After Florida Atlantic's 33-31 loss to rival Florida International on Saturday night, linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair emerged from the Owls' locker room with a vest over his dress shirt and his hands clutching drinks and a brown bag of food.
A duffel bag rested on the sophomore captain's shoulder, as did the burden of responsibility for FAU's fourth consecutive loss. Al-Shaair placed the onus on the players, not the coaches. FIU was running "simple stuff," he said, and the players should hold themselves accountable.
"Coaches, they put us in the right position," Al-Shaair said. "It's tough because it really looks bad from a coaching standpoint.