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  • FAU Owls Hold Off The UAB Blazers For Back-To-Back American Conference Victories

FAU Owls Hold Off The UAB Blazers For Back-To-Back American Conference Victories

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Football

The Florida Atlantic football team earned its second straight victory, defeating UAB by a score of 53-33 on Saturday evening at Flagler Credit Union Stadium.

For the second time this season, the Owls (3-3, 2-1) dropped 50 points at home as Hagerty Family Head Football Coach Zach Kittley's Air Raid offense was on full display with seven touchdowns on its first nine possessions. Florida Atlantic struck first and did not look back, building a 28-point lead over the Blazers (2-4, 0-3) in the first half.

It was an evening of celebrations, with Family Weekend, the football program's 25th season, and the 2025 Athletics Hall of Fame class all being recognized.

FIRST HALF
For the third straight game, Florida Atlantic's opening drive culminated in a touchdown. This time it was sophomore RB Kaden Shields-Dutton who muscled his way into the end zone from 13 yards out. The second offensive drive ended the same way with Shields-Dutton scoring a two-yard touchdown to build a 14-0 lead.

The Owls had one more trick up their sleeve right before the end of the first quarter, with a toss to redshirt junior WR Easton Messer in the backfield leading to a throw to wide-open redshirt junior WR Jayshon Platt for a 48-yard score and a 21-0 advantage. 

FAU's lead grew in the second quarter with redshirt junior QB Caden Veltkamp hitting a wide-open redshirt sophomore WR Jabari Smith Jr. on a 37-yard touchdown. UAB responded with two scores of their own to bridge the gap.

With two minutes remaining and facing a 4th-and-six, the always-aggressive Owls lined up to go for it and were rewarded with a 43-yard touchdown catch from Veltcamp to redshirt junior WR Dominique Henry to send the Owls into the locker room up 35-14.

SECOND HALF
A 50-yard return from Platt on the opening kickoff set Shields-Dutton up for the hat trick in touchdowns with a one-yard punch.

On the ensuing offensive possession, Veltkamp found redshirt sophomore WR Asaad Waseem for a 29-yard touchdown. Waseem then caught the two-point conversion attempt to put 50 points on the board.

Redshirt senior kicker Garrison Smith knocked in a 28-yard field goal with under two minutes remaining to complete the Owl scoring.

OFFENSE

  • 53 points by FAU is the most scored in a conference home game since Oct. 2, 2021.
  • Shields-Dutton is the first Owl of the season to record multiple rushing touchdowns in a game.
  • Waseem finished with 105 yards, the first of his career, on seven receptions. Four different Florida Atlantic receivers have reached the 100+ mark in the last three games.
  • Platt's career-high 203 all-purpose yards were assisted by his 74 receiving and 10 rushing.

DEFENSE

  • As a team, the Owls recorded eight tackles for loss. They have had at least five each game this season.
  • Redshirt junior DL CJ Doggette had two sacks, the first Owl to do so since Evan Anderson on Oct. 27, 2023. He finished with 2.5 TFLs.
  • Leading in tackles was redshirt junior LB Tyler Stolsky with 11, a new FAU best.

SPECIAL TEAMS

  • Platt's 50-yard kick return was the longest by a Florida Atlantic player since 2018. He finished with 119 return yards.

UP NEXT
The Owls will begin a two-game road stand in-state, traveling to Tampa to face No. 24 South Florida (5-1, 2-0) on Saturday, Oct. 18. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU.