Pictured Above: Sophomore running back Otis Wright (Fort Lauderdale, NY/ Dillard) was one of 18 Seahawks who made a return to their native state of Florida when Wagner faced FAU.

*Wagner opened the 2012 season in exciting fashion, becoming just the second Northeast Conference (NEC) team to ever face an FBS opponent and the Seahawks acquitted themselves quite well. The Seahawks led for most of the game before the Owls connected on a 39-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter and held on for the 7-3 win. The only other time an NEC stepped up in class to meet an FBS foe was on September 22, 2007 when Central Connecticut traveled to Western Michigan and came out on the short end of a 51-14 decision.
 
*When Wagner took the field at 30,000-seat FAU Stadium, head coach Walt Hameline was coaching the 330th game of his career while on the opposite sideline, Carl Pelini, was coaching his in his first.
 
*The Seahawks were making their second ever appearance on ESPN 3 when they opened the season at Florida Atlantic on August 31.  Wagner's first showing on ESPN 3 came under very different weather conditions. While the temperatures were in the low 80's and the air thick with humidity in Boca Raton, on October 29, 2011, the Seahawks hosted Albany in near white-out conditions on Grymes Hill in a game won by the Great Danes, 24-0.
 
*In eclipsing the 100-yard rushing mark for the 13th time in 20 career games, redshirt junior running back Dominique Williams (Bridgeton, NJ/ Bridgeton) ran past the 2,000-yard plateau for his career. Entering the season 1,980 career yards, Williams rumbled for 117 yards on 24 carries vs. the now has 2,097 yards for his career.  ln the process, Williams moved into seventh place on the all-time rushing list, passing Jason Butler who gained 2,088 yards from 2004-07. Williams' next target in sixth place is Chris Davis (2000-03) who gained 2,342 yards in his career.
 
*Junior free safety Patrick O'Connor (Leominster, MA/ Leominster), one of Wagner's four newly-minted captains, was the leader of a stifling Seahawk defensive effort that kept Florida Atlantic scoreless until there was 11:36 remaining in the game when the Owls connected on a 39-yard touchdown for their night's only score. O'Connor had a team-high 10 tackles for the Seahawks which also tied for game-high honors. The 6-1, 190-pound O'Connor had five solo stops as well as five assisted tackles. The 10 tackles tied O'Connor's career-high which he recorded at Bryant on Oct. 29, 2011.
 
*Redshirt sophomore punter #A.J. Firestone# (Mercersburg, PA/ Mercersburg Academy) had a career game under the lights at Florida Atlantic in the August 31 season opener at Florida Atlantic, booming five punts for a 41.3-yard average, including a career-best 51-yard effort. Three of Firestone's punts went for touchbacks while another was downed inside the Owls' 20-yard line.
 
Walt Hameline on his team's effort at Florida Atlantic:
 
"The kids gave it everything they had. I was really proud of them from a physical standpoint. We lined up and were physical with this team and played to the last down. But we're not into moral victories. Obviously we played very hard and our guys can look each other in the eyes, but it's really disappointing when you have a chance to beat a team and you don't take advantage of it. They have pretty good players and sooner or later they're going to make some plays. To give up seven points to a Sun Belt (Conference) team in the season opener, I'm proud as dickens of our team. We didn't win the football game, but we didn't lose the physical battle, I can tell you that.”

UP NEXT: The Seahawks travel to our nation's capital on Saturday, September 8 when Wagner meets Patriot League member Georgetown in a 1:00 pm contest. The last time Wagner journeyed to Washington, DC to meet the Hoyas was on October 9, 2010 when senior LB Keith Davis intercepted a pass on the first play of the second overtime and took it 80 yards to the house in propelling Wagner to a rousing 22-16 come-from-behind victory.