The team was coached by Howard Schnellenberger and played their home games at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

This feat made NCAA history, as Florida Atlantic became the fastest start-up program to win a bowl game, after just seven seasons of intercollegiate competition.

The 2007 FAU Owls were heavily experienced, as only four starters (combined offense and defense) graduated from the 5–7 (4–3 SBC) 2006 team.

Sophomore Rusty Smith started at quarterback, having faced no battle for the position with senior Sean Clayton.

In the Preseason Sun Belt Coaches' Poll, FAU was picked to finish sixth in the conference despite the wealth of experience on both sides of the ball.

Wide receiver Cortez Gent and tight end Jason Harmon each caught a touchdown from Smith.

Florida Atlantic 1–0 (1–0 SBC) Although the Owls were riding high on emotions after their Week 1 victory over conference foe Middle Tennessee, it could not continue into Stillwater.

The Owls ended the day with 580 total yards of offense en route of the program's first victory over a BCS conference school.

Minnesota rallied in the second half to bring the score within three points, but redshirt freshman Tavious Polo intercepted Gophers quarterback Adam Weber for the third time of the game to seal the victory for the Owls.

Throwing for 322 yards and a touchdown, the highlight of his night came in the fourth quarter when the Owls needed to rally from a 4-point deficit.

Smith connected with wide receiver Cortez Gent for a 74-yard touchdown strike with 8:09 remaining to put the Owls up 23–20.

DiIvory Edgecomb padded the FAU lead to 30–20, completing the fourth quarter rally to win their third game of the season and second in the Sun Belt Conference.

Defensively, freshman cornerback Tavious Polo added two interceptions to his season total, bringing the number to six.

Kentucky's red-hot start was fueled by quarterback Andre Woodson, who carried in an NCAA-record 325 consecutive passes without an interception.

That streak was snapped by freshman cornerback Tavious Polo, recording his seventh interception of the season, in the second quarter.

Florida Atlantic and USF exchanged points throughout the second half, battling to a 28–23 Bulls lead with 6:42 left in the game.

Florida Atlantic 3–3 (2–0 SBC) The Owls returned to conference competition on the road against the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette.

This was the third consecutive week the Owls faced a dual-threat quarterback and Lafayette's Michael Desormeaux proved to be a handful for Florida Atlantic.

His four touchdowns were spread out amongst four different receivers: Willie Rose, Cortez Gent, Jason Harmon and Chris Bonner.

Corey Small and Taheem Acevedo combined for two interceptions, picking off Desormeaux and backup quarterback Chancellor Roberson.

His opportunity came on November 17 when his Owls entered the famed The Swamp in front of 90,000 Gators fans to play the defending national champions.

Through the lopsided score, however, laid some encouraging statistics for the much younger Florida Atlantic program: Smith and the Owls' offensive attack amassed 384 yards on the Gators defense, the second quarter saw a truly competitive match, and Rusty Smith showed genuine poise in front of 90,000 fans who were obviously rooting for the other team.

Corner back Corey Small picked off a terribly-thrown Tim Tebow pass in the second quarter.

Staging off a strong bid by Troy to come back in the fourth quarter, FAU held on to a six-point lead and won the game 38–32, clinching their first-ever conference championship in their seven short seasons of existence.

Smith completed a pass to eight different receivers, including tight end Jason Harmon 11 times for 97 yards.