Last year, FAU completed its most successful football season ever. The Owls defeated a team from a major conference, won the conference title, and played and won their first bowl game faster than any other team – ever.

Despite all the accolades the Owls received last year, their play on the defensive line was not one of them. The patchwork group was thrown together after two of four starters, Josh Pinnick and Josh Savidge, were lost to season-ending injuries. As a result, Coach Howard Schnellenberger has made it abundantly clear this offseason that his defensive line needs a much improved pass rush.

If the spring game is a precursor of things to come, the defensive linemen seemed to get the message loud and clear.

Despite being ordered not to hit the quarterback, the defensive line still did enough to please their coach in the spring game. “If we would have allowed them to really come after the quarterback and not give them the responsibility of pulling off, they would really give our offensive line problems,” Schnellenberger said.

Defensive ends Robert St. Clair and Jermaine Council were extremely quick coming off the line and defensive tackle Jervonte Jackson batted down a pass on the final series of the game to give the defense the win. “Coming off the ball, getting into the backfield, disrupting the quarterback’s flow, we accomplished that,” Jackson said.

The defensive line also undoubtedly got a boost from having tackle Josh Savidge back, less than a year after knee surgery. He wore a knee brace and was rotating with Dino Cox.

The second unit also gave the Owls’ defense a boost, especially Cox, who had three sacks, a tackle for a loss, and seemed to be in the backfield on every play.

“When the second unit improves and makes plays, it forces us to make more plays,” Jackson said. “They’re the key to our success.”

FAU finished sixth out of eight teams in the Sun Belt Conference in sacks and didn’t have a single player ranked in the top-10 in sacks.

“When the D-line plays good, the game goes real good,” Jackson said.

Despite the success the Owls know they still have, there is a lot of work to do before the opener at Texas. “We got Texas first game, so we have to get ready for those guys,” Jackson said.