With only two games to go and needing to win them both for bowl eligibility, it’s now do or die time for Florida Atlantic football.
Fortunately, both contests will take place on Howard Schnellenberger Field at Flagler Credit Union Stadium.
The first opponent due up will be a familiar Jim Mora led Connecticut squad who embarrassed the Owls 48-14 last season in East Hartford and also knocked off two other American opponents in that of Temple and UAB.
Fast forward to 2025, and FAU will conclude another trio of American games, with the Huskies having taken down UAB again 38-19, but also losing to Rice 37-34.
The team has made what could be labeled as significant strides on both sides of the ball during the course of the last few weeks in conference play but have not been able to shed inconsistency at time, and more importantly, the turnover bug rearing its ugly head.
Coach Kittley was back on the rounds of his weekly media session on Tuesday, ever positive, and steadfast in his approach while offering an early take on UConn.
Below is a compilation of select excerpts from the session.
On the Elevated Play of the Transfers Coming In
“Clearly, we do have a ton of transfers that are having career years, but there are also some guys that have been, they were here last year as well, that are having career years; which is awesome as well.
“My whole deal is I’m a big believer that opportunities are out there for everybody. And the right opportunity has to come for you – at the same time – you have to take that opportunity and run with it… a lot of these guys on defense, felt like maybe they come here and they have an opportunity to play more and showcase their talents more, and we’re able to do that.”
On the Wide Receiver Transfers Easton Messer and Asaad Waseem
“Easton Messer knew exactly what he was getting with me. I recruited him in to Western Kentucky out of high school, and so he knew what this offense was going to be and Asaad Waseem too. I’m pretty sure he had no career catches coming home, and now he’s having a great year. So there’s a lot of that to it…our job is to find people to fit what we’re trying to do and put them in really good situations to be successful.”
Believe in the Leader
“I think it starts with me, and that’s why I have [a sign] on my wall, because I like to remind myself that every morning, when I walk in my office, that it starts with me… positive energy is contagious. Leading in the right way is good. And so I like I tell my staff that.
“I’ve got to create an environment that people want to be in, that people think they can thrive in, that they can have success in. And it’s worth coming to work for a step for my staff members, like they want to come to work every day. From the football standpoint, my job is to show these guys how much I care about them and how much I love them, and to show them that it’s more than just the X’s and O’s it’s also off the field.
The Open Door Head Coach
“I’m an open door head coach. Open Door Policy. Come see me all the time. I want to talk to you guys. I want to get to know you. Let’s develop a relationship, because if they know I care about them, they’re going to play harder, because they care about me in the same fashion.”
On Caden Veltkamp’s Pursuit of Passing Records
“Everybody knows in in any offense, no matter if you’re at the Little League level, junior high, high school, doesn’t matter. Everything starts with the quarterback, because football is a quarterback.
“But with that being said, you have to be surrounded by the right people. I mean, he’s sitting back there throwing for 300 plus yards a game because he has time to throw the football, right? So you got to look at that. You look at the running backs in pass protection. You look at them getting out and getting the check downs for 10 yards, the tight ends doing their part in pass protection, but also check catching a few balls as well.”
Wide Receivers Part in the Success
“The love goes to those wide receivers, because they’re the ones having the explosive year, and all the stats going through the record books here, and they’ve done fantastic… That’s his ball to deliver it to him, but they’ve just been fantastic on getting open, understanding what we’re trying to do.”
The Need to Create Turnovers Against UConn
“They are seventh in the country and turnover margin, and we’re dead last. And I think that’s been the story of our season, and that’s the most frustrating part for me, because I think we’re, you know, we’re easily seven and three, six and 14 minimum right now, and unfortunately, we’re not. And that, to me, comes down to the turnover margin for us. And so we’re putting as much emphasis as we can on it. I told this morning, we talked about how we’re going to win.”
On UConn’s Ability to Minimize Turnovers
“They’re going to do everything in their power not to give it back because of their style of play and how their quarterback plays. He doesn’t force the ball downfield at all. He is definitely more of a, you know, one read to check it down, kind of guy to his explosive playmakers and let them go. They have put the ball on the ground, as far as fumbles a little bit. But man, they’re just fantastic as far as protecting the football.”
On the Huskies’ Defensive Scheme and Ability
“They cause a ton of chaos defensively. This is going to be a week where you’re going to watch them and just be like ‘where are these guys at, where are they going’? Because they like to create a ton of chaos on defense. And it’s been really good for them at times. They played rice, and it was a struggle for them, doing some of that stuff so but they’ve got 35 sacks on the quarterback already.”
On UConn Coach Jim Mora and the Coaching Connections
“Their defensive coordinator Matt Brock is actually a good friend of mine. He worked directly with Coach Dewhurst at Mississippi State. We worked together at Texas Tech the first time in 2015 altogether. And then, you know, everybody kind of bounced off, but he was Brett Dewhurst was his safeties coach at Mississippi State. There’s some familiarity. There is some continuity.”
Player Corner
The Owls will look to keep the passing game going on Saturday and exploit the zone scheme traditionally employed by the Huskies. Wide receiver Dom henry had this to offer on who has impressed him the most in the room this year – a player who has recently seen a bit more time and will like continue to do so for the last two contests:
We'll hear from Coach @ZKittley a little later, but for now here is #FAU WR @Dom1Henry throwing some love to one of the young guys in his the room during today's presser 😎 pic.twitter.com/0czt1FAONs
— FAU Owls Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) November 18, 2025
The Owls will kick off against the Huskies at 3:00 PM on Saturday afternoon. The game will appear on ESPN+ and you can follow along with us live in social media.