What seemed to be on track to be a blowout ended up being an instant classic as the UConn football team (9-3) defeated Florida Atlantic (4-7, 3-4 American) in a 48-45 shootout.
Cam Edwards capped off a 15-play, 75-yard drive with a goal-line touchdown run to give UConn a 48-45 lead.
“I feel like a proud Papa,” Jim Mora told FOX Sports 97.9’s Adam Giardino. “That was the ultimate life lesson right there, capsulized in the last minute, 46 seconds… What I told them is, ‘That’s not a football moment, that’s a life moment. Don’t ever let anybody tell you what you can’t do.’”
Florida Atlantic, only needing a field goal, got all the way to the UConn 20-yard line. With four seconds left, Garrison Smith’s game-tying field goal was no good, going wide left as the Huskies secured back-to-back 9-win seasons for the first time in program history.
UConn’s defense had one of its worst outings of the season as it gave up 687 yards on offense and gave up two fourth-down touchdowns.
For the first time in program history, UConn finishes the regular season with a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard receiver.
Joe Fagnano, who became the first Husky quarterback to start every game of the season since David Pindell in 2018, came into the game with 2,995 passing yards on the year and easily eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark on the opening drive. Skyler Bell reached the 1k mark on Nov. 8, and Cam Edwards reached that number the following week.
Fagnano had the game of his life, completing 33 of 46 passes for 446 yards and three touchdowns. Completions and passing yards were new career-highs for the seventh-year quarterback.
“If he’s not on the stage in New York with the final three for the Heisman [Trophy], then it is a crying shame with what he’s done this year,” Mora said. “He should be sitting on the stage when they announce the Heisman. Period.”
Along with the game-winning touchdown, Edwards had another touchdown to give him two on the day to go with 101 yards on the ground.
Skyler Bell went down early but bounced back and finished the day with eight catches for 125 yards.
“For him to come back out and play the way that he did after getting hurt—it looked pretty serious, but he said, ‘I’m gonna go play,’” Mora said. “He limped through it. He’s amazing.”
UConn was dominant throughout the first quarter. After holding Florida Atlantic to a field goal on its first possession, the Owls turned the ball over twice, once on downs and one on an interception by Malachi McLean.
The Huskies were not merely dominant defensively through the first 15 minutes; Fagnano and Connecticut’s offense went to work. UConn scored 24 points on 207 yards, including Shamar Porter’s first touchdown of the season.
Overall, UConn finished the day with exactly 600 yards of total offense. It was the first time that the Huskies reached over 600 yards on offense since Sept. 7, 2024, against Merrimack, a week after giving up 629 yards to Maryland.
Florida Atlantic looked dead in the water after the first quarter, but the Owls responded with a strong second-quarter performance. Florida Atlantic had two touchdown drives while holding UConn to a field goal on a drive that the Huskies were knocking on the door of another touchdown.
The Owls kept on the gas pedal after the first half, cutting UConn’s lead to three after an 11-yard touchdown run by Kaden Dutton-Shields early in the third quarter.
The defining play of Florida Atlantic’s comeback came on fourth-and-1 at the Owls’ 10-yard line. In what is almost always a punt, the Owls went for it on fourth down and Caden Veltkamp found Dom Henry wide-open for a 90-yard touchdown as Florida Atlantic took a 31-27 lead midway through the third quarter.
The Huskies punched right back at a crucial time. With Florida Atlantic having all the momentum, UConn went 75 yards down the field and retook the lead with Edwards scoring a touchdown with 2:09 left in the third quarter.
Mel Brown returned to the field for the first time since suffering a broken collarbone injury in a 44-41 overtime loss at Delaware on Sept. 13. His “welcome back” moment could not have come at a better time for Connecticut, as he shook through defenders for a 44-yard touchdown with 10:44 left in the game.
517 of the 687 total yards Florida Atlantic had on offense came from Veltkamp, who set program records with a 42-of-55 completion rate for 494 yards and four total touchdowns.
Leading the receiving corps for the Owls was the trio of Assad Waseem, Easton Messer and Dom Henry, all of whom combined for 385 yards and two touchdowns.
Connecticut stayed undefeated against Florida Atlantic, improving to 3-0 against the Owls. The Huskies are now 6-5 against teams from the American Conference since becoming an independent starting in the 2021 season.
UConn will now await the announcement of its bowl game, which will be revealed on Dec. 7. The Huskies will have time to rest before preparing for their bowl matchup. Projections include the Gasparilla Bowl vs. Florida State or South Florida, the Boca Raton Bowl vs. Coastal Carolina, the Frisco Bowl vs. California or the Liberty Bowl vs. Cincinnati.