It was Senior Day in Paradise as FAU hoped to send 19 Owls off in the best way possible: a win. However, East Carolina (8-4, 6-2 American) looked for a bounce back win and the Pirates did just that with an explosive first half securing a 42-3 victory closing out the 2025 regular season.
Coach Kittley’s Comments
Opening Statement on Seniors
“I love those guys. I told them all week, I told them after the game they set the foundation here for what we’re trying to build. And again, you know, a couple of those guys were in the transfer portal when I first got hired and decided to get out and stick around here to be a part of what we’re building here. And I’m forever indebted to those guys. I’m so grateful for them. And those guys are our kind of guys, and it’s gonna be tough to replace some of those guys, but I love them. You know, those two offensive linemen that I get to spend a ton of time with over on the right side, and I’m really going to miss those two guys. Unfortunately, Wendol got banged up early in this game, so he didn’t get to finish. Bryce Langston, and I can keep going on and on and on. You know about these guys, but really love those guys again. Super disappointed that we didn’t go out the right way for them. But love those guys, and can’t thank them enough for helping set the foundation here.”
On Wanting to Improve Before Next Season
“Everything starts with self Scout, with me, first and foremost, me doing a deep dive into myself, seeing what I’m doing right, what I’m doing wrong. So at the end of the day, it starts and ends with me. So I’ve got to make sure I’m on my game, I got to be a lot better, for sure. And then just trying to figure out this roster. I feel really, really good at where we’re at. Roster wise, we got a lot of guys signed up to come back, which is huge. I believe. You know, at this level, retention is one of the biggest things you can have here. And we’ve got a lot of starters or key contributors planning on coming back, and we feel great about getting those guys back. And then we do know some areas that we got to go attacking and looking forward to seeing how that plays out here over the next month.”
Game Recap
First Half
East Carolina seemed unstoppable as the Pirates opened the game with a 14-0 advantage before five-minutes ran off the clock. The ECU defense held the Owls once more and the Pirates took a 21-0 advantage with 7:04 left in the first.
The Florida Atlantic offense was still unable to move the ball downfield as the Owls and Pirates traded possession, but on the East Carolina punt Easton Messer nearly broke a return for a touchdown but was pushed out at the ten.
FAU then settled for Garrison Smith’s three as the ECU defense held the Owls to just three points and 10 yards of total offense in the first.
In the second quarter the game was still all East Carolina. The Pirates had three rushing touchdowns with Katin Houser scoring two of those and DL Dion Roseborough rumbling in for his own big man touchdown as he filled in the running back spot making up the 42-3 lead at the half.
Halftime Stats
Halftime Stats#Pirates 42 #FAU 3#ECU out gaining the Owls 432-156.
— FAU Owls Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) November 29, 2025
FAU averaging 14.2 yards per completion. https://t.co/6QekpCgPDm pic.twitter.com/gxn80IXAOo
Second Half
The remainder of the contest saw the Owls defense take care of the Pirates as Florida Atlantic allowed only 92 yards in the second half, but the FAU offense was unable to find the endzone as Grad Zach Gibson came in at quarterback. In the Owls two red zone attempts Gibson had a fumble and an interception as the offense was unable to add to the scoring.
Standouts & Stats
This was the first game all season in which Florida Atlantic did not score a touchdown. Three points is the lowest number of points scored for FAU since the Owls’ 2020 loss to Georgia Southern.
Messer finishes the season with 104 catches for 1,052 yards. That makes him only the second Owl to finish with over 100 receptions and third all-time in receiving yards.
Defensively, the duo of Tyler Stolsky and Leon Hart Jr. are the first Owls to both finish with 90 tackles in a season since Rashad Smith and Akileis Leroy in 2019.
Offense
Caden Veltkamp finished 19 of 31 with two interceptions while Zach Gibson was 12 of 20 and had an interception thrown. The two had 299 yards passing. In all 12 games FAU had at least 275 yards passing this season, a program first.
Messer was the leading receiver as he had eight grabs for 86 yards. Only three Owls had at least 40 yards receiving.
As nearly always this season, the Owls’ running game was uninspiring. FAU averaged 1.8 yards per carry as Gemari Sands led the way with nine attempts for 34 yards.
Defense
Leading the way in tackles was LB Tyler Stolsky as he finished with 12 total and six solo, leading the way one last time this season.
Senior Bryce Langston finished with 1.5 tackles for loss as the unit finished with four.
The lone Owls sack came from Josh Roberts as he ended his freshman season with three sacks, 12 tackles, and four TFLs.
Closing Remarks
With the clock hitting zero Florida Atlantic’s (4-8, 3-5 American) attention turns to the offseason. Zach Kittley will hope to keep his core group, but with the transfer portal it is only a matter of time before certain Owls leave Paradise. Thankfully for all of Owl nation, Kittley shared that Caden Veltkamp will return next season.
For now, Florida Atlantic looks to get better and show signs of improvement from Fall to Spring, then from the upcoming Spring to next football season.