There was no such thing as an easy road win for the 2025 UConn football Huskies.
Though, it looked like they might’ve had one in Boca Raton, Fla. on Saturday after building a 21-point lead on Florida Atlantic in the first quarter. That lead was gone midway through the third and the Huskies found themselves in need of a touchdown when their final offensive drive started with just over two minutes left in regulation.
And UConn, which has lost three overtime games on the road and won one on a late field goal, used Cam Edwards as a vessel to plow into the end zone for the go-ahead score with 26 seconds left to play. But it wasn’t over: FAU drove 56 yards in two plays to set up a 36-yard field goal attempt that would’ve sent the game to overtime. But the kick was hooked wide left.
The Huskies held on to win their regular season-finale, 48-45, and reached nine wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.
The shootout was fueled by two of the nation’s most productive quarterbacks, UConn’s Joe Fagnano and FAU’s Caden Veltkamp, who put on a show and combined for more than 850 passing yards.
Fagnano moved up to No. 2 on UConn’s all-time single-season passing yards list as he went 33-for-46 for a career-high 443 passing yards and three touchdowns. Veltkamp broke FAU’s single-game passing yards record as he went 42-for-55 for 494 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
On his first throw of the game, Fagnano surpassed 3,000 passing yards on the season to give UConn a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher (Edwards) and a 1,000-yard receiver (Skyler Bell) in the same season for the first time ever.
Edwards came up big down the stretch and accumulated 146 total yards (101 rushing, 45 receiving) and two touchdowns. Bell had eight catches for 125 yards, tying the UConn record for 100-yard games in a season which was set at seven by Noel Thomas in 2016.
The Huskies set the tone for the first quarter with a 40-yard completion to Bell on the first play from scrimmage.
After the teams traded field goals on their respective opening drives, John Neider high-pointed a 24-yard touchdown pass to put the Huskies up 10-3 before Lee Molette III made a stop on 4th-and-1 to get the ball back for the offense.
Over its next two drives, UConn only needed four plays to gain 115 yards and make two trips to the end zone. Shamar Porter caught a pass on the outside and sprinted 56 yards for his first score of the season before Veltkamp made a mistake firing across his body and UConn safety Malachi McLean took advantage for the first interception of his career.
Edwards continued the momentum with a 23-yard run before Fagnano, the first UConn QB to start every regular season game since David Pindell in 2018, found tight end Alex Honig wide open for a 32-yard touchdown pass, his third of the opening quarter as the Huskies went up, 24-3.
FAU started the second with a 39-yard TD run on a sweep for its own star receiver, Easton Messer (160 total yards). After UConn punted for the first time, the Owls cut further into their deficit with a 17-yard scramble from Veltkamp, who flipped into the end zone and made it a one-score game.
UConn avoided a scoreless second quarter as Chris Freeman tacked on a critical 25-yard field goal and the Huskies took a 27-17 lead into halftime.
Helped by a few missed tackles and a 4th-down pass interference penalty on UConn DB Devin Pringle, FAU started the second half with an 11-yard rushing TD on a draw play from Kaden Shields-Dutton. The Owls started their next drive on the 1-yard line after a perfect punt from UConn’s Connor Stutz and faced 4th-and-1 from their own 10-yard line. Coach Zach Kittley made the rare choice to go for it and Veltkamp made a quick completion to Dom Henry, who caught the Huskies off-guard and ran 90 yards to give the Owls their first lead of the game midway through the third quarter.
Desperate to answer, Edwards gained 29 yards on a screen pass and punched it in from the 1-yard line on the very next play to put the Huskies back on top.
FAU entered the game with the worst turnover margin in the country and saw its second of the day come at an inopportune time as the ball came free on an attempted handoff and UConn’s Trent Jones II fell on it early in the fourth quarter. Mel Brown, in his first game back from the broken collarbone he suffered on Sept. 13, cut back for a 44-yard touchdown sprint that pushed the Huskies’ lead back to two scores.
But it didn’t hold for long as FAU answered with another 4th-down touchdown. Veltkamp went over the top to Messer for a 33-yard score with 7:13 left to play. After a UConn punt, the Owls’ QB went for 11 yards on a designed run into the endzone to take a 45-41 lead with just over two minutes left in regulation.
UConn’s final, go-ahead drive went 75 yards in 15 plays, featuring conversions on three 3rd downs and one 4th down as Fagnano stayed level-headed and executed yet another perfect two-minute drill. The Huskies looked to be headed to overtime for the fourth time this season, but the 36-yard kick wasn’t close.