April 21, 2005

Boca Raton - Florida Atlantic University's football 2005 football schedule will feature Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma State and Louisville, as well as a full Sun Belt Conference line-up, announced FAU Athletics Director Craig Angelos, Thursday.

"We are excited about being able to raise the visibility of our program by playing this difficult schedule," said FAU athletics director Craig Angelos. "Being able to play OSU at home and on Thursday night on ESPN/ESPN2 is a tremendous boost to our program. It is also a great opportunity to play three big-time football programs along with our Sun Belt games. This is the beginning of a great journey into (the) I-A ranks and we are going to be up for the challenge."

The Owls will open their inaugural I-A campaign September 3 against Big 12 Conference member University of Kansas. The Jayhawks finished 2005 with a 4-7 record, but excitement abounds with 52 lettermen returning, including 15 starters, under fourth-year head coach Mark Magino. The game will be third-consecutive season opener against a Division I-A opponent.

The Owls will return home with just four days to practice before playing host to Oklahoma State University, a 2005 Alamo Bowl participant and a team that finished its last campaign 7-5. The game will not only be played at Dolphins Stadium on Thursday, September 8, but it has been selected to be the first of the season as part of the Sun Belt Conference's television package. The game will mark the first Owls home contest to feature a Division I-A opponent that is not a member of the Sun Belt and will also be the first time FAU has hosted a "Bowl" participant.

A Thursday night game provided an opportunity for the Owls to play a high caliber team in South Florida, build upon its young fan base and to play on national television.

The Owls will return to the road traveling to its most northern opponent in the program's five seasons to face the University of Minnesota, September 17. The Golden Gophers ended 2004 with a 7-4 record and an appearance in the Music City Bowl representing the Big Ten Conference.

FAU will then open its inaugural season as a full member of the Sun Belt Conference with the opportunity to play for a championship and New Orleans Bowl appearance against the University of Louisiana-Monroe, September 24, at Lockhart Stadium. The two teams met in 2004 with the Indians handing the Owls their first loss of the season.

On October 1, the Owls travel to Louisville, KY, head coach Howard Schnellenberger's hometown and stomping ground for ten seasons, to face one of the top teams in the nation, University of Louisville. The Cardinals have continued with the blueprint laid out by Schnellenberger in the mid-1980's. U of L suffered just one loss in 2004 and that came at the hands of another school formerly coached by Schnellenberger, University of Miami.

"Playing the four non-conference games is a stroke of God-sent luck," said head coach Howard Schnellenberger. "To have a Big Ten, two Big 12, and Big East opponents on our schedule at this stage of development is an accomplishment. The next best thing to playing for a national championship is playing the most difficult teams you can schedule, and that is what we have done."

One week later, FAU will play Louisiana-Lafayette in Lafayette and will then return home to host Middle Tennessee State University for the first time in three meetings. FAU notched the program's first Division I-A victory against MTSU in 2003, a thrilling come-from-behind win, in just the 22nd game of the program's existence. FAU dealt a similar hand in 2004 as one of five-straight road victories to begin the season.

The final four games will feature Arkansas State October 22 in Jonesboro, AK, and then two games against 2005 Bowl participants and perennial Sun Belt powers. The Owls will once again travel to Troy University, who played in the Silicon Classic and finished 7-5, November 5 in Troy and will then play the Sun Belt Champion North Texas November 12, at Lockhart. North Texas has captured the Sun Belt title the last four seasons. FAU upended the Mean Green 20-13 last season in Denton, TX.

The final game on the 2005 slate will be the fourth annual Shula Bowl featuring the Owls, who have won the first three contests, at FIU, November 26.

FAU lost the bulk of its starters when 26 seniors ended their four-year career with a 17-10 victory against FIU in last season's Shula Bowl. Forty-seven players with game experience will return to begin the fifth season with 52 underclassmen expected to play.