Report by Isaac Robinson - November 3rd, 2019
FAU shock Swarm 45-28
B.J. Henderson fumbled 5 times
5 fumbles, INT as Henderson has his worst game of the year -- FAU's Dotson tears up Westlake State
Westlake, OH -- Well, that was ugly. Westlake State, reeling after a tough loss to #3 UCF, were upset by now 4-6 FAU. The Owls dominated from start to finish, holding the Westlake State offense to just a handful of big plays, pressuring
B.J. Henderson all day, and forcing 5 fumbles as they absolutely rocked the star junior.
The Owls led 21-14 at the half, as
Julian Dotson had already racked up over 300 total yards of offense despite throwing an early INT to linebacker
Nick Watts, and they continued to dominate, as they forced a punt, and then jarred the ball loose from Henderson 3 consecutive times, with linebacker
T.J. Jackson taking the last one back to the house to make it 42-14.
Dotson scrambled for a gain of 29 on this play. He finished with over 350 total yards of offense
The Swarm didn't score again until Henderson led a pair of drives in garbage time after a couple FAU turnovers, one of which was Watts' second INT on the day.
"I'd rather not speak," said Dion Barkley after the game. "If I speak, I'll be fined, and I don't want that."
The lone bright spots: A pair of single-season Westlake State records were set, as
Xavier Meeks caught his 12th and 13th receiving touchdowns of the season, breaking Rufus Jensen's record with 3 games still left to go. Defensive end
Bryan Young built upon his nation-leading sack total, picking up two more to bring that number to 14 on the season, setting a new record that will be very tough to break.
Just to rub salt in the wound, #3 UCF locked up the division with a 30-28 win over Cincinnati yesterday. Starting QB Jeff Thomas went down with an upper body injury and is expected to miss a week, so it'll be up to backup Jamar Smith to lead the Knights to a win over Temple to preserve their undefeated record.
With their division hopes now gone, Westlake State now sit at 6-4 on the year and will head down to Miami next week to play 4-6 FIU. The Swarm need to finish strong, as they'll hope to make a good bowl game. The current projections have the Swarm facing off against Wake Forest in the Russell Athletic Bowl.
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