2025 Season Preview #1: FAU
FAU the University by the Numbers:
- Location: Boca Raton, FL
- Distance from UConn: 1,376 miles
- Stadium: FAU Stadium
- Field Type: Grass
- Capacity: 29,571 (105th capacity nationally)
- Enrollment: 24,569
- 2024 Record: 3-9 (1-7 AAC)
- Last Bowl: 2020 Montgomery Bowl 25-10 Memphis W
- All-Time Bowl Record: 4-1
- 2024 Attendance: 19,500 (98th nationally)
- All-Time Series: UConn 2-0
- Last Meeting: 2024 - 48-14 UConn W
- Returning Starters: 7 (5 off, 2 def)
- Returning Lettermen: 74
2025 Schedule:
- 8/30 at Maryland
- 9/6 Florida A&M
- 9/13 at FIU
- 9/27 Memphis
- 10/4 at Rice
- 10/11 UAB
- 10/18 at USF
- 10/25 at Navy
- 11/8 Tulsa
- 11/15 at Tulane
- 11/22 UConn
- 11/29 ECU
Last Time Here: 1st meeting at FAU
Last Meeting: 2024:
Surely UConn fans remember this game from last year. UConn ran the dang ball 66 times for an FBS school record 421 yards, led by Durell Robinson and Mel Brown’s 156 yards apiece. QB Nick Evers got the start after missing part of the Maryland opener and the Merrimack game to injury, and ran for 78 yards of his own. Team leading rusher Cam Edwards was largely left out of the fun, rushing just seven times for 30 yards. Evers didn’t need to do much, throwing just 14 times, completing nine passes for 88 yards and a TD. 43 of those yards came on one completion to Skyler Bell. Joe Fagnano came in to close things out, and his one pass was a 33 yard highlight reel TD catch by Shamar Porter. UConn dominated time of possession 41:57-18:03, and the fans were happy, but unfortunately, didn’t shed much light on the QB competition, as Fagnano was coming off a 300+ yard performance against Merrimack, and Evers still hadn’t shown much up to this point.
Defensively, the Huskies were glad to be facing another QB who faced challenges throwing the ball, but could run, in Cam Fancher. UConn had seen Fancher once before, in the 2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl when he was a freshman starter for the Marshall Thunderin’ Herd. Fancher completed nine passes out 15 for 87 yards and an interception. There were opportunities for Fancher, especially early on, but he missed his open receivers. He did lead the Owls in rushing, however, running eight times for 71 yards. The Owls did rush for 163 yards, buoyed by CJ Campbell’s 38 yard TD scamper, when the score was already 41-7.
2024 FAU the football team by the Numbers:
- Offensive yards per game: 397.6
- Passing yards per game: 208.6
- Rushing yards per game: 189.0
- Points per game: 25.9
- 3rd Down Efficiency: 34.81%
- 4th Down Efficiency: 47.06%
- Interceptions-Yards-TD: 11-256-1
- Fumbles: Number-Lost: 12-7
- Red Zone Success: 71.43%
- Defensive Yards Allowed per Game: 416.7
- Passing Yards Allowed per Game: 233.2
- Rushing Yards Allowed per Game: 183.5
- Points Allowed per Game: 30.3
- 3rd Down Efficiency: 37.04%
- 4th Down Efficiency: 65.22%
- Red Zone Success Allowed: 79.55%
PFF Predictions:
- Wins: 6.5
- Chance to Make Bowl: 66%
- SoS: 110th
- Chance to Win AAC: 6%
- Chance to Make CFP: <1%
2025 FAU:
It’s a new era in Boca Raton, as former Texas Tech OC Zach Kittley takes over for Tom Herman. Kittley was previously an OC at Western Kentucky and Houston Christian, and is the youngest FBS HC at just 33 years old. However, at all of his stops, the offense exploded, averaging 457 ypg and 34.8 ppg. In Lubbock, his Red Raiders offense put up 459.8 ypg and 38.6 ppg last season, both leading the Big 12. The Owls need a jolt of energy on offense, and the QB that Kittley recruited to Western Kentucky, Cade Veltkamp, should help with that.
Fancher was coming on a bit midseason, throwing for 351 yards against North Texas, followed by a 306 yard performance against USF, but then was lost for the season to injury the next game. Colorado transfer Kasen Weisman started the next two, throwing for 416 yards, two TDs and three INTs, completing 53.4% of his passes before suffering his own season-ending injury. Tyriq Starks finished the year, including sparking the offense to put up 63 in the finale at Tulsa. Exit Fancher to UCF, and Starks to Jackson State. Weisman entered the portal, but ultimately chose to return.
Enter Veltkamp. The 2024 CUSA OPoY, he threw for 3,108 yards, completing 66.3% of his passes while throwing for 25 TDs and ten INTs. He started just one season for the ‘Toppers, but he made a huge impact, leading them to the CUSA championship game where they would fall to Jacksonville State, and a berth in the Boca Raton Bowl. He should have the inside track to be QB1 and should be an immediate upgrade.
Veltkamp was not the only QB brought in. The Owls also added Zach Gibson, who Husky fans may recall from the Georgia State game last season. Gibson threw for 1,004 yards in split duty with Christian Veilleux, throwing for 257 yards on 28-40 passing in East Hartford, a 34-27 loss to UConn. Previously a starter for Georgia Tech and Akron, he provides veteran leadership and a solid backup option to Veltkamp.
But who will Veltkamp have to throw to? Well he brought his WKU teammate with him, Easton Messer, who played in all 14 games last year, catching 55 passes for 793 yards. The Owls added more receivers through the portal in Colorado’s Asaad Waseem, who did not register any receiving in two years in Boulder, BYU’s Dominique Henry (six catches for 80 yards), and UVA’s JR Wilson (eight catches for 121 yards). Jayshon Platt returns after catching four passes for 38 yards. They also add former four star and TCU commit Quincy Brown, after stops in Fort Worth with TCU, Nicholls, and Texas State. Standing at 6’4”, he provides a big target for Veltkamp, which is needed, since Messer is 5’9” and Waseem and Henry are under 6 feet.
At TE, they add DII transfer Mike Kirch, who caught 37 passes for 372 yards last season, as well as Reid Mikeska from South Carolina, but who did not see any time for the Gamecocks. It’s an unproven bunch, but they’ll hope Kirch makes the leap from DII, as he has good size at 6’5” 235.
On the ground, the top three rushers from last season are all gone; CJ Campbell (165-844-11), Zuberi Mobley (92-487-4), and Fancher (99-365-3). Xavier Terrell and Gemari Sands, two returnees, are the most likely to get the carries. Terrell rushed for 261 yards on just 14 carries, while Sands had 117 yards on 31 carries. Terrell was sought after in HS as a three star recruit, choosing the Owls over offers from Florida State, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Maryland, and Pitt. Sands had a similar recruitment, splitting carries with his teammate, Terrell, at St Thomas Aquinas. Also a three star recruit, he chose FAU over Colorado, Florida, Georgia Tech, and Pitt. There’s talent in the backfield, and with the improvement at QB, they should do well if teams are focusing on the passing attack.
On the OL, two starters return in RG Alex Atcavage, and RT Daughtry Richardson. Richardson, a former Florida State Seminole, started six games last season, while Atcavage played in all 12, starting ten. They will rely on transfers to fill in the rest of the line, starting with Indiana transfer Vincent Fiacable at C, who did not play for the Hoosiers last season in their historic run to the CFP. At LG, Madden Sanker, the Louisville transfer looks to start, after being a highly touted HS recruit, but playing in just five games over the past two seasons for the Cardinals. Ja’Kavion Nonar should round out the line at LT after playing in seven games for the Owls last year after transferring in from Maryland.
They added more than that through the portal, also adding Qae’Shon Sapp from SMU, Carson Osmus from Washington State, and Vincent Forney from Bethune-Cookman. The unit should be deeper, albeit with some new pieces, but they’ll need to cut down on the sacks, first and foremost, after allowing 32, including seven against Michigan State, USF, and UTSA. They only didn’t surrender a sack against Army, and unfortunately, the Connecticut football Huskies (come on, even Wagner got one!).
On defense, the Owls return just one starter, but after allowing over 30 ppg, is that such a bad thing? It might be when it’s your first season, like new DC Brett Dewhurst has to work with. On the DL, Wilky Denaud returns after playing in nine games last year as a redshirt freshman. They add a NG through the portal in former Ohio Bobcat CJ Doggette, who started all 13 games last year and made 32 tackles with three sacks, after a 2023 season where he played just one game for Cincinnati. LSU transfer Bryce Langston looks to lock down the other tackle spot after making one start last season for the Tigers, making eight tackles.
They also add Deshaun Batiste from Tulane (12 games, ten tackles), all-name team Tycoolhill Luman from Rutgers, his twin brother Tyclean, NaeJuan Barber from Coastal Carolina (ten games, 22 tackles), and Enyce Sledge from Illinois. Eric Brantley returns after playing in all 12 games last year, totaling 13 tackles, and the Owls add Joe Moore of Missouri (five games, two tackles last year), who previously was at Arizona State.
At LB, the one starter FAU returns is a good one in Wendol Philord. The leading returning tackler, he was 7th on the team in 2024, totaling 42 tackles, a sack, and five TFLs. They lost the other LBs from a year ago, so off to the portal they went, adding Marshall’s Leon Hart (12 games, 13 tackles), Minnesota’s Tyler Stolsky (11 games, 7 tackles), and JUCO Khmari Johnson, who had 83 tackles for Coffeyville a year ago. The experience isn’t there, but Philord is a good one to build around.
In the secondary, FAU adds a teammate of UConn’s Devin Pringle at DII Grand Valley State, Terez Reid, who started all 13 games with 19 tackles and ten PBUs last year. He was 2nd team All-Conference in 2022 and 2023. Purdue’s Derrick Rogers joins after playing in just two games for the Boilermakers in 2024, after playing in all 12 games, making four starts in 2023. Liberty transfer Jayden Sweeny should take over at SS, after making two starts, playing in nine games, making 14 tackles last year. Another JUCO transfer from Coffeyville, LJ Hall, will push for time as well at SS.
UTEP’s Dillon Williams, who started two games for the Miners last year with 34 tackles, looks to lock down the FS position. He’s familiar with the Owls, as he was at conference mate North Texas before El Paso. MJ Hinson, a Texas Southern transfer, will look to challenge Rogers for a corner spot, as will Wake Forest transfer Antonio Robinson. Mississippi State’s Chris Keys will be up against Williams for the FS spot. The whole secondary is a question mark. The Owls are starting from scratch, so who knows what they’ll look like in late November.
On Special Teams, Garrison Smith heads down south from Akron, after playing in all 12 games for the Zips last year, making 13-16 of his FGs with a long of 49, to go along with a perfect 24-24 on XPs. He should be a solid option to replace the reliable Morgan Suarez, now at JMU. At punter, Logan Lupo returns, punting 47 times a year ago, averaging 44.5 yards per punt, a long of 58, and downed 14 inside the 20. In the return game, it’s anybody’s guess who will be returning kicks and punts, as all of the returners are gone from a year ago. I’d look to some of the new receivers like Messer, and RB Terrell to handle those duties.
Prediction:
I would certainly not have anticipated last year’s game going the way it did. In fact, on my appearance with Bob Joyce on the 97.9 pregame, I had predicted a 3-7 point UConn win. That’s three to seven, not thirty-four. It was a microcosm of the Owls’ season, with the wheels just falling off late. This is the first time for UConn heading to Boca, and if their season goes the way they hope, they will be looking for the 8th or 9th win of the season. To the most optimisitc, they’ll be looking for that ever-elusive 10th win, something they’ve never done at the FBS level, and just once at the FCS level, during the 1998 playoff season, where they went 10-3. It’s hard to win on the road, even against not-so-great AAC teams. I think UConn’s run game will be too strong again, but I expect FAU to put much more of a fight on offense this time around.
UConn 34 FAU 30