2007 Florida Atlantic Owls football team
| 2007 Florida Atlantic Owls football | |
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Sun Belt co-champion
New Orleans Bowl champion |
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New Orleans Bowl, W 44–27 vs. Memphis
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| Conference | Sun Belt Conference |
| 2007 record | 8–5 (6–1 Sun Belt) |
| Head coach | Howard Schnellenberger (7th season) |
| Offensive coordinator | Gary Nord |
| Offensive scheme | Pro-style |
| Defensive coordinator | Kirk Hoza |
| Base defense | 4–3 |
| Home stadium |
Lockhart Stadium (20,000, grass) |
| 2007 Sun Belt football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida Atlantic + | 6 | – | 1 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Troy + | 6 | – | 1 | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Middle Tennessee | 4 | – | 3 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana–Monroe | 4 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas State | 3 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana–Lafayette | 3 | – | 4 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIU | 1 | – | 6 | 1 | – | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Texas | 1 | – | 6 | 2 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2007 Florida Atlantic University Owls football team represented Florida Atlantic University in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Howard Schnellenberger and played their home games at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Owls entered their second season as full members of the Sun Belt Conference.
The Owls claimed their first-ever conference championship, defeating Troy in the last game of the season. To follow-up, the Owls won their first-ever bowl game, winning the 2007 New Orleans Bowl, defeating the Memphis Tigers. This feat made NCAA history, as Florida Atlantic became the fastest start-up program to win a bowl game, after just seven seasons of intercollegiate competition.
The 2007 FAU Owls were heavily experienced, as only four starters (combined offense and defense) graduated from the 5–7 (4–3 SBC) 2006 team. Sophomore Rusty Smith started at quarterback, having faced no battle for the position with senior Sean Clayton. The defense was senior-laden and featured returning starters at linebacker (Cergile Sincere, Andre Clark, and Frantz Joseph), defensive line (Robert St. Clair, Jervonte Jackson, and Josh Pinnick), and at both safety positions (Taheem Acevedo and Kris Bartels). On offense, Smith's right side of the line (Jarrid Smith and John Rizzo) and his center (Nick Paris) returned.
In the Preseason Sun Belt Coaches' Poll, FAU was picked to finish sixth in the conference despite the wealth of experience on both sides of the ball.
FAU avenged its 35–14 thumping by Middle Tennessee in 2006 by opening the 2007 season with 411 yards of offense. Sophomore Rusty Smith completed 12 of 26 passes, throwing for 195 yards and two touchdowns. The Owls had three rushers run for over 50 yards: Charles Pierre had 95 yards and a touchdown, B.J. Manley ran for 64 yards and Willie Rose added 53 yards. Wide receiver Cortez Gent and tight end Jason Harmon each caught a touchdown from Smith.
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