Florida Atlantic Football routs Texas Southern in nonconference finale

Robbie Lastella

October 4, 2026
10:03 am

The offense didn’t even need to take the field for Florida Atlantic before the Owls jumped out to a 21-3 lead against Texas Southern on Saturday night.

That was foreshadowing for the level of domination Zach Kittley’s squad would display in all facets of the game, as the Owls went on to mollywhop the Tigers by a final score of 66-10.

It started right away, as Leonard Farrow returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for the Owls 3rd kickoff return touchdown in program history, giving FAU a 7-0 lead just 13 seconds into the game.

After TSU responded with a field goal on their opening drive, it was Farrow once again, returning the second kickoff of the game 92 yards for another touchdown, giving FAU a 14-3 lead with 8:16 to play in the first.

For Farrow, it was a “fever dream” of sorts, as the Owls running back made history by matching the program’s record in kick returns in less than 5 minutes on Saturday evening.

“I was telling Ethan Ervin on the sidelines, just a fever dream because me and him are roommates in our hotel, and I told him I was like I feel it today, bro. I feel like I’m gonna return the kickoff, and it happened,” Farrow said.

Florida Atlantic team huddle. Photo by Christian Proscia

It was a full team effort in the Owls 4th win of the season. On Texas Southern’s ensuing drive, Leon Hart was able to force a Cam’Ron McCoy fumble on a scramble, which Wilky Denaud scooped up and returned 31 yards to the end zone, giving FAU a 21-3 lead with 6:38 to play.

FAU DB Wallace Foster IV intercepted McCoy on the Tigers next drive, which finally gave the FAU offense a chance to take the field with 2:21 to play in the first and they wasted little time cashing in. It took just 6 plays for Caden Veltkamp and the Owls to find paydirt, as he connected with Easton Messer for a 19 yard score to give FAU a 28-3 lead late in the first quarter.

The offense didn’t let the delay in them getting on the field affect them, as they made quick work of the Texas Southern offense with their drives during the first half. While something like that could throw the offense off rhythm, the Owls didn’t blink in the words of FAU head coach Zach Kittley, rather turning it into a dominant performance.

“Yeah, it doesn’t really change much. I usually script out my first play call of the game, and that’s really about it. If I’m not on the correct hash, I may not call that either. But we had our first play of the game called Messer tonight, and we got him the ball on the edge. So it didnt change much to be honest with you. The biggest thing is make sure the offensive guys are locked and ready to go. You don’t touch the ball for that long, you have to make sure you’re loose, but our guys didn’t blink,” Kittley said.

Kelby Valsin pictured via Christian Prosica

That kicked off a streak of 3 straight touchdown drives for Kelby Valsin, Caden Veltkamp and the FAU offense, as on the other end the defense forced 3 straight punts which set up a perfect storm for the Owl Raid.

Valsin hauled in TDs of 19, 55, and 8 yards out and when it was all said and done, the Owls led 49-10 headed into the half. Veltkamp finished the first half 13 of 16 for 247 yards and 4 touchdowns, while Valsin hauled in 7 receptions for 126 yards and 3 touchdowns.

While FAU had no problem handling the Tigers, Valsin noted after the game that TSU Head Coach Cris Dishman provided comments earlier in the week that may have helped fuel his his big day.

“He had a few comments this week. He said we only had 2 receivers and their DBs can cover us. That was in the back of my mind,” Valsin said.

FAU WR Kelby Valsin says TSU Coach Cris Dishman provided the team with external motivation following his 7 reception, 126 yard 3 TD performance:

“He had a few comments this week. He said we only had 2 receivers and their DBs can cover us. That was in the back of my mind.” 😤 https://t.co/76jGT0DRut
— Robbie Lastella (@RLastellaReport) October 4, 2026

That was when the flood gates opened, literally, as right before Texas Southern kneeled out to end the half, a torrential downpour ensued, enacting a 20 minute delay and a second half which featured much less firepower.

Veltkamp didn’t appear in the second half, giving way to Drew Devillier who led the Owls to a field goal on their first drive of the half to give the Owls a 52-10 lead with 9:46 to play in the third.

The Owls defense forced 3 straight punts by TSU to open the second half, and after the third, the second team offense went to work. Brady Tillman had back to back carries of 13 and 22 yards, the latter finding the end-zone and giving the Owls a 59-10 lead with 3:18 to play.

With FAU’s defense continually forcing punts, the second team offense got many chances in the second half and consistently cashed in. It was a team effort, as 3rd string running back Almari Brown found paydirt from 3 yards out to give the Owls a 66-10 lead with 14:27 to play.

It’s not often that backups can get an entire half of reps, however Kittley was able to get a wide variety of players experience on Saturday. While some areas weren’t perfect at times, Kittley was most impressed with his second team offensive line, an area he was watching on the night.

“So good to see all those quarterbacks get in. Some ups and downs in that room. From my standpoint, got to get better in some areas. Proud to see us be able to run the football well with that two offensive line. That was a unit that I was really excited to see,” Kittley said.

That would be it for the FAU offense, as both of their drives in the 4th quarter would end in a punt and leave them 3 points shy of the program record of 69 points set back in 2017.

It was domination in all 3 facets of the game for the Owls, as from the opening kickoff they made a statement that it would be their game to control and they never let up.
The game was never in doubt, however the FAU defense did allow Texas Southern to rush for 154 yards on the ground and 300 yards overall, something Kittley wants to clean up heading into the bye despite the improvement in the second half,

“I got some frustration about our defense tonight. I thought we were getting dented at times on the defensive front. Us giving up over 300 yards is unacceptable, and we’ve got to be ready. We got to get better in some of those areas. We gave up some big plays at times. We missed some tackles tonight, which shows up, and when those things happen, that’s how some of those explosive plays happen. But, kudos to the defense because I challenged them in the locker room at halftime to come out and play a lot better in the second half, and we did that,” Kittley said.