Behind Enemy Lines: Florida Atlantic

John Gugs
Aug 28
7 min read

It is finally the start of the 2025 college football season for the Terps and they open the season up with a home game against Florida Atlantic. Today we talked with Robbie Lastella of the FAU Owls Nest to take a look inside the FAU program and see what to look for on Saturday.

John Gugs: After firing Tom Herman during the season last year, the Owls hired the youngest head coach in the country in Zach Kittley. Kittley is known for his fast paced and high powered offenses. What are some of the biggest differences you expect to see from the offense this season compared to the past two seasons under Herman?

Robbie Lastella: Zach Kittley brings a breath of fresh air to an FAU offense which desperately needed one following a dreadful offensive output a year ago.

The Owls suffered from lack of consistency in 2024, dealing with injuries throughout the

offensive line which led to struggles in the pass game and an offense that became turnover

prone and reliant on the ground game.

Kittley brings a high-flying offense to the Boca Raton and although it’s unknown how much

production we will see right away, something I believe will be different, which was a problem last year, is that QB Caden Veltkamp will be quick to go through his reads and get rid of the ball. FAU will look to run a fast paced offense this season and a big part of that will be Veltkamp’s ability to read a defense and quickly get the ball to his receivers, and if he is able to do that at a high rate the offense should be much more efficient than what we saw last season. I also expect to see better overall consistency, there was very little chemistry last season between quarterbacks and receivers at times and the offense became discombobulated. With an overall deeper wide receiver room (and established depth chart), more experienced quarterback in Veltkamp, and offensive guru in Kittley, I would say the offense should be able to put drives together at a more consistent rate.

The offense as a whole will be entirely different from what we saw during the Tom Herman era, but the tempo of the offense and the overall chemistry of the unit are two things I believe will lead the offense to more success than we saw in 2024.

JG: Along with Kittley being a first time head coach, the Owls new defensive coordinator Brett Dewhurst is also getting his first shot as a defensive coordinator. What do you expect to see from the Owls defense this season under their new defensive coordinator?

RL: The defense underwent massive change this past offseason, bringing in a boatload of transfers, as well as first time defensive coordinator Brett Dewhurst to run the show.

FAU’s defense was plagued by a lack of run defense, pass rush, and injuries in the secondary in 2024, which was compounded by being on the field entirely too much due to the offensive struggles.

What we have heard about the new defense under Brett Dewhurst is that it will be “multiple,” allowing the Owls to use their 28 new defensive additions in a variety of ways. The strength of the FAU defense will be to have either 3 down lineman in a 3-3-5 defense, or 4 in a 4-3 front but Dewhurst’s defense should allow the Owls to switch between multiple looks consistently.

I would expect FAU not to be blitz heavy right away in game one and enact a more even

approach, bringing pressure in different ways without putting an inexperienced secondary in harm's way.

Rotations in the secondary and on the defensive line are also to be expected in game one as FAU will have different personnel in different packages.

JG: The Owls are 14.5 point underdogs in their season opener against the Terps. What are three keys for the Owls to pull off the week one upset to get the Kittley era off to a fast start?

RL:

Complement the pass game

The big part of Zach Kittley’s success throughout the years as an offensive coordinator has

been the pass game, however for the Owls to pull off an upset on the road they will need the run game to flourish as well.

Gemari Sands and Xavier Terrell provide a formidable 1-2 punch for the Owls and the ability to have multiple capable backs will give the offense fresh legs. It’s doubtful either back will see 20 carries on their own right away, but whatever their share ends up being, for the offense to be successful they need to find a way to generate 4-5 yards per carry to put the passing game in manageable situations.

If the offense finds themselves behind the chains consistently that would only make things more difficult on the road against a Big 10 opponent.

Stop the run

One of FAU’s biggest issues last season was their inability to stop the run and cost them

multiple games.

This season the defensive line has been overhauled and one of the biggest strengths of the

entire unit is the interior of the line, as Cj Doggette, Naejuan Barber and Enyce Sledge look to lead a bounce back year in the run defense department.

With Maryland set to have an inexperienced quarterback, stifling his run game right away and forcing him to make plays on his own could lead to some mistakes that could benefit FAU.

Rush the Passer

If FAU is able to stop the run, the next step will be frustrating the QB even further by generating pressure. Last year, rushing the passer wasn’t a strength of the FAU defense and although it wasn’t necessarily a weakness, this year they will look to improve.

The Owls will employ multiple rushers off the edge with former Auburn transfer Wilky Denaud, former Colorado transfer Eric Brantley Jr, and Tulane transfer Deshaun Batiste all set to play major roles.

With Brett Dewhurst enacting multiple defensive looks, Maryland’s Quarterback will have to be quick to identify potential blitzes, as although FAU may not be blitz heavy, they will look to frustrate an inexperienced QB as much as possible.

JG: Caden Veltcamp Jr., the reigning CUSA player of the year transfers into FAU to lead Kittley's offense. Along with Veltcamp, who are two players on the offensive side of the ball that will be key to the Owls success in 2025?

RL: The first player that will be a major factor for the FAU offense will be slot wide receiver and captain Easton Messer. Messer transferred to FAU with Veltkamp from Western Kentucky and the two are best friends, bringing an immediate chemistry to the FAU offense which should be evident right away.

At 5 '9 190 pounds, Messer is your prototypical slot receiver, shifty with the ability to stretch the field and frustrate defenses with his speed. Veltkamp’s strong arm and existing chemistry with Messer has the potential to create an instant spark for the FAU offense, as the two combined for 55 receptions for 793 yards and 4 scores at WKU last year.

The next two key players will be co-starting running backs Xavier Terrell and Gemari Sands, as both are set to receive feature roles on the ground for the FAU offense and their success will be paramount to the offense's success as a whole. Sands stands 6 '0, 195 pounds, speedy, but a bit more of a bruiser than Terrell who stands 5' 8, 175 pounds, however both are capable pass catchers.

Both Sands and Terrell had small roles last season, with both making a splash in the team's final game of the season against Tulsa and they will look to carry that momentum into this season, although Kittley’s offense is known for the pass, it’s not complete without a capable run game.

JG: Wendol Philord is a key returner for an Owls defense that gave up 416 yards per game and 30.2 points per game last season. Along with Philord, who are two players on the defensive side of the ball that will be key to the Owls success in 2025?

RL: Alongside Philord, two key defensive players for FAU will be Edge Rusher Eric Brantley Jr and middle linebacker Tyler Stolsky.

Stolsky transferred into FAU this past offseason following spending the first 3 seasons of his career at Minnesota and is set to be the starting middle linebacker this season for FAU. Stolsky played mostly in a reserve role for the Golden Gophers during the first 3 seasons of his career, however he has been a fast riser during his time in Boca Raton, earning both captain and a starting role and his ability to lead the defense on the field will be critical to FAU’s success.

Eric Brantley Jr heads into his second season with FAU set to play a big role off the edge for the Owls defense. Brantley was a highly touted recruit out of Valdosta High School, spending the first year of his collegiate career at Colorado before transferring to FAU last year. With 2 years of development under his belt and all the talent in the world, this is a big year for Brantley Jr and someone the defense is relying on to generate pressure.

JG: What is your score prediction for the game and why?

RL: My prediction for this game is FAU giving Maryland a solid game, but ultimately falling short to the Terps by a final score of 38-28. I think the offense will show what it is capable of, scoring 4 times against a big 10 defense with Veltkamp finishing around 300 yards, however the Terrapins will find success in their own right offensively, with the Owls still finding their footing defensively.

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