Florida Atlantic trounces Tulsa in homecoming win
The Florida Atlantic Owls kicked off the most crucial month of the college football season with a resounding homecoming win over the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes on Saturday at Flagler Credit Union Stadium.
Big plays propelled the Owls to a 40-21 victory. After taking the initial 3-0 lead off a 35-yard field goal by Garrison Smith, FAU quarterback Caden Veltkamp hurled a 47-yard touchdown pass to Jayshon Platt to close out the first quarter with a 10-0 lead.
Tulsa responded with two field goals from Seth Morgan early in the second quarter. The Owls responded with a 44-yard touchdown pass to Easton Messer to remain ahead 17-6 with 5:21 remaining in the half.
The turning point of the game came in the final minute of the half. Tulsa was on the one-yard line looking to close the game with FAU. Ajay Allen fumbled the ball and Damarius McGee scooped it up and ran the length of the field for a score.
It was Florida Atlantic’s first defensive turnover all season.
“Like a whole entire weight was lifted off my back,” FAU head coach Zach Kittley said. “We’ve been looking for that interception, looking for any turnover for a long time.”
After an interception by Terez Reid, Veltkamp found Messer again for another touchdown to go into halftime with a 31-6 lead.
Tulsa showed some competitive fight in the second half. The Golden Hurricanes found the end zone twice on short runs from Allen and quarterback Baylor Hayes in the third quarter but trailed FAU 34-18 entering the fourth quarter.
After Morgan’s third field goal made it a two-score game, it was another quarterback’s turn to find Messer in the end zone. The junior receiver caught a nine-yard pass from Zach Gibson for his third touchdown of the game.
It was the first multi-score game of Messer’s career.
“A lot of this year has been me doing what I can to help the team win,” Messer said. “Today just happened to be my day.”
Looking ahead
Florida Atlantic entered November with the advantage of playing three of its final four games at home. The Owls (4-5, 3-3) won two of their first three games and the trend continued on Saturday, as they are now 3-1 at the nest.
The Owls need to win two more games to qualify for a bowl game, but their next three opponents have a combined record of 18-8, two of which are among the top teams in the American Athletic Conference.
“It’s always hard to win, especially with this conference,” FAU offensive lineman Alex Atcavage said. “Every week is different with the American. So when you get a win, you’re just really really appreciative and you’re happy. You celebrate it for 24 hours.”
FAU travels to Tulane next week for its final road game of the season.

Looking ahead






