THE PERTINENT INFO
When: Saturday, August 31, 2019
Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
TV: Noon // FOX
Announcers: Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft
This is the first time Ohio State and Florida Atlantic have faced each other on the football field. Lane Kiffin's team is currently unranked and finished 2018 with a 5–7 record.
The Owls have faced two teams from Ohio in the past. They split a home-and-home series against Youngstown State in 2002 and 2003. FAU faced Akron in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl and defeated the Zips, 50-3.
Below, you will find some interesting facts about the teams, key offensive player stats, coach information, and team stats.
THE LAST TIME...
- Ohio State lost a season-opening game was against Miami in 1999.
- The Buckeyes lost a season-opening game in Ohio Stadium was 1978, No. 5 Penn State defeated Woody Hayes in his final season opener, 19-0.
- Ohio State played on August 31 was 2017. The team traveled to Indiana and started the season on a Thursday night with a 49-21 win in Bloomington.
- The Scarlet and Gray began a season with a shutout victory was 2011 (Akron 42-0).
- The Buckeyes lost to an unranked opponent in the season opener was against Arizona (14-7) in 1967.
- Ohio State started the season against a team from Conference USA was 2010. The team defeated Marshall, 45-7.
ON THE HORIZON
- Saturday will be the start of Ohio State's 130th football season.
- A victory will earn the Buckeyes their 20th straight opening game win and 39 out of the last 41.
- This will be the sixth time Ohio State has faced an opponent from Conference USA. The team is undefeated (5-0) against the conference.
- K.J. Hill needs 48 catches to break David Boston's program record for career receptions.
Florida Atlantic University
GET TO KNOW FAU
- Florida Atlantic is located in Boca Raton, FL.
- The university was established in 1964 with 867 students.
- Owlsley the Owl is FAU's mascot.
- The Owls were 5–7 in 2018.
- Lane Kiffin's team lost to Charlotte, 27-24 to end the season. The Owls did not qualify for a bowl game.
- "Comedian" Carrot Top attended Florida Atlantic. If I was funny, I would have brought a large trunk with a carrot and a diploma with me.
TODAY'S TRIVIA QUESTIONS:
- Who was Ohio State's first head coach?
- How many years was Paul Brown the head coach of the Buckeyes?
- What year was Woody Hayes hired?
- What year was Woody Hayes fired?
Answers at the bottom of today's article.
THE COACHES
Ryan Day
- 3–0 (1.00) at Ohio State*
- 3–0 (1.00) overall*
Day's hometown is Manchester, NH. He attended Manchester High School and attended college at New Hampshire. Day has been in coaching for 18 years and is Ohio State's 25th head coach.
*won three games as Ohio State's acting coach in 2018.
Lane Kiffin
- 16–10 (.615) at FAU (3rd year)
- 51–31 (.622) overall as a college coach (8th year)
Lane Kiffin was hired by Florida Atlantic on December 13, 2016. His current position seems like a bit of a step down considering he has the following head coaching jobs on his resume: Oakland Raiders (2007-08), Tennessee (2009), USC (2010-13) and Alabama offensive coordinator (2014-16). As impressive as the resume is, from the outside, it appears Kiffin burned a lot of bridges.
When the Raiders fired Kiffin in September of 2008 after a 5–15 record, Al Davis did it over the phone. At the press conference, Davis said that Kiffin was "a flat out liar" and that Kiffin was "bringing disgrace to the organization". The firing was with cause and Davis did not have to pay Kiffin the $2.6 million remaining on his contract.
Like a cat, Kiffin found a way of landing on his feet. In December of 2008, Tennessee hired Kiffin to replace Phil Fulmer for the 2009 season. Kiffin and the Vols lost to Virginia Tech, 37-14, and finished the season with a 7–6 record. His time in Knoxville also had some controversy. Shortly after he was hired, Kiffin accused Urban Meyer (then with Florida) of violating NCAA rules:
"I'm going to turn Florida in right here in front of you," Kiffin told the crowd. "As Nu'Keese (Richardson) was here on campus, his phone keeps ringing. And so one of our coaches is sitting in the meeting with him and says, 'Who is that?' And he looks at the phone and says, 'Urban Meyer.' Just so you know, you can't call a recruit on another campus. But I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn't get him."
Although Kiffin fired shots at Meyer, the accusation did not stick and Meyer was cleared. However, Kiffin was publicly reprimanded by SEC commissioner Mike Slive for his comments and because Kiffin violated an NCAA rule by mentioning the recruit by name.
Another public relations gaffe was when Kiffin told Alshon Jeffery that if he signed with South Carolina that, "he would end up pumping gas for the rest of his life like all the other players from the state who had gone to South Carolina." Kiffin's warning fell on deaf ears as Jeffery signed with the Gamecocks and became a second round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Kiffin bolted from Tennessee after one season. His "brief" tenure upset some of the students and fans as hundreds of students rioted on campus, blocking the exit to Neyland Thompson Sports Center and starting several mini fires.
USC was the next stop on the Kiffin wrecking ball tour. He replaced Pete Carroll at the Trojans' coach when Carroll was hired by the Seattle Seahawks. Over 3.5 seasons, Kiffin was a pedestrian 28–15 and 10–8 over his final 18 games. After the Trojans lost a road game to Arizona State by score of 62-41, Athletic Director Pat Haden fired Kiffin at three in the morning at Los Angeles International Airport. As the team was loading up on the bus to head back to campus, Haden removed Kiffin from the bus and took him to a small room inside the terminal where Haden told him that he was no longer USC's head coach.
CLIFF CLAVEN'S LITTLE KNOWN FACTS CORNER
- 2......wins for Ohio State on this date.
- 7......captains for the 2019 team.
- 8.......number of Buckeye national championships.
- 13.....starters returned to play in 2019.
- 17.....times Ohio State has finished a season with at least 11 wins.
- 19.....starters from last year are not on this year's team.
- 24.....bowl wins for Ohio State.
- 25.....Ryan Day is the program's 25th head coach.
- 38.....the number of Big Ten titles the football team has won.
- 51.....returning letterman are on the 2019 roster.
- 81.....Buckeyes selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
- 85.....Consensus All-Americans.
- 98.....this is the 98th season the Scarlet and Gray have played in Ohio Stadium.
- 150...the number of years The Ohio State University has been in the education business.
- 173...straight PATs have been converted by the Buckeyes since 10/22/2016.
- 902...times Ohio State has been ranked in the AP poll.
- 911...number of official wins for the program (we know it's actually 923).
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| OFFENSE | ||||
| 42.4 | 8th | POINTS FOR | 31.1 | 44th |
| 171.3 | 63rd | RUSHING OFFENSE | 241.8 | 13th |
| 364.3 | 2nd | PASSING OFFENSE | 237.0 | 63rd |
| 535.6 | 2nd | TOTAL OFFENSE | 478.8 | 14th |
| .466 | 17th | 3rd DOWNS | .331 | 118th |
| .771 | 115th | RED ZONE | .833 | 70th |
| DEFENSE | ||||
| 25.5 | 51st | POINTS ALLOWED | 31.8 | 92nd |
| 158.2 | 56th | RUSH DEFENSE | 189.0 | 89th |
| 245.2 | 86th | PASS DEFENSE | 238.4 | 79th |
| 122.2 | 42nd | PASS EFFICIENCY DEFENSE | 140.4 | 92nd |
| 403.4 | 72nd | TOTAL DEFENSE | 427.4 | 88th |
| .327 | 15th | 3rd DOWNS | .417 | 91st |
| .905 | 113th | RED ZONE | .830 | 67th |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | ||||
| 8.0 | 73rd | PUNT RETURN | 4.6 | 117th |
| 17.8 | 112nd | KICKOFF RETURN | 25.8 | 6th |
| 41.8 | 6th | NET PUNTING | 35.5 | 108th |
| MISCELLANEOUS | ||||
| +0.4 | 32nd | TURNOVER MARGIN | -0.6 | 112th |
| 8.3 | 124th | PENALTIES | 6.6 | 85th |
| 12 | EDGE | 6 | ||
TODAY'S TRIVIA ANSWERS
Who was Ohio State's first head coach?
Answer: Alexander S. Lilley. He was the head coach for the 1890 and 1891 seasons and went 3–5.
How many years was Paul Brown the head coach of the Buckeyes?
Answer: Three. He was hired in 1941, led the Buckeyes to a national title in 1942 and left the team to join the Navy after the 1943 season.
What year was Woody Hayes hired?
Answer: 1951, he replaced Wes Fesler and remained in the position for a program best 28 seasons.
What year was Woody Hayes fired?
Answer: 1978. After the Gator Bowl meltdown on December 29, 1978, Hayes was fired the next day.
