Game Capsule: FAU vs UAB – October 11, 2025

Matchup: FAU (2-3, 1-1) vs UAB (2-3, 0-2)

When: Saturday, October 11th, 6:00 PM ET

Where: Flagler Credit Union Stadium

TV: ESPN+

Radio: FoxSports 640

Opening Line: FAU – 4.5

All-time Meetings: Florida Atlantic leads 6-4 with the last six meetings alternating the winner. The Blazers won the last contest 45-42 in 2023.

There is a lot of excitement in Paradise this weekend as Florida Atlantic will be under the lights of the Flag with the opportunity to get even on the season, and jump ahead to 2-1 in conference.

With the 25th Year Celebration, Hall of Fame Inductions, and Family Weekend a part of the campus festivities, Howard Schnellenberger Field is sure to be rocking come kickoff.

Coach Zach Kittley is coming off of his first American Conference win while UAB head coach, Trent Dilfer, is fighting for his job. It will be a battle between two head coaches wanting to change the trajectory of their seasons and there will be no better way than the top two passing offenses in the American duking it out.

FAU

Offense

Florida Atlantic’s passing game looked to have hit its stride last week in the FAU win over Rice. Building off the performance against Memphis, Caden Veltkamp has really stepped up his game as we start to close out the first half of the season.

With a three touchdown and one pick performance, the redshirt junior is now looking calm and unfazed in the pocket.

So how does FAU build off of that performance? Well it will be difficult. UAB’s secondary sees a similar offense to Zach Kittley’s every day in practice. Last week, it seemed simpler as Rice did not have the fortune of facing an air-raid, but for the Blazers, they are familiar with it.

For starters, TE Michael Kirch seemed to come to life with his conference honorable mention performance. With his two touchdowns and nearly 20.5 YPC performance, the world has seen what a tight end can do in this offense.

However, with the passing game being obvious; how can the Owls get a run game going? During his weekly presser, Coach Kittley shared that a goal this week was to figure out the run game. A benefit for FAU is the Blazers defensive schemes. They play a high safety which gives the passing game more opportunities down the field.

But when those two high-sets come, will the Owls be able to run the ball or will there be another problem where FAU has another weekend without a notable rushing attack? 

Now, it looks as if only time will give us that answer. With Gemari Sands getting better daily, Florida Atlantic looks to be at full-force come Saturday night against the American’s worst run stopping defense.

QB Caden Veltkamp

Over his last two performances coming out of the bye, Veltkamp has completion percentage of 65, three passing touchdowns and only one interception. The former Hilltopper also has a rush for at least ten yards in both of those contests, and an additional touchdown. 

Talk about using the bye to your advantage, the Owls shotcaller has done that and then some. We should expect more of the same from Veltkamp in Saturday’s performance as well.

TE Michael Kirch

It may seem lazy by the writer to mention a tight end once more as a “one to watch,” but it makes sense. Throughout the season, many fans were waiting for a breakthrough. When would the tight ends show out? Well, after Kirch’s performance last week, the room has made their entrance, but how long will their stay be? That is what will be interesting come the end of the matchup this weekend..

Defense

As mentioned earlier, UAB’s defense will be familiar with the Owls offense and vice versa. Florida Atlantic is used to facing a pass-first team in practice and it should show on Saturday.

With a reliance on the secondary, FAU will look to shut down the conference’s passing yards leader in QB Jalen Kitna.

LB Leon Hart during FAU Spring Camp. Photo: Rick Henderson

Lining up against an offense that passes for over 300 yards per game, but only rushes for a little more than 114, it is another swing of the pendulum for a defense that looked the best they have all season last week. 

The Owls must make sure the pendulum stays the way they want it by keeping RB1 Jevon Jackson quiet. With an average of 73.8 YPG, the redshirt senior does not look to be a major threat, but broke off a run for 30 yards last week.

Overall for the group it will be important to force Kitna into forced throws, but more importantly locking down the Blazers leading receivers of Iverson Hooks (338 yards, 2 TDs) and Corri Milliner (268 yards, 3 TDs).

LB Leon Hart Jr.

Florida Atlantic’s leading tackler, Hart is coming off his second ten-tackle performance of the season and looks to be in good shape to be another gamewrecker this week. The redshirt junior also leads FAU in TFLs with four on the season, averaging one per game he has played in this season.

UAB

With their only wins against Alabama State and Akron, UAB has had a season to forget up to this point. With Dilfer on the hot seat, and a program that looks ready for a change, it is probably the best opportunity for the Blazers to pull off the upset and make sure their season does not end prematurely.

Offense

UAB relies heavily on Kitna. With his conference leading yard numbers, that is no surprise. What is a little surprising is how decent of a job Kitna does with the ball. In his 192 passing attempts this year, he has thrown nine touchdowns to only four interceptions.

Those numbers compared to Veltkamp’s overall are much better, but the Blazers are nearly identical with the Owls in their rushing issues.

Averaging only 114 yards per game on the ground, those numbers are second to last in the conference. We already highlighted RB Jevon Jackson, but UAB’s second leading rusher is Isaiah Jacobs. Jacobs has only 125 yards on the ground this season and averages 4.5 yards per carry.

So just like Florida Atlantic, can UAB make the defense two dimensional? The way things have looked this season, the answer seems to be no. 

Defense

It’s not been a good year to be a defender for the Blazers this year. Allowing nearly 40 points per game, UAB has had their fair share of bad performances. That includes last week’s loss to Army, 31-13.

The problem in that game: the run defense. While Army is known for their option, UAB had nothing to stop the ground game last week. The Blazers allowed over 240 rushing yards and faced a pass only five times last week.

If Florida Atlantic walked out of the game this weekend with a run game worth something, it would not be surprising that they figured it out against UAB.

The Blazers leading tackler is LB Devin Hightower with 35 while the TFL leader is S Sirad Bryant with his three. Redshirt freshman DE Chris Burge leads the squad in sacks with 2.5

Overall for UAB, it will be forcing mistakes from Veltkamp. The rushing game will be a major question mark for both sides, but if the Blazers keep FAU honest by not giving up huge plays, it will be a good sign for them.

Final Thoughts

This game looks to be a barn burner. According to Hard Rock Bet, the O/U line is 67.5. That is a lot of confidence in a high scoring game, and rightfully so. It will be a battle between the top two gunslingers in the American with a twist of run games that have not proven themselves.

For this one, it will come down to who can get the ground game going. Big plays are going to happen in the passing game, but being able to gain first downs in short yardage situations is imperative to the time that comes out victorious. FAU proved they could do most anything last week. Let’s see if the Owls can have that perfect game this weekend in Paradise.

Facebook Comments Box