FAU vs. Memphis 2025 Recap: Owls Fall Apart Late in 55-26 Loss

Football games can be interesting, and the FAU Owls vs. Memphis Tigers matchup in Week 5 of the 2025 season surely fits that bill as we chug along with this recap.

FAU vs. Memphis 2025 Game Recap

Over the course of three quarters, the Florida Atlantic Owls were playing a tough and hard-fought game against the Memphis Tigers. Their defense had made enough plays to keep the game close, while the offense was flowing through quarterback Caden Veltkamp. The momentum was shifting toward the Owls, and it truly looked like FAU had a real shot to win the game.

And then the fourth quarter happened.

Memphis, riding the wave of its offense, bludgeoned the Owls, to put it lightly. The Tigers got whatever they wanted on offense, and made the key stops on defense. They were also being aided by FAU’s discipline falling off a cliff. In what felt like a blink of an eye, FAU ended up losing the game 55-26, dropping to 1-3 on the season.

The Passing Game Carries the FAU Offense

Caden Veltkamp has had his struggles in 2025. However, he has some of the best overall talent in the American Conference at the quarterback position. And on Saturday night against Memphis, the Western Kentucky transfer showed why he deserves the hype he has gotten as a player.

Veltkamp went 31-50 for 318 yards and had zero turnovers. He also took zero sacks on the night, while providing the best rushing ability of any player on the FAU roster.

Veltkamp was consistently decisive, getting through his progressions at a nice rate. He maneuvered the pocket at a high level and understood where pressure was coming from. When faced with a stunt that his offensive line failed to pick up on third down, Veltkamp got the ball out quickly under pressure, though it did not result in a first down. Furthermore, Veltkamp constantly stepped into his throws, connecting under pressure all night.

Most importantly, Veltkamp was accurate throwing down the field. He constantly ripped the ball down the sideline or deep over the middle of the field, showing no fear or hesitation. It was not perfect, as there were still some misfires and miscommunications that hurt the team. However, you have to appreciate how Veltkamp attacked this game as a passer.

After the game, Veltkamp spoke about his comfort level within the offense and what he is focused on improving.

“I went through my progressions, threw the ball to the open guy, and did not force the ball into bad situations. That is part of the reason why we hung around up until the very end. That is something I am going to have to continue to do.”

The quarterback’s play was bolstered by the production of his weapons, too.

Easton Messer and Jayshon Platt were dynamic all night, getting open and making big plays happen all over the field. They made plays after the catch on short routes, showed great speed on intermediate routes, and made their presence known on deep routes. Platt was even used in the run game, where he had a touchdown on a jet sweep. Messer and Platt had their drops and miscues, but FAU would not have been in this game without the production of their top two wideouts. Both players went over 100 yards, and that will likely not be the last time it occurs this season.

Additionally, Asaad Waseem and Michael Kirch made solid plays for the Owls offense. Kirch had multiple catches to move the chains in the red zone, while Waseem showed his trademark YAC ability on his four receptions, gaining 40 yards in the process.

FAU still has some work to do with its passing attack. There are still too many miscommunications and errors, especially on third and fourth down. Not all of the team’s routes are crisp, and Veltkamp is not always on target when throwing to his players.

However, the foundation of a lethal passing attack is firmly in the hands of the Owls, and it can be realized as soon as this season. FAU needs to keep working on the execution and timing of their passing game. As that improves, so will the number of points that are showing up on the scoreboard.

After the game, Zach Kittley said he wants to take the passing attack to “another level.”

“Overall, the offensive production, execution-wise, was probably our best game. But there were a handful of killers, too. It is super-easy stuff that we just have to clean up. Everyone has to do their job, whether it is telling a receiver to motion or getting your eyes back to the quarterback if you are the first read on a progression, so the quarterback does not hit you in the back. It is super small stuff that never happens Sunday through Friday, but for whatever reason, I guess the game is going too fast at times. I am proud of the effort that we have, and we did get better today … today was a step in the right direction, but we have a long way to go.”

Flashes on Defense

The FAU defense did not have a great overall game, but they did show some flashes of success.

Linebackers Leon Hart Jr. and Tyler Stolsky were two of the best players on the field for FAU. Hart had 11 total tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. He showcased nice speed, range, and versatility as a player. Additionally, he also got ejected once things started to spiral for the Owls. From a game standpoint, though, Hart was impressive and crucial for FAU.

Stolsky, while not having the gaudy numbers that Hart had, came through with a critical sack for the defense. He was constantly involved when FAU stopped the run, while providing solid coverage over the middle of the field. The Minnesota transfer has been one of FAU’s best on defense, and that did not change against Memphis.

Defensive ends Deshaun Batiste and Eric Brantley Jr. were solid in the run game, and they also combined for one of the best sacks of the entire night. Wilky Denaud and Gavench Marcelin also flashed as run defenders, stuffing multiple plays that Memphis attempted to run right at them.

In the secondary, Dillion Williams was arguably one of the best tacklers on either side of the field. He recorded seven total tackles while also notching 1.5 tackles for loss. Damarius McGhee also had an impressive pass breakup on a third down early in the third quarter.

Going forward, the key for the defense is making those flashes last the whole game. The Owls have the ability to shut down passing attacks, the run, and put themselves in great spots to make plays. However, it takes a full four quarters to win a football game. Until FAU can put together that full performance, these flashes of success and solid individual performances will not mean much in the realm of wins and losses.

Big Plays, Trench Struggles, and No Run Game Seal Defeat

On offense, Memphis specialized in the art of the run game and the home-run play. The Tigers averaged 6.3 yards per carry, totaled 291 yards, and had five rushing touchdowns. And while Sutton Smith was held in check (seven carries for 26 yards), Brendon Lewis and Greg Desrosiers Jr. were not.

Lewis was powerful as a runner, while also showing nice explosiveness and finesse. Desrosiers was simply a force of nature.

Despite being stopped on a handful of occasions, he rumbled his way to 204 yards and three touchdowns on 19 attempts. The running back, according to Game on Paper, mustered a ridiculous 61-percent success rate, 0.82 EPA per play, and notched a win probability added of 35.0-percent. To put it simply, the Owls could not stop him.

More than just the running game, the Tigers beat the Owls with explosive plays.

Memphis notched a 16-percent explosive play rate with 10 plays in the game, putting them in the 98th percentile. These plays came at the most critical times for the Owls, making them that much more backbreaking. Desrosiers’ 90-yard touchdown run came two plays after pinning Memphis at its own 1-yard line. The first touchdown to Cortez Braham Jr. came on the first play of the fourth quarter, while his second, 73-yard score came right after FAU made the game 31-26.

These plays, combined with the miscues and struggles later in the game, are how a game never truly tilts in the favor of one team. Explosive plays are not only momentum killers, they are confidence killers. It takes so much more for a team to fight back after seeing big play after big play. It seems that is a huge part of what plagued the Owls.

A great question, though, is how these explosive plays led to everything sliding downhill. And for FAU, it falls on two heavily-discussed areas: the trenches and the run game.

On both sides of the ball, the trenches are struggling. Defensively, the unit can seemingly stop the run at will early in games. They fly downhill, make plays, and put teams at a disadvantage. However, this style illuminates the problem. the Owls do not have a consistent pass rush.

In four-down sets, FAU cannot consistently heat up the quarterback. Pockets stay clean, the quarterbacks get through their progressions, and offenses stay on the field. This causes FAU to have to call exotic blitzes and pressures, which is how you end up with Tyler Stolsky and Leon Hart Jr. getting sacks. It is not to say that those two players can’t rush the passer, but they have to rush the passer.

These pressures put a ton of responsibility on the FAU defensive backs. When those defensive backs make a mistake, plays like Braham’s 73-yard touchdown happen.

Offensively, the run game continues to stall out thanks to the struggles of the offensive line.

Despite pass blocking at a high level, the Owls cannot create lanes in the run game. They are not generating a push on any opponent that they face, and are getting blown off the ball in some cases. As a result, Xavier Terrell, Gemari Sands, and Kaden Shields-Dutton have to create space and become playmakers on their own.

More damaging, though, is what this does to the passing game.

Teams like Maryland, FIU, and now Memphis realize that FAU’s rushing attack posed no threat to their defense. They understood that they needed to swarm and attack on early downs, taking advantage of the offensive line and putting the Owls behind the sticks. As a result, this allows them to send sim pressures, exotic blitzes, and more.

While the quarterback is more than capable of handling this, it makes things exponentially harder. This chain of events is how miscommunications, overthrows, and turnovers happen. With no run game, the Owls cannot be the offense they truly want to be.

Coach Kittley was very blunt about his trenches after the game, highlighting the focus that he is putting on those two units.

“Offensively, I am not super pleased where we are at in the run game. Pass protection-wise, we knew we would get some three-man sometimes, so you should look up, be clean, and have no sacks. I have a quarterback hit chart, which says how many times the quarterback is on the ground due to pass pro. I want to see where we are at there. But in the run game, we have to get a lot better. When you look up, and your two running backs average 2.0 and 2.6 yards per carry, it is not good enough.

Defensively, I have to really dive into it. I need to see if they were whipping us up front or if we were not in our right gaps. Clearly, when you look up, their running back had 19 carries for 204 yards and 10.7 yards per carry. That is a recipe for disaster right there. I have to look at it there, but we are about to go play Rice and the triple option next week. They are going to run the ball every play and only throw it 10 times. We have to get better at fitting the run this week. Bottom line.”

FAU is looking for answers in the trenches, and it’s unlikely that help is coming in 2025. But if they do not get these issues solved, it could be a long season for the Owls.

Penalties and a Lack of Discipline Cap Fourth Quarter of Doom

Once again, the FAU Owls showed a severe lack of discipline in the late stages of a game.

As a whole against Memphis, FAU registered 10 penalties for 52 yards, a marginal improvement over their flag-fest against the FIU Panthers two weeks ago. However, the way that the Owls ran up their penalty tab against Memphis is a very bad sign.

In the second half, FAU registered six of its 10 penalties. In the fourth quarter alone, the Owls registered two personal fouls and two unsportsmanlike conduct calls on a single play. One of those calls was on Leon Hat Jr., who got ejected from the game for a “flagrant” foul (Memphis did not get two shots from the foul line, so I was very confused, too).

These penalties were not the reason that FAU lost this game, but they are a good way to underscore how the Owls fell off a cliff in the fourth quarter.

It is still early in Coach Kittley’s tenure, and it is still way too early to say that things are in a bad place. Things aren’t in dire straits yet, but there needs to be some drastic improvements overall from FAU. Otherwise, things could get very bad, very fast.

2026 NFL Draft Stock Risers

• WR Cortez Braham Jr., Memphis: Braham Jr. has the speed, hands, route running, and body control to be a threat at the next level. He was great at Nevada last season, and he is taking his game to another level this season. The wideout lit up FAU in a big way, too, notching 127 yards and two touchdowns. Braham may not be a top-of-the-draft talent, he could be a solid early-down and red zone contributor for an NFL team.
• RB Greg Desrosiers Jr., Memphis: Derosiers has great speed, strength, and burst. He can read holes, make defenders miss, and turn small gains into big ones. Desrosiers consistently produced, and if he continues on this path he can easily put his name into the NFL draft conversation.
• LB Leon Hart Jr., FAU: Mr. Do-It-All! Hart contributed in every way for the Owls in Week 5. He has been a force for FAU all season, and tonight’s game against Memphis was no different. If he meets certain thresholds and continues to produce at this level (while not getting ejected), Hart could be on the all-star circuit.

What’s Next for Florida Atlantic?

FAU travels to Texas to face Rice in a battle of the Owls. This will be another difficult matchup, as Rice’s triple option offense is a perfect counter to the Owls’ weaker run defense. The game takes place in Week 6, October 4.