily awful.

UAB finally punted with nine minutes left in the game. And they actually punted again. Of course this was after they scored TDs on their eight possessions. Yep, 8 for 8.
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Daniel Borne scored on this 22 yard pass.

And Joe Webb was as advertised.
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Speculation on press row about defensive coordinator Kirk Hoza's status. FAU will assuredly now drop to the bottom of nearly every defensive category.

We'll see.

Be back with some more stuff. Off the talk with Howard and the players.

Later...

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Well, the O is going OK. Van Camp has a career-first TD pass and career-first TD run and the offense has 278 yards of offense in the first half.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is the awful D which has not forced a punt yet and the Blazers have scored every time they have touched the ball.

Five times they have had it, five TDs. 35-24 at the half and FAU has had no answer. UAB has 385 yards of offense.

UAB has rushed for 231 yards, and Webb has 100 on 10 carries. But that is nothing compared to Rashaud Slaughter, who has 103 yards on 3 (THREE) carries.

If you aren’t seeing it, it is hard to describe just how bad the defense is playing . They know Joe Webb is going to run, but on the third play of UAB’s first possession he goes 65 yards for a TD. Downright pitiful

Here is Webb scoring one of his two rushing TDs.
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And here is Van Camp’s first career TD, a 2-yard pass to Cortez Gent.
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Van Camp is 17-of-23 for 178 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT.

Not bad, and he is keeping FAU in striking distance, since the UAB defense is bad, but not nearly as bad as FAU’s, at least in the first half.

Later…

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Yes, we have the perfect day for football. Sitting high above Legion Field, which is way too big for this team and is way off campus (not as far as Lockhart).

But it is gorgeous here. Mild temps, leaves changing, some nice hills surrounding the city and stadium. And a fast track (artificial turf).

PREGAME MUSINGS

Miss you, Rusty Smith. Weird not seeing you out there, and will be really strange not asking you questions after the game. Best of luck.

Defense, today is the day to step up. Give your new QB some breathing room. The O can’t be expected to bail your butts out game after game.
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Saw plenty of cars with flags on the road, flags for LSU and UAT (Alabama-Tuscaloosa) because I am told there is another college football game nearby.

Later…

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Yes, the Jeff Van Camp Era is about to begin, and will happen on a picture-perfect fall day in Bama.

Not a cloud in the sky, which is robin’s egg blue, and the temp should be very comfortable.

I am going into this with a glass-half-full attitude, and thinking good thoughts, and the bright smiles of these ladies who attended the MTSU game are helping.
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As far as the game, you canGO HERE for all the details.

But it comes down to this – How does JVC do in his debut, and how does the D handle his counterpart, Joe Webb of UAB.

How the D does will determine how good JVC has to be. If they can’t stop Webb, then FAU will have to score a lot of points, and that could be tough.

The expectations have been tamped down a bit with the loss of Rusty Smith. I don’t think fans are expecting Van Camp to step in and put up big numbers, nor should they.

Very curious to see how this unfolds.

I’ll check in from the spacious, historic and worn down Legion Field before kickoff.

Later…

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