A dominant first half led to an easy home opening win over Florida A&M (0-2). With a new name on the stadium, and a new head coach in the driver’s seat, Florida Atlantic came close to their preseason expectations at home.
In a stomping, FAU earned their largest home opening win since 2014 (50-21 over Tulsa) and gave Zach Kittley his first career win as a head coach.
Coach Kittley’s Comments
On his First Career Win as a HC
“I thought our fan base was great. I thought the student section was there. They stayed the whole time, you know what I mean? I’m just so grateful for that. You know, anytime we can have that kind of home field advantage here, I think is huge. I’ll be honest, I really didn’t think a whole lot of [my first career win] other than we won. And that was the goal the whole time was to come out here with a W in the column. And then I did see, I saw my three year old kind of run over there to me, and that kind of hit me a little bit, you know? Then my six year old and my baby were out there too. So seeing them run out there to just joy, and they don’t even know what’s going on, right? They just know that dad’s happy, dad’s good. And that was really cool, just having them run out there with my wife as well.”
Overall Thoughts on the Game
“There’s two sayings I’ve been talking about all week for our guys, that’s the word detail. We have to be really detailed, our stuff up compared to what we were last week, and then just doing your job and not trying to do too much and get greedy in some of those things. We weren’t perfect by any means, but I think we watch this tape compared to last week, those are going to be in areas that likely improved. So super proud of that.”
Special Teams Importance and Performance
“I can’t speak highly enough to [Special Teams Coordinator] Tyler Schovanec and just who he is as a person, but as a football coach. He’s one of the, really bright young minds in special teams right now. Him and I sat down Sunday and we kind of looked at their punt scheme, and we felt really, really good coming into this week that we’d be able to get [a blocked punt]. I think we’re probably gonna actually look back and hope we had one or two more, to be honest with you. But he’s done a phenomenal job, and just putting those guys in the right situation to be successful. And then kudos, you know, true freshman Josh Roberts went in there, getting the big block, and us being able to put a touchdown on the board. That’s really pretty cool. But that’s big time, because anytime you can score on special teams, your percentage of winning goes up to like 70% or something like that. And so we’re going to continue to make that difference. This has been consistent since I got the job. It’s a huge part of the game.”
Game Recap
First Quarter
Florida A&M took the ball to begin the contest, but were stopped after gaining 19-yards. On the ensuing Owls drive, FAU drove 76 yards down the field. A Gemari Sands 37-yard rush put FAU in the red zone. Later in the drive, the Owls scored thanks to a back shoulder completion to Dom Henry (pictured above, Angelina LaBelle). The reception was the first touchdown in Henry’s career. On the PAT attempt FAU elected to go for two and got it as the Owls led 8-0.
Following, the party started for Florida Atlantic as a three and out by the Rattlers led to a punt. Freshman Josh Roberts was able to get the block as Lawrence Johnson recovered the ball in the endzone for an Owls touchdown.
Special Teams, SPECIAL PLAYS! #FAU strikes again! Josh Roberts on the block with Lawrence Johnson getting the recovery! #FAU 15 #FAMU 0 | 1st Quarter 7:09 https://t.co/dJpHx7uUoa pic.twitter.com/xIE8eZYt6s
— FAU Owls Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) September 6, 2025
The defense forced the Rattlers into another three and out as the Owls earned another opportunity to score in the first. The ensuing drive was near perfect with FAU making quick work into the redzone and scoring thanks to an Asaad Waseem reception.
After the end of one it was 22-0 Florida Atlantic.
Second Quarter
The Rattlers were able to get a first down in the second quarter, but that is as far as the FAMU drive went. When the Owls got the ball back it was another score for Florida Atlantic. That time thanks to a leaping Jayshon Platt over a Rattler defender in the endzone.
With a 29-0 lead, FAU looked to be dialed in for a successful night, but the Owls had other plans in mind.
Another Dom Henry touchdown and a field goal put the Owls up 39-0 at halftime. Florida Atlantic scored on every drive in the first half except for the final one. On that drive FAU moved the ball from their own 28 to the Rattlers 33.
Halftime Notes
In the first half, FAU was 4 of 6 on third downs. A great turn around in the first half, and being able to keep drives alive.
Also, Florida Atlantic’s 39 points in the first half were notable. In 2024, FAU only had two games where they scored more than or equal to 39. Now in just the squad’s second game of the season, they reached that mark.
Third Quarter
Probably the most disappointing part of the contest, Florida Atlantic’s third quarter left more to be desired.
FAU had back-to-back punts while FAMU scored a touchdown of their own cutting into a large deficit, 39-7.
Fourth Quarter
The Owls bounced back nicely in the fourth with Caden Veltkamp throwing his fifth touchdown pass of the night. The TD tied Veltkamp for the most touchdown passes thrown in a game in program history. A nice way to come back from last week.
Florida A&M responded with a touchdown pass of their own on the next drive after Terez Reid made a rare mistake in coverage.
But the remainder of the scoring was all Florida Atlantic as Kaden Shield-Dutton scored his first career touchdown and Garrison Smith kicked a 48-yard field goal. Those two scores capped off the Owls blowout over FAMU, 56-14.
Standouts & Stats
Talk about a bounce back for FAU overall. Veltkamp’s five passing touchdowns, but also the ball was spread around the field. Eight Owls had multiple targets in the game instead of Easton Messer being the main guy Saturday night.
Alongside a passing attack that gained over 360 yards and five touchdowns, the running game came to life behind a strong FAU O-line. Starting right guard and team captain highlighted the run game sharing, “We struggled in the run game last week. We knew that that was on us, and it was the sense of getting the great backs that we have, getting the ball and being able to run the ball. We said ‘we had to run the ball this week.’ We had a really good inside run period on Tuesday. I feel like that kind of pushed us to go this week.”
And “go” they did. The Owls earned 193 yards rushing with Gemari Sands leading the group with 83 yards on the ground. Shields-Dutton earned 35 yards while Xavier Terrell earned 25.
A major standout on the day was Sands. The redshirt sophomore earned over 111 all purpose yards. Making up roughly 1/5th of the Owls production on the day. The running backs are going to be gamechangers this season, and when you have a back that can do it all, its a major confidence booster.
Defense
Staying true to one of the better rushing defenses in the American, Florida Atlantic held the Rattlers to only 69 yards on the ground. In the first half, FAMU had -10 yards rushing to go with their 73 yards of total offense. The Owls front seven were definitely key contributors in this one.
Zyere Horton and Chris Keys both had five total tackles on the day while Wilky Denaud and Leon Hart were the two FAU Owls that earned a sack on the day. Hart also forced a fumble in the contest as well.
The pass defense was there in this one too, but definitely could have been better at times. Florida A&M passed for 227 yards with 144 of those yards coming in the second half. While bad coverage gave up a nearly 70 yard touchdown, it still was not what the Owls wanted to see.
Florida Atlantic earned five pass break ups on defense as well. Overall, it was a great day for the group, but putting together a complete 60 minutes will be key going down the road.
Special Teams
The Owls had not scored a touchdown on special teams since 2019, so when Johnson recovered a blocked punt in the endzone it was exhilarating. “When I saw it blocked, I didn’t think I was gonna get there. When Josh blocked [the ball] it had so much force, but it took a nice bounce back to me, so luckily I was able to get there,” said Johnson. He continued on highlighting his first collegiate touchdown sharing, “It feels great. I didn’t know what to do. I was just excited.”
Closing Thoughts
Excited is the word all of Owl nation could use after the teams performance. While the performance was not perfect, it was a definite step in the right direction for Kittley’s led Owls. The offense proved their worth tonight, while the defense showed their pass rush does exist. It may not have been the craziest win for FAU, but it definitely has momentum on Florida Atlantic’s side.
Up Next
Florida Atlantic (1-1) will take a trip South as the Owls will face off against FIU (1-1). The Panthers are coming off a 34-0 shutout loss to Penn State, and are looking to earn their first win in the Shula Bowl since 2016. With both squads still looking to figure things out before conference play, it will be another bitter battle between the teams. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 13th as Pitbull Stadium.