Although quarterback Rusty Smith must find a new go-to receiver starting today at South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., offensive coordinator Darryl Jackson believes that should not derail Florida Atlantic's passing attack.

Smith will be without Cortez Gent, after the Owls' all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns was suspended Wednesday for conduct detrimental to the team. But Jackson, who doubles as the receivers coach, believes junior Lester Jean is capable of filling the role.

``He's been in the fire,'' Jackson said. ``He's going to be out on the field first, but it's more about finishing the game and he's had the opportunity to finish games.''

Jean has started just one game. At 6-2, 185 pounds, he's a bigger, stronger target for Smith, but he lacks the experience of Gent, who had started 24 consecutive games and was on the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation's top receiver.

``The beautiful thing about that is there are six other seniors who have played in the skill positions outside of him and been around Rusty,'' Jackson said. ``We will do what we need to do to take advantage of our situation. Ultimately, we still have a lot of skill-position players.''

Jean, from Miami, had two catches for 12 yards in the Owls' season-opening loss at Nebraska. Avery Holley, a junior from Fort Lauderdale, moves up to second team. Senior Chris Bonner, who has 14 starts, becomes the most experienced receiver.

And although Jean figures to see more snaps, he believes the Owls' success for Saturday's 7 p.m. kickoff at Williams-Brice Stadium will depend more on the running game than the passing game.

``Their defensive line is not as good as Nebraska's defensive line, so we should be able to run the ball a lot more,'' Jean said.

FAU (0-1) moved the ball against Nebraska, gaining 358 yards, but it managed just a field goal. The Owls had two turnovers, a missed field goal and had 11 penalties in the 49-3 loss.

South Carolina (1-1, 0-1 SEC), which is a 21-point favorite, is coming off a 41-37 loss to Georgia.

Coach Howard Schnellenberger has not seen the progress he expected against teams from BCS conferences.

FAU played four BCS conference teams to start the 2006 season and lost by an average of 43 points, including 45-6 at South Carolina, its closest of the four.

The Owls have lost seven road games to BCS conference schools since by an average of 34.5 points.

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