After beating Michigan State hard in the first week of the 2024 season, the Florida Atlantic Owls hosted the Army Black Knights on Saturday hoping to pick up a win. However, it was Jeff Monken’s team that was in control for most of the day, posting a 24-7 score.

With the win, Army is 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in the AAC as they win their first AAC conference game. Here’s what else stood out about the Black Knights’ big day in Boca.

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Fancher’s struggles

FAU quarterback Cam Fancher struggled to get going in this game, his second start for Tom Herman’s Owls. The junior completed 25 passes on 27 attempts for 193 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Overall, the Owls struggled the most on third down attempts, finishing 3/10 and failing to convert a fourth down late in the game.

The army’s offensive is still the army’s offensive

As previously demonstrated, the Army offense did much of the time-of-possession battle. Army had the ball for a whopping 38 minutes and 39 seconds, a full 17 minutes more than FAU. FAU only had possession twice in the entire first half.

The Black Knights’ backfield had a total ground clearance of 374 meters.

Fake field goal touchdown

Holder Matthew Rhodes scored a 23-yard touchdown run on a fake field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter. For the second week in a row, Army is using a fake special teams play. A fake punt against Lehigh in week one gave the Black Knights a first down on their second possession of the game.

Noah Short competes for the army

After playing primarily as a wide receiver in 2023, junior running back Noah Short is emerging as Army’s biggest threat in the running game. He led the Black Knights in rushing in each of their first two games of the season. On Saturday, he finished the season with 11 carries for 160 yards after posting 83 yards in week one.

Army now has a week off before facing Rice at West Point on Sept. 21. FAU is now 0-2 and will prepare to face cross-town rival FIU on Sept. 14.