FAU Coach Howard Schnellenberger will return to the University of Kentucky this Saturday where he starred as a tight end and defensive end between 1952 and 1955. He is a member of the UK Athletics Hall of Fame and his number 19 jersey is retired by the team. Schnellenberger was co-captain as a senior in 1955 and ended his career with 44 receptions for 618 yards and 11 touchdowns. Four years after his collegiate playing career ended, Schnellenberger returned to Lexington as an assistant for the Wildcats, his first coaching job.
“I played at Kentucky, coached at Kentucky and coached at Louisville and as a son of the state of Kentucky,” Schnellenberger said. “I’m really proud … the University of Kentucky is making it’s ascension to a high level.”
On Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Schnelleneberger will coach his seventy-fifth game with the Owls (3-1). He will face a tall order in the Wildcats, who are ranked fourteenth in the nation (their highest ranking since 1977) and are a perfect 4-0 this season with wins over Louisville and Arkansas.
“We are riding into Kentucky at the worst time in the last 20 years,” Schnellenberger said. “We have to check on where we stand with our maker having him turn the tables on me like that.”
Indeed, the Wildcats are off to their best start since 2002, when they also began 4-0. Their MVP last season, Andre Woodson, is also playing a starring role this season as quarterback. Woodson holds the all-time NCAA record for consecutive passes without an interception, an interesting match-up considering the Owls have the nation’s interception leader in Tavious Polo and have collected 10 as a team in this season’s first four games. Woodson hasn’t thrown an interception in his last 296 passes, surpassing the all-time record last weekend against Arkansas.
Woodson’s favorite receiving targets are Keenan Burton (24 catches, 322 yards, 4 TD’s and Dicky Lyons (15-181-1). On the ground, the ‘Cats are led by Rafael Little (62 carries, 435 yards, 3 TD’s). UK has had a superior offense in its first four games this season, scoring at least 40 points in each.
On defense, Kentucky has linebacker Wesley Woodyard who is one of only five players in the nation with more than 50 tackles this season. In comparison, the Owls leading tackler, Frantz Joseph has 42. Also, UK defensive end Jeremy Jarmon leads the Southeastern Conference with four sacks. He has at least one sack in six straight games dating back to last season.
Facing that defense will be an FAU offense that has hit its stride in the past two games, both wins. Rusty Smith led last week’s comeback from a two-touchdown deficit and has not thrown an interception since the Oklahoma State game, a streak of 110 pass attempts. Additionally, the FAU offense has not fumbled in the last 274 plays.
This week, the Owls will be shorthanded on defense after last weekend’s comeback win over North Texas proved to be costly. Starting defensive linemen Josh Pinnick and Josh Savidge both left the game with knee injuries and are out for the season.
