Football: FAU secures Homecoming game victory over Tulsa, 40-21
Florida Atlantic football (4-5, 3-3 AC) snapped its two-game losing streak with a 19-point victory against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (2-7, 0-6 AC) in FAU’s Homecoming game on Saturday.
From the start of last night’s win, FAU made it clear they weren’t leaving anything to chance.
Quarterback Caden Veltkamp threw a 47-yard touchdown to Jayshon Platt in the first quarter, starting the game off with a 6-0 lead. In the second quarter, he later threw two touchdown passes to wide receiver Easton Messer, putting the score to 17-6.
With bowl-game contention still in the picture, FAU was happy to capitalize on this big win.. Head Coach Zach Kittley highlighted the Owls’ many successes during last night’s post-game press conference: “We were able to create some turnovers on defense, which is something we have been lacking; we were able to play really well on defense with 99 plays.”
During the game, Veltkamp suffered a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter after a big hit and was replaced by backup QB Zack Gibson.
Messer caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Gibson in the fourth quarter and finished strong with six catches for 83 yards. Tulsa made a slight push back in the fourth quarter; Allen rushed 11 yards to advance to the FAU 8-yard line, setting up a 22-yard field goal by Morgan to narrow the score gap. FAU responded with a 27-yard rush by Kayden Shields, who rushed over 100 yards in just 10 carries. Tulsa tried to fight back, but the momentum was already on FAU’s side.
Coming into the game, FAU had yet to get an interception or score a defensive touchdown this season. The Owls managed to do both in the win over the Golden Hurricanes. Just from the start of the game, defensive back Terez Reid started the Owls’ first interception of the season. “Three turnovers for us, we can take the ball away three times a game. We’re gonna be hard to beat,” said Kittley.
FAU took home another win at home and continued Tulsa’s winless conference record with a final score of 40-21. The Owls will fly to Yulman Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana to take on the Tulane Green Wave on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 4 p.m..
Sasha Crabtree is a Contributing Writer for the University Press. Email her at scrabtree2024@fau.edu for more information on this and other stories.
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