WAGNER-FAU STREAMED LIVE ON ESPN 3

GAME NOTES

Staten Island, NY – When it was announced back on January 27, that the Wagner College football program had agreed to step up in class and play FBS (formerly Division I-A) member Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL on August 31, it was a date that seemed eons away.

Today, the date is at hand. On Thursday, the Seahawks will board a charter flight to Boca Raton. On Friday, the calendar flips to the 31st of the month, a date when Wagner becomes just the second team in Northeast Conference (NEC) history to play an FBS member.  On September 22, 2007, Central Connecticut St. traveled to Kalamazoo, MI and where they were thumped 51-14.

The Seahawks, 4-7 overall, 4-4 (T-4th) in the NEC a year ago,  are hoping the three-game winning streak that closed the 2011 season portends positive things for 2012.

Florida Atlantic, particularly as an opening game opponent, is a true wildcard team. The Owls are coming off a 1-11 season and a 0-8 mark in the Sun Belt Conference, a non-BCS mid-major conference whose champion last season was an Arkansas St., team that was upended by Northern Illinois 31-19 in the GoDaddy.com Bowl played in Mobile, AL.

Carl Pelini was named Florida Atlantic's second head coach in program history to replace the retired Howard Schnellenberger, who revitalized the Miami program in the early 1980s, guiding the Canes to the 1983 National Championship. In 2008, Pelini left his post as defensive line coach at Ohio University and moved to Nebraska, where he assumed the position of defensive coordinator under his brother, head coach Bo Pelini.  Carl Pelini's role in the resurgence of Nebraska's defense was recognized by his two-time nomination for the Frank Broyles Assistant Coach of the Year Award.

Florida Atlantic, as an FBS member, can dole out the NCAA maximum of 85 scholarships. The Owls averaged just 12.9 points per game, a figure that ranked 119th in the nation. On defense, the Owls do return their top three leading tacklers.

When the teams line up on Friday night at 30,000-seat FAU Stadium, in a game that will be streamed live on ESPN3, the game will mark Pelini's first as a head coach. For Wagner, 32nd-year head coach Walt Hameline will be roaming the sidelines as a head coach for the 330th time, coming in with a 204-123-2 mark (.622).