Tweet
Alexander's Thursday Night Breakdown
September 8, 2005
Oklahoma State (1-0, 0-0) vs. Florida Atlantic (0-1, 0-0)
Thursday, September 8th at 7:00 PM
TV: ESPN2
Stadium: Dolphins Stadium (Natural Grass)
Line: Oklahoma State -13.5 (Pinnacle)
Editor's note: Christian Alexander is 1-0 on Thursdays this year, 2-1 on overall plays.
It was nice to kick off the Thursday night season in style last week with an easy "W." Eastern Michigan looked like it might take Cincy down for much of the game but lost in the end. However, with the Eagles listed as 12-point underdogs, the payday was never in doubt.
Turning our attention to this week, we find an unlikely pairing as the Oklahoma State Cowboys of the Big 12 pay a visit to the Sunshine State to take on Florida Atlantic University of the Sun Belt - a program making the jump from Division 1-AA. To top it all off, they'll be meeting in the home of the Miami Dolphins!
Of course, the FAU Owls may be a little known football quantity but in coach Howard Schnellenberger, they have a leader that certainly knows big-time football.
Schnellenberger, who previously coached at Oklahoma, Miami and Louisville, not to mention several stops in the NFL, has done a great job of getting the football program at FAU up to speed since they kicked off in 2001.
The 2004 season saw the Owls achieve a 9-3 record with impressive wins on the road at Hawaii and North Texas. Not too shabby for a team playing in just its fourth season.
However, the 2005 season opened with a shade of uncertainty as Schnellenberger lost seven starters on both offense and defense, including stud QB Jared Allen. But as they showed in a gritty effort at Kansas last weekend, graduation hasn't completely raided the FAU roster.
A bright spot for FAU in their loss to the Jayhawks (30-19) had to be quarterback Danny Embick, who seemed to pick right up where Allen left off. Embrick torched Kansas by throwing for 299 yards and three touchdowns, including two scoring plays of 66 yards apiece.
You can bet Oklahoma State first-year coach Mike Gundy would love to have that type of passing stats from his QB. But whether it be Donovan Woods or redshirt freshman Bobby Reid, the Ok State QB is mostly a threat with his feet. That partly explains the Cowboys 244 rushing yards in a very unimpressive win against Montana State (15-10) last weekend.
On a night when most of the world will be watching the NFL kick off in Foxboro, it appears we'll have a battle of teams with opposite strengths on the collegiate level.
While Embrick lit up the sky at Kansas, the FAU ground game rushed for just 70 yards and averaged 1.9 per carry. Meanwhile in Stillwater, Woods, Reid and an assortment of Cowboy running backs were loose, but the aerial attack could only muster 134 yards.
The difference Thursday night in South Florida will likely be decided by which team can reverse the trend from Week 1 and display a balanced offense. We'll see how it plays out tonight.
Editor's note: Christian Alexander started the season in style with a winner in the first Thursday night game of 2005. His prediction of a 31-30 Cincinnati win nearly hit the mark as Eastern Michigan flirted with an outright victory before falling to the Bearcats by a final score of 28-26. Don't miss Alexander's pick for FAU-Ok-State!
Week 1: Eastern Michigan (+12) -- WIN
Week 2: Oklahoma State (-13.5) -- RESULT PENDING
September 8, 2005
Oklahoma State (1-0, 0-0) vs. Florida Atlantic (0-1, 0-0)
Thursday, September 8th at 7:00 PM
TV: ESPN2
Stadium: Dolphins Stadium (Natural Grass)
Line: Oklahoma State -13.5 (Pinnacle)
Editor's note: Christian Alexander is 1-0 on Thursdays this year, 2-1 on overall plays.
It was nice to kick off the Thursday night season in style last week with an easy "W." Eastern Michigan looked like it might take Cincy down for much of the game but lost in the end. However, with the Eagles listed as 12-point underdogs, the payday was never in doubt.
Turning our attention to this week, we find an unlikely pairing as the Oklahoma State Cowboys of the Big 12 pay a visit to the Sunshine State to take on Florida Atlantic University of the Sun Belt - a program making the jump from Division 1-AA. To top it all off, they'll be meeting in the home of the Miami Dolphins!
Of course, the FAU Owls may be a little known football quantity but in coach Howard Schnellenberger, they have a leader that certainly knows big-time football.
Schnellenberger, who previously coached at Oklahoma, Miami and Louisville, not to mention several stops in the NFL, has done a great job of getting the football program at FAU up to speed since they kicked off in 2001.
The 2004 season saw the Owls achieve a 9-3 record with impressive wins on the road at Hawaii and North Texas. Not too shabby for a team playing in just its fourth season.
However, the 2005 season opened with a shade of uncertainty as Schnellenberger lost seven starters on both offense and defense, including stud QB Jared Allen. But as they showed in a gritty effort at Kansas last weekend, graduation hasn't completely raided the FAU roster.
A bright spot for FAU in their loss to the Jayhawks (30-19) had to be quarterback Danny Embick, who seemed to pick right up where Allen left off. Embrick torched Kansas by throwing for 299 yards and three touchdowns, including two scoring plays of 66 yards apiece.
You can bet Oklahoma State first-year coach Mike Gundy would love to have that type of passing stats from his QB. But whether it be Donovan Woods or redshirt freshman Bobby Reid, the Ok State QB is mostly a threat with his feet. That partly explains the Cowboys 244 rushing yards in a very unimpressive win against Montana State (15-10) last weekend.
On a night when most of the world will be watching the NFL kick off in Foxboro, it appears we'll have a battle of teams with opposite strengths on the collegiate level.
While Embrick lit up the sky at Kansas, the FAU ground game rushed for just 70 yards and averaged 1.9 per carry. Meanwhile in Stillwater, Woods, Reid and an assortment of Cowboy running backs were loose, but the aerial attack could only muster 134 yards.
The difference Thursday night in South Florida will likely be decided by which team can reverse the trend from Week 1 and display a balanced offense. We'll see how it plays out tonight.
Editor's note: Christian Alexander started the season in style with a winner in the first Thursday night game of 2005. His prediction of a 31-30 Cincinnati win nearly hit the mark as Eastern Michigan flirted with an outright victory before falling to the Bearcats by a final score of 28-26. Don't miss Alexander's pick for FAU-Ok-State!
Week 1: Eastern Michigan (+12) -- WIN
Week 2: Oklahoma State (-13.5) -- RESULT PENDING