The Owls kicked off the Zach Kittley era yesterday as Florida Atlantic faced off against Maryland at SECU Stadium in College Park.
Both teams entered the game with outside noise; FAU with excitement of the new regime while Terps fans were looking for a bounce back after a 4-8 season last year. Once the ball was kicked off, it was all on the field.
FAU stayed competitive in the first quarter, but Maryland’s second-quarter dominance and a program-record six interceptions thrown by the Owls sealed their 39-7 loss in the first-ever matchup between the schools.
Coach Kittley's Comments
Overall thoughts on the Game:
“First off, just extremely proud of our guys. We fought the whole game, we didn’t give up. We were in some tough situations there. Hats off to Maryland. Really good coach, really good football players over there. A few positives: I thought our defense really played well today. Extremely proud of Coach Dewhurst and his guys and what they were able to put together. I mean, they gave us a million opportunities to get right back in the game on offense, and we just couldn’t move the needle offensively. So proud of them. I thought kickoff return looked really, really good. Jayshon Platt, I mean, we’re a couple shoe string tackles away from hitting a couple bigger kick returns. So really proud of the defense. In general, we got to be able to develop a little bit more of a pass rush. It’s one area I thought we did not do a great job of, was getting after the quarterback enough, and we had a couple of busted coverages there that led to a couple of big plays. But for the most part I thought those guys flew around and did a really good job.”
Owls Program Record Six Interceptions:
“It was all on us. Six interceptions never happened in my career. A couple of just kind of some freak things. The sack, ball flies into the hands of the defense, pick six, kind of those ones that just unfortunately happened. The last one down there in the red zone: Dom Henry falls on his route a little bit, stumbles, and so the ball goes straight to the defense. Unfortunate. One off the top of my head we had, Caden did overthrow a ball. Thought he made the right read. Guys there. He just overthrew it a little bit. We just gotta detail it up. We just need to get more accurate with the football. Bottom line.”
Helping Veltkamp Bounce Back:
“I told him, I love him. He’s a really good quarterback. I mean, that’s the frustrating part, a little bit, is just he hadn’t turned the ball over like that. He hasn’t looked like that at all since we’ve had him. …He’s a coach’s kid. He’s going to bounce back. He gets it. And again, I got full faith in Him, 100% ready to get back to the drawing board with us next week.”
Owls Overall Health After the Game:
“Clearly I took Caden out in the fourth quarter, just because he had gotten banged up a little bit. Nothing serious, but he took some shots. You know, was on the ground quite a bit, but I feel good about it. You know, to my knowledge, we’re pretty healthy, so that’s a positive going to week two.”
Game Recap
First Quarter
The Owls opening drive looked promising as FAU was able to get down to the Terps four-yard-line, but Caden Veltkamp’s rush to the right side of the field was stuffed at the two.
Both defenses looked great and it was the defense that opened the scoring as Maryland’s pressure on Caden Veltkamp led to a pick-six for the Terps.
The Owls responded to that scoring drive with one of their own after Asaad Waseem was left wide open for a 27-yard catch down the sideline as FAU evened the game at 7. Sadly for FAU, that was the one and only score on the day.
OPEN MAN IN WASEEM AND THAT IS AN OWLS TOUCHDOWN#Maryland 7 - #FAU 7 | 1st Quarter 4:59 pic.twitter.com/bXaOnhjerg
— FAU Owls Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) August 30, 2025
Second Quarter
In order, the Owls’ second quarter drives ended this way: interception, safety, downs, punt, and half. In the quarter, FAU gained a total of 59 yards. On the other side of the field, Maryland looked great. Earning 202 yards in the quarter and scoring 26 points, the Terps had taken control of the game.
Halftime Notes
A major standout overall in the first half was the yards per play number. FAU was at roughly 3.5 YPP while the Terps were averaging over six yards a play. It did not help that the Terrapins threw the ball for 200 yards in the half.
33 points in the first half was the most Maryland had scored in a season opener since scoring 40 against FIU in 2013.
Second Half
The Owls had their opportunity in the third on the second drive of the half. But a miscommunication between Veltkamp and Jay Platt (main photo: FAU Athletics) led to the Terps’ third pick of the game.
The remainder of the contest gave both teams opportunities to give their backups time to play. Maryland was able to play their backup defensive players and had all three quarterbacks play on the day.
For the Owls, Veltkamp was taken out after taking some major blows throughout the game. Zach Gibson, a Georgia State transfer, came in and led the Owls the rest of the way. He accounted for two interceptions in his first two appearances. Maryland ran the clock out taking home the convincing victory, 39-7.
Standouts & Stats
Offense
Starting QB Caden Veltkamp’s day was definitely one to forget. He had 30 completions off 49 attempts with 228 yards passing. Throwing for one touchdown and four interceptions, Veltkamp was also sacked three times.
The offensive line was overpowered throughout. Giving up the sacks and five QB hurries on Veltkamp, but also not looking good in the rushing game. Most of the Owls runs that gained yardage were to the outside. The interior of the O-line simply could not find a way to wear the Maryland defensive line down
Sands was the leading rusher for the Owls as he gained 46 yards and averaged 4.9 YPC. Easton Messer led the Owls in receiving yards as he gained 87 off 15 receptions. Messer’s 15 receptions ties a program record set in 2004 by Anthony Crissinger-Hill against Hawaii. Clearly the connection between him and Veltkamp is the strongest on the team.
Waseem had four receptions for 70 yards with his longest reception being 31 yards. 11 Owls had a reception in the matchup.
LB Leon Hart Jr. led the Owls in tackles as he earned 11. Four Owls earned a tackle for loss. Jayden Sweeney was the lone FAU Owl credited with a QB Hurry as well. Florida Atlantic had six passes broken up with Dillion Williams leading the way with two.
Terez Reid was one that stood out. From great tackling in the open field, to his coverage, Reid was definitely a bright spot for the Owls. The redshirt-senior had five tackles on the day including a TFL. He will be a major part of the Owls secondary throughout the season.
The defensive line, similar to Florida Atlantic’s O-line, was simply overpowered. The group could not find a way through the Terps offensive line. Maryland rushed for 112 yards and averaged 3.7 yards per carry.
The pass rush looked decent at times, making Malik Washington scramble outside of the pocket, but once the true-freshman used his legs, the Owls were unable to slow him down. Washington passed for 258 yards and had three touchdowns on the day. Washington’s leading receiver was tight end Dorian Fleming as he earned six catches.
Overall for the group, notable performances stood out, but 33 points in a half is never easy to swallow. In the second half, the group was put in short yardage situations multiple times but held on to force a Maryland field goal, not giving up a touchdown. The day had multiple signs of sparks, it’s now time to make those sparks light a fire.
Special Teams
Punter Logan Lupo had two boots on the day averaging 40.5 yards while Andrew Nelms had 3 kickoffs but did not get a touchback. Nelms also had his free kick go out of bounds. Kicker Garrison Smith was 1 for 1 on extra point attempts.
On the returning side of things, Platt looked phenomenal. The redshirt-junior had five returns with 134 yards. A 26.8 yard average. He will definitely be a weapon on offense this season, but special teams looks to be his biggest forte. His return yardage is the most a FAU returner has had in a game since 2021.
Look Ahead
Coach Kittley shared on Saturday, “It’s a long season, I can promise you, from our camp, we’re not sitting here thinking of the seasons over, by any means…so we got a long season. I talk about the word opportunity all the time. We’re only guaranteed 12 of those. And, you know, one opportunity did not go our away. We wanted it clearly, but we got 11 more to go.”
That next “opportunity” for Florida Atlantic (0-1) will come at home against Florida A&M (0-1). The Rattlers are coming off a last-second field goal loss against Howard in a low scoring, 10-9, contest. The matchup will be the second one between the two teams with the Owls earning the win back in 2004, 38-8. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 PM on Saturday, September 6 in Paradise and on ESPN+.