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Schnellenberger expects Owls to be even better in 2008
Schlabach
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/previe...ark&id=3537105
Schnellenberger expects Owls to be even better in 2008
By Mark Schlabach
ESPN.com
In more than two decades as a college football coach, Howard Schnellenberger has preferred a straightforward, not-so-subtle approach.
During his tenures at Miami, Louisville and Oklahoma, Schnellenberger was known as much for his outlandish comments as the suede jackets and conservative ties he wore on the sidelines.
Howard Schnellenberger transformed the Owls from an idea to a bowl winner in only nine years.
After Schnellenberger watched the Sooners lose to BYU 31-6 in the 1994 Copper Bowl, he called the Oklahoma players he was set to inherit "out of shape, unorganized and unmotivated." He said the ugly loss to BYU "was clearly the lowest point in the great history of Oklahoma football."
Shortly after Schnellenberger was hired to resurrect the Oklahoma program, he told anyone who would listen that "they will write books and make movies about my time here."
Sooner fans couldn't even write a chapter about Schnellenberger's time in Norman. He left Oklahoma after his team finished 5-5-1 in his only season in 1995.
After starting the Florida Atlantic program from scratch in 1998, Schnellenberger flew under the radar as the Owls climbed from Division I-AA to the Sun Belt Conference. Last season, Florida Atlantic was picked to finish sixth among eight Sun Belt teams in preseason voting by media covering the league.
The Owls finished 8-5, won the conference le and beat Memphis 44-27 in the New Orleans Bowl.
Finally, Schnellenberger had a team worth crowing about again.
"Our players better understand teams didn't probably pay as much attention to us last year," Schnellenberger said. "I'm sure teams could have prepared better for us, gotten up higher and brought their A-game. There's no question that's going to happen every time we take the field this year."
Schnellenberger made sure Texas will be ready to play when the Owls travel to DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin for the opener Aug. 30. In comments published by University Press, Florida Atlantic's student newspaper, Schnellenberger all but called the Longhorns a soft team.
"Once we step out on the field with Texas, the only ones who can help us is ourselves," Schnellenberger told University Press. "Texas always has a very polished team that has great talent, but they aren't tough; they aren't a physically tough team.
"My defense will get to a point where they will be mean, nasty and ornery [expletive], and that's what you need for Texas. Texas will move the ball with -for-tat, screens and options, but we'll make them pay a price whenever they catch one of those dinky passes. We'll put three hats on them and make them not want to get up; that's the way to beat Texas."
In a telephone interview Thursday, Schnellenberger didn't deny making the comments.
"I was trying to emphasize their great talent that they have," Schnellenberger said. "This is the flagship university in the state of Texas. They pretty much choose the talent they want. Certainly, the only way we're going to beat them is to play a more physical game than they do. We have to make tackles and knock balls loose and things like that. We're not going to be able to match up in talent."
If the Owls can match up with the Longhorns at any position, it might be quarterback. Junior Rusty Smith completed 58.7 percent of his passes for 3,688 yards with 32 touchdowns and nine interceptions last season. He was named Sun Belt Player of the Year and threw five touchdowns against Memphis, setting a New Orleans Bowl record. Smith also threw for 463 yards with five touchdowns in a 42-39 win over Minnesota, which was the first time a Sun Belt team beat a Big Ten opponent.
Schnellenberger said Smith reminds him of Bernie Kosar, whom he coached at Miami.
"He is very much like Kosar," Schnellenberger said. "He's taller than Kosar, and his unorthodox delivery is similar. He brings it from a distance, but he anticipates things well and has so much velocity on the ball that the jump a defensive back can get is minimal. He's at a point where Kosar was when we won the [1983 national] championship. He can take us out of a bad play and get us in a good play. He's made for this type of offense we run."
Smith wasn't highly recruited after playing one season at Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville, Fla. He played three seasons at Paxon School for Advanced Studies, a magnet school that competed in football as an independent. Smith was offered a scholarship by UAB during his senior season at Sandalwood, but the Blazers withdrew the offer a few weeks later.
"When it all came down, I had only one legitimate scholarship," Smith said.
The Owls weren't concerned about Smith's unorthodox throwing motion. He almost winds up like a pitcher before throwing the football.
"It's not side-armed," Smith said. "I definitely throw over the top. My whole life I was a baseball player and pitcher. No one ever taught me how to throw a football. I was still throwing like a pitcher."
Schnellenberger never tried to change it.
"It's too late when they're 17 or 18 years old," Schnellenberger said. "If you do change it, they're too mechanical. I've never seen it work."
It all seems to be working for the Owls now. Top receiver Cortez Gent, who caught 64 passes for 1,082 yards with nine touchdowns, is back. With as many as 11 seniors expected to start this season, Schnellenberger believes the Owls will be better than they were last year.
"We were a very young team last year," Schnellenberger said. "We went from 5-7 to 8-5 and won the conference. I didn't expect for us to make that happen last year. I expected it to happen this year. Thankfully, our players are smarter than I am. I don't know how to evaluate, but they know how to play."
And the 74-year-old coach still knows how to make headlines.
"It's definitely going to make the game a lot tougher and put Texas on its toes," Smith said. "They know we're coming to town to take care of business. We're going to give them a good game. I believe that 100 percent. I can honestly say that. I know when we go to Texas, it will be a very good game."
