Tulane Tops FAU 35-24 as Owls Bowl Eligibility Slips

After a homecoming victory in Boca Raton, FAU headed to NOLA as Tulane hosted a homecoming of their own. In their city edition uniforms, the Tulane Green Wave (8-2, 5-1 American) handled business with a great defensive showing as Florida Atlantic now has their backs against the wall in regards to a bowl game berth.

Coach Kittley’s Comments

Opening Statement

“Yeah, again, just not playing clean enough football. You know, again, I’m extremely proud of coach Dewhurst (DC) and his crew. We spotted ‘em seven points with the muffed punt there, and they gave up four scores. But man, they’re a really good football team, really good quarterback. And bottom line, we gotta put more points on the board than we did, and play that complementary football we’ve been talking about.”

Finding the ‘Next Step’

“We’re gonna keep doing what we’re doing, as far as the drill work and all that stuff. You know, the interceptions are frustrating because they’re not happening during the week. And again, a couple of those you have one tip ball and you have one off the helmet, you know. And then the most frustrating one is the one down here, coming this way the go ball there, that he kind of just lobbed it up, you know, just kind of being too aggressive and not really seeing the defense. But, yeah, you know, again, proud of the defense. We’re getting the one big one. And again, we got to play that complimentary football that we’re talking about and go put that ball in the end zone. So again, I think some of the stuff we’ve been doing defensively the last couple weeks has worked. And, you know, I got to keep working this offense to get that ball to not go to the other team.”

Game Recap

First Quarter

Florida Atlantic opened the game with the ball and moved inside Tulane’s 30-yard line, but a deflected ball in the endzone led to an interception for the Green Wave.

The following Tulane and FAU drives ended in punts, but on TU’s second drive of the day, a muffed punt by Easton Messer led to an easy 14-yard run for the Green Wave’s Jimmy Calloway. 

FAU responded with a solid drive of their own, but an illegal formation penalty took a touchdown off the board for the Owls as K Garrison Smith eked in three points for Florida Atlantic cutting the deficit at 7-3.

Second Quarter

On the first play of the 2nd quarter, a 4th down call led to a Bryce Bohanon touchdown reception as the Green Wave took a 14-3 advantage.

Florida Atlantic answered nicely though as the Owls marched down the field and Caden Veltkamp’s pass to Jayshon Platt  was caught in the middle of the end zone making a 14-10 ballgame.

The Green Wave then put together an eight-play, 75-yard drive as Tulane grabbed an 11 point advantage back thanks to a Bryce Bohanon touchdown as the first half ended in favor of the Green Wave at 21-10.

Halftime Notes

Third Quarter

The Green Wave were stopped two times, opening the second half as a forced punt, and an interception by DE Josh Roberts, but the Owls offense were unable to produce points as TU found the endzone once more late in the third.

Fourth Quarter

Florida Atlantic scored on their first drive of the fourth thanks to Kaden Shield-Dutton’s one-yard rush, but Tulane burned the clock and put their lead back at three-possessions, 35-16. The game ended with FAU scoring a touchdown with less than two minutes to go thanks to Easton Messer, but that was all she wrote as the Owls fell 35-24.

Standouts & Stats

QB Caden Veltkamp finished with 39 completions and 57 passing attempts with two touchdown passes, and three interceptions all adding up to 375 passing yards. The completions and attempts numbers are FAU program records.

WR Easton Messer led FAU in receiving yards with 133 but Asaad Waseem was the team leader in receptions with 11. The running game saw only three rushers with Kaden Shields-Dutton (main photo, FAU Athletics) rushing for 54 yards on 10 attempts and Gemari Sands with 13 attempts for 50 yards.

Gemari Sands runs down the field during the Owls contest against Tulane. Photo, FAU Athletics.

On the defensive side of the ball, Leon Hart led the Owls with 13 tackles, and 1.5 tackles for loss. Doggette Jr. and Batiste were a part of the lone sack on Tulane’s Retzlaff.

Offense

Career & Record Days

With FAU’s reliance on the passing game, it is not surprising that many of the stats reaching or surpassing records are in the air.

Starting off, Caden Veltkamp recorded his fourth 300-yard passing game which is the most for an FAU quarterback since 2019. In the receiving game, Dom Henry had a great day as he set a career high in receptions (six) and yards (78).

Finally, Easton Messer is at 83 catches on the year. That puts the WKU transfer in second place for receptions by a single player in a season in program history. Also, Messer’s 133 receiving yards is a career high.

QB Caden Veltkamp

The lingering injuries of Caden Veltkamp are becoming evident. Coach Kittley mentioned in his postgame that he can tell at times that Veltkamp’s passes are lacking the power he knows the redshirt junior has shown earlier this year. 

The Owls must find a way to work around the problems as even on shorter passes, Veltkamp did not look like his accurate self at times. Kittley also shared that Veltkamp is still Florida Atlantic’s best option even with the injuries so if the quarterback is listed as questionable next week, he should see the field against the Huskies.

Defense

Mobile Quarterback’s: A problem no more?

Florida Atlantic’s defense held Tulane’s leading rusher to only one yard on the evening. Jake Retzlaff looked to play a bigger role with his legs, but instead had his lowest rushing total of the year.

A major reason as to why Retzlaff was not a factor on the ground was thanks to the Owls defensive line. While the group earned only one sack on the day, they kept the quarterback contained and forced him to throw the ball early or on the move. It also helped that Dewhurst drew up possibly his best play calling of the season in covering Retzlaff. That play calling is what led to Josh Roberts’ interception as the DE was dropping back to contain the line of scrimmage instead of rushing the mobile quarterback.

Passing Defense

On the season, FAU is allowing 7.2 yards per pass attempts, but on Saturday the group allowed nearly nine yards per attempt. The problem clearly stems from a differential in development between the Tulane offense Florida Atlantic secondary. The Owls have faced adversity all season, and with the injury bug lurking throughout the roster, it could bite another defender. 

If true, it will need to be a next man up type of mentality. Hopefully, FAU can find those fresher legs that can go toe to toe with top receivers in the country over the next two weekends.

Special Teams

K Garrison Smith went 1-1 on the day while P Logan Lupo’s lone punt amounted to 31 yards.

Closing Remarks

With the loss, Florida Atlantic is now in a make or break spot over the next 14 days. The Owls must win their last two games with UConn and ECU coming to Boca Raton. The two opponents are arguably at the peak of their season in terms of play. 

A banged up Caden Veltkamp, a running game that has little signs of life, and a defense that is clearly worn out, FAU must find a gear they have not used this season. Thankfully, Saturday’s contest against Tulane is over and moving ahead to the final two games of the season happened quickly with Coach Kittley ending his presser saying, “We’ll find a way to go attack UConn.”

Look Ahead

FAU (4-6, 3-4 American) will have their backs against the wall as the UConn Huskies (8-3) come to Paradise. Florida Atlantic has to win their next two games to enter bowl eligibility but the Huskies have been a team on fire winning seven of their last eight contests. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 PM with the game available to stream on ESPN+ on Saturday, November 22nd.

Facebook Comments Box