From the Couch Sports

UCONN 48 FAU 45

Boca Raton, FL

The FAU Owls (4-6) hosted the UConn Huskies (8-3) on November 22 in what turned out to be one of the highest scoring offensive shootouts of the 2025 season.

I live in South Florida, not far from FAU Stadium so I decided to attend the game in person. I felt like it would be a fun game to go to and had a feeling these offenses could light up the scoreboard because UConn QB Joe Fagnano and FAU QB Caden Veltkamp came into the game ranked in the Top 10 in passing yards. On a beautiful afternoon in sunny South Florida, the two high-flying offenses stole the show.

UConn received the opening kickoff. Their fist offensive play was a quick pass from Fagnano to Skyler Bell, one of the nation’s leading receivers, that went for 40 yards. An exciting start for the Huskies opening drive that ended in a field goal. The Owls responded with a field goal to tie the game 3-3.

For the rest of the 1st quarter, UConn went on a rampage. They opened their next drive with another quick pass to Skyler Bell, and ended it with an impressive touchdown catch by John Neider. He high-pointed the Fagnano pass in the back corner of the end-zone for a 24-yard score. After the UConn score, FAU was stopped on a 4th down run and the Huskies scored quickly with another touchdown. Huskies receiver Shamar Porter caught a short pass, broke a tackle and turned on the jets for a 56-yard touchdown. On the next drive, FAU QB Caden Veltkamp scrambled around and forced a pass into the middle of the defense, UConn intercepted the pass and then scored a few plays later with another Fagnano touchdown pass to put UConn ahead 24-3.

At this point UConn had dominated, Fagnano and the Huskies had put on an offensive clinic, the game seemed to be headed for a blow-out. In the north end-zone, upper section every seat was empty but that didn’t stop a few guys from gathering in the empty section. It was time for the shirtless committee to make an appearance in South Florida. This gesture has become a sort of a rallying cry for stadiums enduring a disappointing showing in front of their home fans. The small group of gentlemen all removed their shirts and twirled them above their heads. There were maybe six of them at first but soon it would grow and grow. Students, kids, fathers, and even some grandfathers joined the rowdy bunch of shirtless fanatics.

It worked like a “rally cap.”

The Owls controlled the 2nd quarter both offensively and defensively. They contained the UConn offense, which had scored 24 points in the 1st quarter. FAU added two rushing touchdowns in the quarter, one from WR Easton Messer and one spectacular scramble from Veltkamp. He dropped back to pass, avoided the rush, scrambled to his left and tip-toed down the sideline. He launched himself over the pylon and front-flipped over a defender to put on exclamation point on an incredible display of athleticism. UConn added a late field goal and had seen their 21-point lead dwindle down to just 10 at the half.

As the sun set in Boca, the temperature dropped a few degrees and the lights got brighter. The stadium was more than half empty and I could pretty much sit anywhere I wanted. I settled in the north end-zone, directly behind the goalpost, close enough to the field I could smell the grass.

When play resumed, FAU picked up right where they left off in the 2nd quarter, scoring quickly on their first drive to cut the UConn lead to 3. The Huskies couldn’t answer back and brought the punt team on after just 5 offensive plays. Connor Stutz destroyed the ball with a punt that would make Pat McAfee proud. It soared through the air, landed around the 20 and rolled to a halt at the FAU 1-yard line. The Owls gained enough yards to get some space for a punt but not enough to extend the drive. So we thought. On 4th & 1 from their own 10, the offense stayed on the field. Veltkamp caught the shotgun snap and quickly fired a slant in between two UConn defenders. Dominique Henry caught the pass and turned on the jets, untouched for a 90-yard pass. Absolutely mind boggling to go for it in that situation, but it worked. From a 21-point deficit early in the game, that bold move gave the Owls their first lead of the game. Very rarely do you see a 99-yard touchdown drive happen in so few plays. It was exciting to see it live and in person.

The Owl lead only lasted 4:39. Fagnano orchestrated a 9 play, 75-yard that ended with a Cam Edwards TD run. These teams now matching each other blow-for-blow. FAU stormed back, moving the ball down the field with ease. Veltkamp was dialed in, delivering quick passes while the FAU run game started to wear down the opposing defense. Right when it seemed the Owls would answer back again, they fumbled at the UConn 29. Veltkamp and Owls RB Kaden Shields-Dutton coughed it up on with an awkward mesh exchange. The Huskies jumped on the ball and took advantage of the turnover driving the ball down the field with Fagnano connecting on some great throws to set up shop in Owl territory. With the ball at the 44-yard line he caught a high snap from the pistol formation and handed it off to RB Mel Brown. Brown started left, and spun out of a tackle into space, he juked a man and got into the second level, juked another man and bounced outside toward the sideline. Just yards from the end-zone, he made another man miss and crossed the goal-line for the score. The Huskies took a 10-point lead with just 10 minutes remaining.

At this point I was thinking that score would surely put the game away. The thousand or so Huskie fans in the same section as me probably thought so as well. But the theme of the day was “not so fast, my friend” and FAU was not done scoring.

Veltcamp and the Owls dinked and dunked down the field but were stopped on a 3rd and 10 at the UConn 33-yard line. On 4th & 10 Veltkamp stood strong and delivered a perfect pass down the seam over a linebacker to Easton Messer who was waiting in the middle of a few defenders, he caught the pass in the end-zone for a huge score that quickly put FAU back in the game.

UConn’s next drive was halted when Fagnano nearly connected with Skyler Brown on a go-route. They were forced to punt. UConn couldn’t put the game away and the Owls would take advantage. Veltkamp picked apart the secondary again. Once they were in enemy territory they ran the ball down the middle of the defense over and over again, melting time off the clock. Veltkamp was surgical on the few passes they did throw on the drive but his legs again made the difference. At the the UConn 11, he pulled the ball on an option run, broke a tackle and scampered in the end zone for the go-ahead score. FAU had a 45-41 lead with 2:11 to go.

It pays to have an experienced quarterback. Fagnano has been playing college football for a long time and the pressure of executing a two-minute drive didn’t seem to phase him. He delivered a quick passes as the Huskies marched into enemy territory, but the defense stepped up and forced an few errant throws. At this point, the small but noticeable FAU crowd started making noise. On 3rd & 10 the Huskies knew what they needed, a managabke 4th down. They ran the ball and almost got the yards needed. 4th & 1, down by 4, this was it. Hand-off to Cam Edwards, he plunged through the line and pushed his was forward a few more yards for a huge first down. Fagnano was nearly intercepted on a 2nd down throw, but the pass couldn’t be reeled in by FAU DB Chris Tooley III. Another 3rd down for UConn. Fagnano delivered a quick pass Reymello Murphy for the conversion. Unreal, this offense just kept moving. Cam Edwards got a few more carries and UConn would be set up at the 1-yard line. At this point, the action was happening just yards from where I was seated. I could see everything so clearly. Fagnano was under center in a goal-line formation with an offet running back just behind him and to his right. He took the snap, quick pitch to Edwards. He powered through the line for another touchdown. The UConn fans were losing their minds, they had just witnessed a game-winning touchdown with 26 seconds left.

“Not so fast, my friend”

On the kickoff FAU return man Jayshon Platt took the kickoff from deep in his own end-zone and tried to break a return. He only made it to the FAU 11, but was pulled down by his facemask. The ball was moved forward to the FAU 26, but four precious seconds ticked away on that return. With just one timeout left, Veltkamp took the first snap and threw a strike to Platt, he juked his way past midfield. Platt made up for that costly mistake. The next play was another perfect pass to Messer, who took the ball down to the UConn 18 yard line.

It took just two plays and FAU had done the unthinkable. They moved the ball 56 yards to set up a game-tying field goal. On came FAU senior kicker Garrison Smith, connect from 36-yards and this shootout would be headed to overtime. On the Owls first drive he tied a career-high when he nailed a 49-yarder. He came into the game with an 85% field goal percentage and had just two misses this year.

The snap was good, the hold was good, the kick….WIDE LEFT!!! By a mile too, I mean this kick was not even close. The UConn end went nuts, my jaw was on the floor. I could not believe he missed it that badly. This game deserved overtime, I could’ve watched these two teams go at it for another hour. To miss a game-tying field goal so badly and end the game in that way felt like a crime but you know what they say. College kickers.

The implications of that missed field goal had a big impact on both programs. UConn secured their first back-to-back 9-win season in school history, if they win their bowl game they will have the school’s first 10-win season. FAU dropped their 7th game of the year and will not make a bowl game.

STATS AND TAKEAWAYS

The price of admission was cheap and the game exceeded my expectations. It was a record-breaking day. For the first time in school history the FAU Owls had three receivers break the 100-yard mark (Dominique Henry, Easton Messer, and Asaad Waseem.) FAU’s 687 total offensive yards gained was the 3rd highest total in school history. QB Caden Veltkamp set the school-record with 42 completions and 494 yards passing, Veltkamp also added 23 yards rushing, totaling 517 yards, another program record. He became the 1st Owl QB since 2018 to throw for over 400-yards. On the other side of the ball, UConn QB Joe Fagnano threw for a new career-high 446 yards, which is 2nd in UConn history for single game passing yards. And for just the second time in the FBS this season there were two 400-yard passers in the same game.

Both teams combined for 1,287 yards, the highest combined total since 2016.

FAU Stadium opened in 2011, and has a nice mini-horseshoe shape. The stadium is small enough so there aren’t any bad seats. It captures the essence of South Florida with palm trees everywhere and areas in the south end-zone where you can stand by a small fence right near the field. There were some options for different concessions but it seemed like due to lack of high attendance some booths were closed.

The announced attendance was 16,306 but it really felt like there were no more than 10,000 people in the stands.

UConn fans traveled well with tons of friends, family, and Connecticut natives in attendance.

Both quarterbacks played really well. Their NFL potential really stood out to me. Veltkamp has one more year of eligibility and with his size and arm talent he could get drafted whether he stays in college for another year or enters the 2026 NFL Draft. Fagnano has had one helluva run in college football, starting his career in 2019 with Maine. His last two seasons with UConn have been impressive, he’s posted 48 TD and only 5 INT. He has ideal size to be an NFL QB and I’d expect him to be a late-round pick or get signed as an UDFA for the 2026 NFL season.

Jim Mora has done a great job with the Huskies and there really seems to be some potential for that program. There’s some great talent on that roster with NFL potential. I wouldn’t be surprised if Joe Fagnano, Skyler Bell, Cam Edwards, and linebacker Byrun Parham all get NFL looks.

Photos:

All photos taken on 35mm film by Billy Tenny.

Photos developed at Dale Laboratories in Hollywood, FL.