UM to be enemies in their own backyard against FAU

The biggest home football game in FAU history might be the strangest road game in the University of Miami’s.

The Hurricanes will bus just over an hour to meet a team with more than 50 players from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, on a field named for Howard Schnellenberger — the man who coached Miami to its first national championship in 1983.

And because the game is on a weekday — at 8 p.m Friday — the Owls’ coach distributed an excuse letter of sorts through Twitter, light-heartedly urging employers to allow said employees “to leave work early, or even get the day off, to make the pilgrimage to FAU Stadium and cheer on the Owls as they take on the Canes.

“Tailgating begins four hours prior to kickoff,” the letter states, “and what’s college football without an awesome tailgate? … P.S. By the way, could you go ahead and give them the day off for our other home games?”

UM coach Al Golden is not amused about anything regarding this game, which will be a sellout. FAU Stadium seats 29,419, but the crowd will likely exceed 30,000.

For Golden, who preaches consistency, consistency, consistency, this is just another game in a regular-season string of 12.

The Canes (1-0) won their season opener last week 45-0 against Football Championship Subdivision member Bethune-Cookman at Sun Life Stadium.

“I haven’t been in too many games at Miami where the other team wasn’t jacked up to play,’’ Golden said.

“We need to be consistent in our approach, regardless of where we play or who we play. What anyone says outside this building is immaterial — our guys respect the opponent, our guys know exactly what they see on tape, and our guys know what they’re capable of.”

For FAU coach Charlie Partridge, whose Owls (0-1) lost in overtime at Tulsa 47-44 despite forcing four turnovers and scoring all six times they reached the red zone, the game has generated intense anticipation knowing what it would mean should FAU — 18-point underdogs — pull off an upset on national TV.

“You can really feel it across the board,” said Partridge, adding early in the week that some of his younger players had to “calm their spirit” a bit. “This is a game that we have had on our calendar. You can’t help it.

“Knowing what the history of Miami has been and to have them in Palm Beach County … our kids, our coaches, our staff, our university are excited for this opportunity.’’

FAU, which plays in Conference USA and finished 3-9 in 2014, is led by 6-1, 240-pound quarterback Jaquez Johnson, a senior and third-year starter who threw for 2,215 yards and 17 touchdowns with only five interceptions last season while running for 513 yards and another seven touchdowns.

Jaquez completed 23 of 34 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns last week. He added 97 yards rushing on 20 carries.

“He’s a big man,’’ Golden said, “and obviously they try to scheme it up so you don’t get a lot of hats on him. We’re going to have to tackle really well.’’

The Canes on Friday will get back 6-3, 256-pound redshirt sophomore rush end Al-Quadin Muhammad, who was suspended for the season opener, as well as all of last season.

“He hasn’t played a game in 19 months,” UM defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio said. “I’m not putting too much pressure on him.”

The Canes will be without two key slot receivers on Friday night, who were both injured last Saturday during the opening drive. Braxton Berrios sprained his left knee, and Stacy Coley has a hamstring injury, causing coaches to slide Herb Waters into the slot, along with Malcolm Lewis.

Expect newcomer Lawrence Cager, a 6-5, 200-pound former four-star recruit out of Towson, Maryland, to get targeted for the first time in the passing game.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who came into training camp who worked really hard to give themselves a chance to play,” offensive coordinator James Coley said.

“So whenever you recruit like we recruited, the third guy up should be pretty good.

“Right now, we’re banking on Tyre [Brady] to step in and do [well], Cager to come in there and play well and Darrell Langham.”

FAU isn’t the only team with multiple players from Palm Beach County.

The Hurricanes also have their share, including 6-6, 310-pound offensive tackle Kc McDermott, who graduated from Palm Beach Central.

McDermott said it “means a lot” to play in a game closer to his home of Wellington.

“I know I’m going to have a ton of friends and family up there,” he said. “It’s going to be an exciting experience. A lot of our fans will be there, so that will be kind of cool.”

Added McDermott, recalling his high school days: “It’s always great to play back on Friday night.”

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 9:23 PM with the headline "UM to be enemies in their own backyard against FAU."