Lane Kiffin and the Florida Atlantic Owls have a monumental task ahead of them to open the season in Week 1 when they take on Kyler Murray and the Oklahoma Sooners.
Looking ahead to the big game, Kiffin praised Murray by calling him “a problem.”
Let him explain further.
“He’s a problem,” Kiffin said, per Jake Elman of the Palm Beach Post. “These are the guys you want to play the least. People that give you all those problems are the guys who, when plays don’t happen in rhythm like a plays in football, especially college (don’t), they have the ability to get out of trouble and you can cover everybody and have the play matched perfect and the guy still takes off and runs for 15 yards.”
Kiffin also said Murray is “very difficult to deal with,” comparing him to some of the elite dual-threat passers that Alabama dealt with during his tenure with the Crimson Tide.
“The guys that are really good quarterbacks, but on top of that, they’re unique speed athletes,” Kiffin said.
This is pretty high praise for a young passer who’s perhaps best known for having already signed a multi-million-dollar contract to play baseball with the Oakland Athletics.
Murray is sticking around for one year at Oklahoma first, however, and he’s been named the starter by Lincoln Riley ahead of the 2018 season. It’s going to be fascinating to see if Kiffin’s Owls can slow him down next Saturday.