Florida Atlantic falls to UConn in offensive thriller

Florida Atlantic’s bowl hopes were dashed at home on Saturday after falling to UConn in a 48-45 offensive thriller.

After falling behind 24-3, the Owls clawed back and found themselves leading 45-41 with 2:11 left in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Caden Veltkamp carried the ball himself and charged 11 yards for his second rushing touchdown of the game. He finished with 494 passing yards, two touchdowns both passing and rushing, and one interception.

The Huskies responded to being behind for the second time all game by marching down the field and capping their final drive of the game with a touchdown run by Cam Edwards. The running back finished the game with 101 yards and two scores.

The Owls had a chance to tie the game with 22 seconds remaining, but missed the field goal.

It was a prolific day for the Florida Atlantic passing offense, which leads the nation in yards per game through the air. Three different FAU receivers crossed the 100-yard mark. Dominique Henry led the pack with 157 yards including a 90-yard touchdown catch to give the Owls their first lead of the game, up 31-27 with 6:48 remaining in the third quarter.

Easton Messer caught 11 passes for 119 yards including a 33-yard touchdown to keep the Owls within a field goal of UConn with 7:13 remaining in the fourth quarter. He also scored a 39-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter. Messer is sitting at 966 yards on the season, a career high.

Asaad Waseem rounds out the group with 109 yards. Kaden Shields-Dutton led the Owls’ rushing attack with 77 yards and a touchdown.

The Huskies were led by quarterback Joe Fagnano, who completed 33-of-46 passes for 446 yards and three touchdowns. Fagnano who entered the game fourth in the country in yards passing, finished the regular season with 3,448 yards, while leading UConn to a 9-3 record.

Florida Atlantic (4-7) hasn’t had a winning season or a bowl appearance since 2020. Even though the addition of Veltkamp and Messer (who transferred together from Western Kentucky) didn’t result in an improvement in the win-loss column, they did accomplish a lot this year. Veltkamp has the school’s single-game and single-season record for pass completions and is the fourth Owls QB to pass for over 3,000 yards in a season. Messer became the only Owls’ non-quarterback to have a receiving, rushing, and passing touchdown in the same season.

The Owls close out the 2025 season at home against East Carolina.