Three FAU players to know before season opener

The Gators are set to kick off the 2021 season this weekend when the Florida Atlantic Owls travel to Gainesville to face the nation's 13th-ranked team program.

Alhough it shouldn’t be much of a test in the Swamp, there are some players to watch out for if the Owls are to try to make it a closer game than many expect.

Gators Territory breaks those players down for you.

The first-year Owl is a transfer from the University of Miami where he passed for 2,484 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions while completing 52.4 percent in his three years with the Hurricanes. He is someone who has a lot of experience playing at the Power Five level, so he won’t be intimidated by the stage or the opponent.

Being from Ocala, Perry will likely be looking to have a big game just 30 minutes away from his hometown. He is someone who has a live arm and can make just about every throw in the book, but his biggest knock was throwing the ball into some questionable situations/coverages. If he has improved his decision making, he should be able to test a Florida secondary that has some new faces.

Another transfer, this time from Clemson, Chase was a highly-recruited kid who finally started to hit his stride last season by leading FAU in receiving yards, racking up 334 yards and two touchdowns on 23 catches.

Chase is a player with good size and strength at 6-foot-1 192 pounds and has the ability to outmuscle defensive backs. He also provides big-play capability that can really help Perry out while he tries to figure out who he can rely on in their first game when the lights turn on.

Joyner is the returning leading sack getter for the Owls, recording 5.5 a season ago to go along with 39 tackles, including seven for loss.

The Jacksonville native shows solid first-step quickness and is strong at the point of attack along the defensive front. He will be going against a Florida offensive line that has a few question marks and players in new positions. He will definitely look to make Emory Jones' life hard in his first career start and test the new-look offensive line’s ability to keep him clean.