BOCA RATON (CBS12) — Florida Atlantic’s winning streak is bringing home some hardware.
FAU senior Easton Messer has been named the American Conference’s Special Teams Player of the Week after returning a punt 73 yards for a touchdown in the Owls’ 45-17 victory at Louisiana-Monroe.
The win marked FAU’s third straight victory and gave the Owls their first three-game winning streak since 2020.
After opening the season with a difficult loss at Florida, FAU has responded with three consecutive wins, including an impressive performance at Louisiana-Monroe in which the Owls scored 28 points in the second quarter.
Now, FAU will look to make it four straight when Texas Southern visits Boca Raton on Saturday.
Senior edge rusher Jonathan Bax said the season-opening loss to Florida served as an important wake-up call for the Owls.
“Especially after Week One against Florida, it wasn’t a good outing for either defense or offense, so I feel like that was a great wake-up call for us,” Bax said. “After that, we made the commitment to just be the best defense we could be and limit explosive plays.”
Texas Southern presents a different challenge for FAU, particularly with its size at the skill positions.
“They have big athletes, like their receivers and tight ends — big dudes,” FAU head coach Zach Kittley said. “We just gotta play some football there, and we had to tackle really, really well. That’s gonna be our challenge this week, is getting the ball down and tackling really well.”
The Owls will host Texas Southern at 6 p.m. Saturday at Flagler Credit Union Stadium, looking to extend their winning streak to four games.