Even on a relatively historic night on the field, Lane Kiffin managed to steal some headlines off of it.
Friday night, Florida Atlantic managed to hold off Marshall and strengthen its hold on the Conference USA’s East division with a 30-25 win. It was also the sixth win of the season for the Owls, pushing FAU toward its first bowl appearance since 2008.
The margin of victory and how it came about, though, managed to grab an inordinate amount of the attention.
FAU entered the game as a roughly 6.5-point favorite. Up seven with under 10 seconds remaining and backed up in their own territory facing a fourth and 29, Kiffin and the Owls (wisely) took a safety to account for the five-point margin of victory. And a bad beat for anyone who had wagered on FAU and gave up the points.
Lane being Lane, the first-year head coach had some social media fun with the gambling angle to the final sequence -- and even was able to throw in (another) tweak at his former boss for good measure.
Didn't want to cover because of too much rat poison #keptuwatching #5-0 #cometothefau #playersgetweekendoff https://t.co/HCsRjZKh4E
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) November 4, 2017
Some took exception to Kiffin’s tweet, so much so that the football program felt compelled to confirm that, yes, the tweet was made in jest.
Meanwhile, the 6-3 Owls are riding a five-game winning streak and, with three games remaining in the regular season plus up to two postseason games -- Conference USA championship game, bowl -- have a chance to break the school record for wins in a season (nine) set back in 2004.