Football coaches rarely sleep very well after a loss anyway. That being said, no one would blame FAU's Howard Schnellenberger for possibly staring at the clock a little longer before drifting off Saturday night.

Ditto for punter Mickey Groody. And his protection team. And holder Keegan Peterson.

It might be difficult to erase visions of marauding Blue Raiders storming in to block another kick. Hockey masks optional.

Middle Tennessee turned a blocked punt into a touchdown, partially deflected another Groody punt and snuffed a Ross Gornall field-goal attempt to help set the stage for Saturday's 27-20 conquest of FAU. Dwight Dasher's 74-yard touchdown run with 5:31 left provided the final margin.

``We gave them enough gifts to [trigger] the win,'' Schnellenberger said.

That by itself would have been plenty to disturb FAU's Halloween homecoming. And, yet, the nightmare wasn't complete.

That wouldn't come until FAU's final drive, which took place with quarterback Rusty Smith on the sideline icing an injured shoulder. Backup Jeff Van Camp did move the Owls (2-5) inside the MTSU 30 in the final minute, but Cortez Gent was ruled to have landed out of bounds with a fourth-down grab.

About the only thing lacking from the script was Jamie Lee Curtis as homecoming queen.

``We just haven't been able to get over the hump in the clutch,'' receiver Avery Holley said after FAU's third consecutive home loss in which they fell short on the final drive.

Not only did a second Sun Belt loss essentially squash the Owls' hopes of reclaiming the conference title, but the window for a third consecutive bowl trip is closing. FAU must win its remaining five games -- including trips to Troy and UAB -- to finish with a winning record.

``There's nothing left for us to do but keep working hard and try to move forward,'' Holley said.

Smith, who earlier surpassed the 10,000-yard mark in career passing, sprained the AC joint in his left (nonthrowing) shoulder when he was hit on a fourth-down pass with 5 ½ minutes left. MTSU linebacker Danny Carmichael drove Smith to the ground and landed atop the shoulder.

``There's a little more pain,'' said Smith, who injured the same shoulder in last year's season opener but didn't miss a game. More tests are scheduled for Monday before his status is determined for next week's visit to UAB.

Van Camp completed 5 of 9 passes on the final drive, but couldn't catch a break on his final throw. On fourth-and-4 from the MTSU 23, Gent went high to snag a sideline pass at the 8 -- but officials disagreed whether his toe touched inbounds.

Linesman Dirk Bell arrived first and ruled it a catch. Back judge Donnie Aultman quickly ran up from his position to overrule Bell.

An upstairs review was ruled inconclusive -- meaning the no-catch call stood.

``That's a hell of a way to lose a football game -- on an exchange of conversation,'' Schnellenberger said.

Groody's day featured the most suffering. MTSU's SaCoby Carter snuffed his second punt, which Neal Sherman ran back for a 29-yard touchdown. Seven snaps later, the sight of another mass rush caused Groody to take his eye off the snap, which he mishandled and took a 9-yard loss. Groody also saw a second-half punt partially blocked for a 3-yard net.

``We thought we could exploit them in some areas, and we did,'' MTSU coach Rick Stockstill said.

Schnellenberger said: ``We have to get that figured out. We recognize the problem and have worked on it, but obviously not enough to feel comfortable with it.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@